Vin no's, and a question of ethics?

[Hair Bear Bunch]

Hi,
We've established that my Atc70 is about an '84, but the vin no. plate is missing. I'm looking to insure it but the company require a vin no.
So, I'm wondering, if someone has an untitled '84 (or thereabouts) 70 which is being broken/scrapped, would it be acceptable to take that vin no. and use it to identify mine?
I appreciate that this could be against the law in the U.S.?
Is there a way of 'generating' an acceptable vin? I could just give it a random number but I'd like it to be near correct in as much as date and model.
Any input appreciated.
Thanks.

[ilmoakw]

If i could verify the ownership of the vehicle you would be taking the number off of to make sure it is not stolen, i would do it.

[KASEY]

atc70's had no VIN plate,,, the number is stamped into the steering neck,,,, on the left side,,, if you need a frame with a VIN there are alot of them on ebay pretty cheap too,,, maybe the VIN was painted over several times ,,, sand it down and you might be suprised,,

[Hair Bear Bunch]

Interesting...
I've been told that post '84 the number was on a plate riveted to the right side of the neck which is where I have 2 empty rivetholes! There's definately no numbers stamped on it that I can find but I will look again (I'm looking for a number that is similar in style to the one on the right side of the BigRed?!) . It could be a replacement frame I guess, but looking at the state it was in when I got it I don't think it was loved enough to have had that done.
Onward...

[petesatc]

All the bikes we got in Europe had a VIN plate but they also have the VIN number stamped into the frame same as the US bikes.......if it has holes for the rivets then its not a new frame......new frames don't come with the holes.... if the VIN is not stamped onto the frame there's a good chance it stolen....
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh318/pilotpete1/DSC00883.jpg
http://i259.photobucket.com/albums/hh318/pilotpete1/DSC00885.jpg

[Hair Bear Bunch]

So theoreticaly it should've had both, trouble is, I don't see any obvious signs of grinding.
I'll have a much closer look at the weekend, see what's going on.
Thanks.

[petesatc]

Yes it should have both......the VIN number are lightly stamped so not much grinding needed.....

[Lukeatc185]

alot of people fill in and not grind, you may need to bust out a wire brush on a drill to get it clear.

[BigRed_Ryno]

atc70's had no VIN plate,,, the number is stamped into the steering neck,,,, on the left side,,, if you need a frame with a VIN there are alot of them on ebay pretty cheap too,,, maybe the VIN was painted over several times ,,, sand it down and you might be suprised,,

My '82 has a vin plate, I riveted it back on the other day....

[Dirtcrasher]

You want a clean VIN?? I'm never gonna reg my 70's so if you need one, it's here :D