DMV: Rant mode on

[MrRiden]

ARRRRG!! Last year at this time I had a little problem with my VIN# at emissions inspection. seems the little cheap s#!t decal BMW used to paste the full 17 digit VIN has deteriorated beyond legibility. Last time I got waved through with a smile & nod, this time it was a show stopper. Off to see a state inspector, part with $20 just to get his OK on an official form to brig to emissions next weekend. Heres the thing. My title, his okey dokie form and my insurance all show an invalid VIN. Oh its all the same number but it is not a valid one. I did some research and after relearning Modulo operations [haven't used since college] I finally came up with the valid vin for my bike. the state reached into my pocket for money and their "specialist" can't even get it right! So for a total of $59 i get to ride around with the blessing of the state and it's still all wrong! Idiots! Anyway if your bulls#!t decal has worn away you can still figure your VIN with some help from this very informative wiKi http://tinyurl.com/7oc35
Modulo calculation got ya stumped? Go here http://www.unitorganizer.com/modulo/
I'm making myself available if anyone needs help decoding their VIN or wants to know if they have a valid one, the check digit has to jive with some tricky figuring! The battle continues.
rich

[not-so-fast-ed]

Thanks Rich,
My label is actually in pretty good shape & I have had a hard time reading it.  
When I bought the bike I did a little research when I noticed the Build Date was 5/86, and the title said 1987!!  The letter "H" in the VIN was traced to 1987 & some of the posts assured me that it wasn't all that unusual for BMW to finally get the bikes to the states late enough to label them as the next year's model.
The flimsiness of the label makes me wonder what it'll look like ten years from now.  Wonder if the state would buy an engraved VIN code we could etch or steel punch into the frame while we can still read it???

 :-/

[donbmw]

All of the bikes have the vin # stamped on the crossmember on the RH side of the steering head along with the sticker that BMW put on below the engine. My 75 R90/6 had a metal plate with the vin# and build date riveted on the steering head I had to remove this when I put the RS fairing on and I carry this with me but the vin # was stamped on the crossmember on the RH side of the steering head. The Vin # is stamped on all bikes no mater what the brand is. A sticker only with the vin# is to easy to remove.

Don

[Bob_Roller]

Rich,

That's unusual, when I get the R65 emissions checked, they just check the number stamped into the steering head area.

Here's another trick with dealing with the people at the emissions test facility, show up 5-10 minutes before they close 7pm Mon-Fri, and 5pm on Saturday, they usually want to get out of there on time, and will over look things, as long as the vehicle passes the exhaust gas test.

I have not had a problem with going to the test facility on Hardy Ave. just south of Chandler Blvd.

Maricopa county Arizona, is the only county in the US to require motorcycles to comply with emissions testing.

I get to go in next month for my test, costs more for the test, than it does for registration for a year.

[Justin B.]

Don't you just love the way governments enact regulations, and try to disguise their reasons as promoting safety, saving lives, helping the environment, when it ultimately boils down to revenue generation?  I can't believe politicians think us that stupid, but maybe we are since we allow them to keep their jobs year after year.

<soapbox mode>

One of the worse examples of this is the use of red-light cameras.  This is a cash-cow that has grown increasingly popular in TX even though there are an increasing number of studies that point out that the "protected" intersections usually experience more rear-end collisions after the cameras are installed.  I know that when I am on the bike I'm not overly enthusiastic about clamping on the binders when a light is changing with somebody crawled up my arse!  Traffic engineers, here, agree that the red-light cameras are pretty much a revenue generation tool and that if it really was a safety concern more would be accomplished by increasing the length of the yellow.  This has been proven at some intersections but the bureaucrats refuse to listen - adding a couple of tenths to the yellow doesn't make them any money!  In fact the local media has caught several lights actually having the yellow time decreased by a couple of tenths AFTER the cameras went up!

</soapbox mode>

I need to go take my blood-pressure pill now...

[not-so-fast-ed]

Went back over the bike looking for the VIN stamped on my frame & steering head.  Found it stamped on the right lower frame, below the clutch cable boot.   Go figure..  At least I now know where else to find it on mine.    :-?