So, the story goes.... my brother in law bought a '99 Fat Boy "new" from a dealer. At the time, the dealer was a big deal. Supposedly, this bike had a modified frame by Paughco. Brother in law had it until April of last year.

I've had very little contact with the bike before this except for riding it once. Now, its ours. Wife got the title and everything taken care of, but the insurance company kept giving us fits about it because the VIN wasn't jiving with their system. I sent them a copy of the title which was my first time seeing it... and it said "paughco custom" along with the usual make and model information.

I went back and checked the frame which appears to me to be a standard softail frame and a standard VIN on the head tube. The applied VIN is affixed under the seat, which matches the title. I was later informed that supposedly since the frame was modified (something about the rake I was told), it had to be retitled as a rebuilt bike. Even brand new as this one was. Is there any way at all to verify that? In looking at a few of Paughco's frames, some of them look nearly identical to the stock frame. I should add that the dealer that sold the bike went out of business years ago.

Thanks.

 

Does the VIM start out with 1HD?

Post pic of the rear part of the frame between the seat and swingarm pivot..

 

Paughco are still around, so how about contacting them? If they modified the frame they may have records which will help.