It is??

FYI: If a vehicle has a "State Assigned Vin" # it is almost impossible to get theft and collision insurance. Extremely expensive when it is available.

My scooter has the VIn under a plastic panel. I'm not removing that panel!
Parking scooters where we can find a spot or, that's not in the way or impeding pedestrian traffic is all we ask. Being hassled by the NYPD because they're collecting revenue is BS! Time for them to be concerned with more important issues.

I took the plastic panel off because that would be "covering it" I guess

All our kymco's have that plastic panel as well,

Seeing as it's part of the design of the bike, easily removable, and clearly states VIN on it.. It would seem logical that it is not illegal to leave it installed on the bike. But who knows...

aceface1969 wrote:interesting, My Sprint doesnt even have one! Here's a dumb question. If you have lost your VIN plate through the result of say a forgetful painter etc, and you have the VIn on your insurance/rego , is there a way to have one made or replaced? Ive always wondered about this for the years i've ad this scooter. Sounds next to impossible?

Your Sprint doesn't need one because your Sprint predates when they were required. Your Sprint doesn't have a 17 digit VIN either

Andrea

yeah this whole thing is seriously making me consider trading out of my LX back to an ET4... Hell.. or just going vintage...

who would have thought, vintage just for the sake of not getting arrested for a lame ass law...

scosgt wrote:So does this mean that we have to take off that little plastic cover that goes over the vin plate on many scoots? I didn't really want to get water and dirt in there, which is why the factory provides the cover in the first place...

Interesting question.

scosgt wrote:I took the plastic panel off because that would be "covering it" I guess

No, tampering with the VIN # means altering it from the original way it was applied by the manufacturer.

The law also reads that you can not COVER it.

Thankfully the gt200 didn't come with that little vin plate, so no mods need... .

scosgt wrote:The law also reads that you can not COVER it.

My bike came with it covered (under a plastic panel). If a cop asks me to see it, I'll show it. Otherwise it stays as is. A Parking Agent cannot touch the bike in search of it when I'm not there. Besides, my alarm will go off if they start messing with it.

scosgt wrote:The law also reads that you can not COVER it.

Yes, YOU can not cover, change or tamper with the Vin#.

It must remain the same as produced by the manufacturer. If the manufacturer produced it with a cover over the Vin# it has been approved by the D.O.T..

I removed my VIN and my lunch break turned into 28 hours in Jail (yeah, that's overnight) with my first phone call at 7:30 pm.

Felony charge was bumped down to disorderly conduct.

$120 Fee and 3 Days of community service all to be completed within 30 days.

Not a great way to use vacation days, sweeping streets at 7 in the morning.

Dear fellow scooterists,

Many in the community have the practice of removing license plates to avoid parking tickets and plate theft. This is an equipment violation punishable by a fine.

Others have gone farther and removed or altered the external VIN on their scooters to further hinder parking enforcement. Of course, if your scoot is towed, you will never find it in the system, but that’s not the reason to avoid this practice. For those of you thinking about altering or removing your VIN, DON’T DO IT! VIN tampering laws were written with organized crime in mind, and the consequences can be very severe.

We recently spent a long time speaking with a NYPD Detective from the Auto Crime Unit who informed us that a task force is confiscating scooters and motorcycles that have altered or missing external VINs (“the public VIN”). This task force will wait for an owner to return to their vehicle or come to the pound and then arrest and charge the owner with a FELONY - tampering with a VIN - when they come to claim their vehicle.

For Vespa owners who have removed the VIN plate from their bikes, you must re-install the plate with factory style rivets. For those who have altered, damaged or missing public VINs, there is a process through the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles where you can make an appointment to have your vehicle inspected and DMV will issue a new external VIN.

We called the Division of Field Investigations (518) 474-2019 and they told us the following:

1. Visit a NYS DMV office and obtain a 272.1 form (Application for Vehicle Identification Number), fill it out and mail back to the Division of Field Investigations along with a $25 fee. Unfortunately the form is not online.

2. Upon receipt of the application, the Division of Field Investigations will assign a new VIN and set an appointment to have the vehicle examined for $150.

3. On the day of the appointment, an inspector will physically examine the vehicle and affix a new external VIN plate and provide a receipt.

3.Go back to a NYS DMV office with the old title, receipt from Division of Field Investigations examination and new insurance card to amend the title to reflect the new VIN for $50.

The form posted by Kevin BV500 on Wed Jul 29, 2009 9:44 pm is for a homemade or unique vehicle and does not apply to a mass produced vehicle.

The Detective also told us that they are now clipping locks of scooters that are tied to poles or fences in order to impound them. NYPD is taking this very seriously and has already impounded dozens of vehicles and will continue to aggressively do so.

We wanted to give everyone a heads up on this important issue. Ride safely!

Wen Schieffelin
2005 Gold Vespa ET4

Managing Partner
Vespa Soho/Kymco Manhattan
McCarren Motors/Kymco Brooklyn

What about scooters with the VIN under a panel? Is it legal for them to forcefully tamper with someone's property? Is it legal for them to break open a glove box or force the seat open without permission?

Thanks for the update, Wen. I guess many riders will have to start reconsidering their parking practices.

Brendan

Wen wrote:For Vespa owners who have removed the VIN plate from their bikes, you must re-install the plate with factory style rivets. For those who have altered, damaged or missing public VINs, there is a process through the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles where you can make an appointment to have your vehicle inspected and DMV will issue a new external VIN.

Can you clarify one thing, Wen?

What about bikes like the ET4 that never had an external VIN (its only stamped on the frame)?

Are they saying that you now have to go get one for those bikes?

I wonder if this will turn up some stolen scooters??

This is actually happening, folks. If you have VIN issues, please take them seriously.

wonderaaron wrote:Yay! I was one of the lucky ones to come back to a missing scooter. It's beyond ridiculous. It was taken by the Auto Crime Unit. Apparently, this will be much more than a ticket. I located my buddy and the officer told me I need to come in to get FINGERPRINTED and PHOTOGRAPHED! I think I'm being arrested.

They're going to give me a criminal court summons and I won't get my bike back for weeks! I was told one of the last cases got 8 hours of community service. Another guy got some acronym, ATP or something which means if he stays out of trouble for a year, he'll be okay.

Why is scooting such a crime?!!

wonderaaron wrote:I'm being charged with tampering with my vin- which is a FELONY! I was parked on a sidewalk by my office. I hope the food the is good in prison.

But seriously, how does one get a rally started?

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