I have been looking for a panhead and have found one that appears to be a good start. The belly numbers match as well as the cylinder heads. The VIN number is something that I am concerned about. It isn't in the expected format. The seller tells me the cases are original. The bike was from California and he thought perhaps it was something the state did for police bikes but I am not sure. I have never come across this before
The VIN is DRF101339

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

you did not say if the vin your reading is actually on the engine cases

in loonie ville west coast they assign numbers to bikes for all sorts of reasons leaving a collectable with out its pedigree - its what you get if you live in the left coast

if you live in calif its fine anyplace else its value is depleted as much as 50 percent

 

Hello,
My apologies for not stating that the VIN is stamped on the case. My research found some old posts in other forums indicating California did this for police bikes but did not specify if the VIN was stamped on the frame or the engine. I thought the cases are aftermarket but the seller indicates that the cases are HD.

 

Re-stamp of some kind, either by CHP or some of the bad people. The MoCo would not have used that #, for Police bike or otherwise. Walk away. Post a pic if you want more bad news.

 

Thanks, Here is a pic of the VIN. Tell me all the bad news. I know this bike will never qualify for a restoration project (In my opinion) but I thought it would be a good around the town bike.

 

Pic didn’t post. And that number, as mentioned, is not a HD Vin#, not now, not ever, If it was assigned a Special Construction tar (referred to as a Blue Tag, it would have that tag on b oth the frame and the engine.

So while the case may be original, they are not original HD with that number.

 

your research found stupid people that should only answer questions about going on a trip to outer space

you have been advised not to buy this -- as it will not be if it will be taken from you by the law but how long you own it - at some of the events you may go to

then you will have to prove you are not the one who did this to it - and they are not going to believe anything you say with out proof

 

Thank you all.
I decided to pass on the purchase based on input received.

 

Welcome to the forum. I can’t see the photo you posted but I agree it’s a good idea to pass because a bike with a DRF number may be more trouble than it’s worth even though it may be legal. Apparently DRF numbers were state-assigned in California and some say DRF stands for Department Registry File. I’ve seen them on several types of engines including the Sportster shown below.



Sometimes you’ll find a DRF number on the frame of an ex-police bike. In the 50s and 60s when a police bike came in for engine work a replacement engine would be installed on that day. But obviously the bike could no longer be identified by its original engine serial number so a DRF number was stamped on the frame and the DRF number was then used to identify the bike.
Eric