Posted on 09/19/2008 1:36:29 PM PDT by Kimmers
I am posting this in case that happens to any of our FReeper bikers.....
Despite the unfortunate situation, he did get his bike back. I was thinking how lucky we are to live in this country. In China, not only would he not have gotten his bike back, but he would probably have been shot and his bike sold overseas to grease the pocket of some local bureaucrat.
Cripes. The cops have never heard of an engine swap? Morons. The only thing the cops should have checked was to see if the bike was stolen by using the VIN, not whether the numbers matched between the engine and frame.
I thought the same thing, but apparently the issue here was that the VIN was a rare unusual looking VIN and the cops thought the VIN had been altered.
I would think they couldn’t impound a bike simply because the VIN on the motor and the bike don’t match. I think one of the VIN’s would need to be on a stolen list.
Private property, innocent until proven guilty, gathering evidence to show a crime has been committed, all that is out the door, if it doesn't look right!
” I was thinking how lucky we are to live in this country.”
yes we are
” In China, not only would he not have gotten his bike back, but he would probably have been shot and his bike sold overseas to grease the pocket of some local bureaucrat.”
So we should accept incompetent police because he got his bike back?
And sold his organs ? We are an armed populace and we will not put up with what the Chinese endure .
They likely have, but they had no way of knowing at that point why the frame and motor didn't match.
I'm sure you'd be quite peeved if the cops had checked out the motorcycle you lost, but let the guy go because he claimed he had swapped the engine.
Go to the next Harley you see , or go to the nearest dealer , if the numbers are exactly the same , the next time you are in Idaho I will have our Senator kiss your ass .
If neither number was on the stolen list, then mismatched numbers alone is no reason for confiscation.
“They likely have, but they had no way of knowing at that point why the frame and motor didn’t match.”
Ah I see, so he had to prove his innocence before being allowed to retain his property.
“I’m sure you’d be quite peeved if the cops had checked out the motorcycle you lost, but let the guy go because he claimed he had swapped the engine.”
Sure but on the whole I’d imagine harley riders would prefer not to have their property confiscated at the whim of an incompetent police officer.
This was probably just a rehearsal for the local cops to make an appearance on ‘COPS’, and they weren’t quite ready for their close up.
Everybody relax, ok? ;)
So the police just walked around the parking lot looking at motorbike vins and jacked bikes that they thought *might* be stolen?
Don’t suppose they had a warrant for their search and seizure did they?
Sounds to me like they were there first for the purpose of confiscating bikes, then using the vins as “probable cause”
Depends on where you live. Some years ago, when I used to watch it, 60 Minutes did a piece on a town in central LA where the cops went out of their way to seize vehicles of out of staters on flimsy excuses. Maybe someone remembers this and has an opinion on whether it was true or not.
In any event, we have asset forfeiture now, and that's a more general risk to property. It's right here in the good ole USA.
Yes they did.
He's armed with a title and service records to prove it. The VIN number on the neck of his bike clearly matches his paperwork from Harley Davidson Shops dating back to his purchase in 1989.
What the police don't have is an excuse for being so stupid.
So now, if a LEO thinks something is stolen he is presumed correct and the owner has to prove otherwise?
I have an old Triumph, not a Harley, but this is good information to have. Might be good to keep a registration slip with the bike to keep misinformed LEOs off your back, I guess.
That's why I said they should be checking the VIN against the stolen list. The motor won't tell them diddly.
Man, I don't even know where to start with this response, and from a long time FReeper no less.
All I'll say is this: Luck has nothing to do with it. We are blessed by God and unless you and I are prepared to guard the rights given to us by Him with our lives, then we will surely lose them.
Yup. If my VIN's not on the list, you'd better not have my vehicle in your impound.
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