Unstamped Frame

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yorkie

Yorkie

VIP MEMBER
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
216
Country flag
As part of a deal I received a very nice early Fastback frame but it has no data plate. obviously I cannot tell if it has been stolen so what to do? Ideally I could use a data tag off a frame that has been damaged beyond repair but I don’t have one. Any thoughts as to what to do to make this frame legit?
 
Well, truthfully, you can't. What you are looking to do is 'cover up' the fact that it might not be legit!

If you cannot tell if it has been stolen, no one else can either!!

If you are hoping to build this into a road bike, you will need to acquire an identity from somewhere.

Obviously, this path has deliberately been made difficult in pretty much every country.

Apart from buying a wreck with paperwork or buying a new identity plate and creating a new identity, you have very little by way of choice!

Either way can lead to frustrations.
 
Here in Pennsylvania you can not get a title for lost older bike BUT if you have a friendly policeman run the engine numbers and if it is not stolen you can apply for a title in Vermont Or a friend in Maine who could write you a bill of sale! Good luck.
 
Perhaps the plate could be stamped in continuational succession of the last machine number on record that was built
 
Last edited:
If the numbers have been damaged then what's that telling you as all frames have numbers stamped on it as plates are easy to change.
 
ashman said:
If the numbers have been damaged then what's that telling you as all frames have numbers stamped...
Click to expand...

If this "early Fastback frame" has evidence of a certification plate having been attached (4 hammer-drive screw/rivet holes?) then there would not be a number stamped on the actual frame.
 
Just to reiterate, I have no idea what the original serial number was otherwise I’d just fit a new plate.
 
Sorry we get carried away at times. If the engine and trans serial numbers match you can safely bet the frame is the same. If they don't match I'd go by the engine since that is what most states recognize.
 
mean gene said:
Sorry we get carried away at times. If the engine and trans serial numbers match you can safely bet the frame is the same. If they don't match I'd go by the engine since that is what most states recognize.
Click to expand...

No mention of an engine and gearbox though, only a frame.
 
If it is an early Fastback frame, without the reinforcing brace, you probably don't want to use it.
A good fabricator could install the reinforcing brace, or you need to find another frame.
Many of the early Fastback frames (widowmaker) were replaced with unstamped frames.

In your shoes, I would keep my eyes open for an early engine and see if I could register the frame against that engine number. Seems that every jurisdiction has a different process.
 
Stephen Hill said:
If it is an early Fastback frame, without the reinforcing brace, you probably don't want to use it.
A good fabricator could install the reinforcing brace, or you need to find another frame.
Click to expand...

If a widowmaker frame then it should have a frame number stamped directly onto the headstock as it would be too early to have had a certification plate.
 
Sounds like its a ' replacement ' for a widowmaker frame . Used or unused .

General slapdash ' the appretice / schoolkid ' used to do menial work & min. hours job ,

Glare inside the steering head to see if it has I.D. tag rivet holes .
 
Yorkie said:
As part of a deal I received a very nice early Fastback frame but it has no data plate. obviously I cannot tell if it has been stolen so what to do? Ideally I could use a data tag off a frame that has been damaged beyond repair but I don’t have one. Any thoughts as to what to do to make this frame legit?
Click to expand...
Are you saying it has no Red Certification Label and does have the four holes for one?

750 frames that came with the Certification Label cannot be identified by any other means - they are simply a part. 850s have a separate serial number and the frame number generally didn't match the engine until part way into the MKIII and then only part matched.
 
marshg246 said:
Are you saying it has no Red Certification Label and does have the four holes for one?

750 frames that came with the Certification Label cannot be identified by any other means - they are simply a part. 850s have a separate serial number and the frame number generally didn't match the engine until part way into the MKIII and then only part matched.
Click to expand...
There was no red certification label but as I dig through the parts there is a gearbox stamped 126XXX which points to a Fastback so the mystery could be solved.
 
Yorkie said:
There was no red certification label but as I dig through the parts there is a gearbox stamped 126XXX which points to a Fastback so the mystery could be solved.
Click to expand...

A 126xxx gearbox would be from a widowmaker frame if it is actually a Commando gearbox.

A widowmaker frame would not have a certification plate, therefore, no holes to attach it but would have had a serial number stamped vertically on the headstock.
 
L.A.B. said:
A 126xxx gearbox would be from a widowmaker frame if it is actually a Commando gearbox.

A widowmaker frame would not have a certification plate, therefore, no holes to attach it but would have had a serial number stamped vertically on the headstock.
Click to expand...
Would this be true if the frame had been swapped out or were the widow makers modified with the additional bracing tube?
 
Yorkie said:
Would this be true if the frame had been swapped out...
Click to expand...

That would depend on when the frame was swapped (many weren't) and there would be no original plate to attach to the frame.

Yorkie said:
or were the widow makers modified with the additional bracing tube?
Click to expand...

If an original widowmaker frame had been modified with the additional bracing tube then it should still have its original number stamped directly onto the frame headstock. Presumably, this frame has the bracing tube and no evidence of it having the curved widowmaker bracing plate and fuel tank support brackets attached to the downtubes?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

Q
Right hand to left hand shift change time frame
2
Replies
23
Views
557
74ok
74ok
jseng1
Oil in frame
2
Replies
35
Views
1,179
SteveA
SteveA
S
Stand for Frame-off Rebuild
Replies
11
Views
431
SteveA
SteveA
T
Frame checking
2
Replies
33
Views
1,130
Matchless
Matchless
danfr
Remote purchase of frame
2 3 4
Replies
68
Views
2,717
CanukNortonNut
CanukNortonNut
Back
Top