Question about VIN numbers

[buddhacide]

I'm going to see a bike tomorrow. In communication with the seller, I asked for the bikes VIN so I could run a carfax check on the bike. The VIN that he gave me doesnt register on any of the sites I tried. Is this at all normal?

He told me he would provide me with a Used Vehicle Info Package as part of the sale. Should this be sufficient?

The seller is actually a fairly prominant doctor (Easily researched anyway). I dont really think he's up to anything. I just find it odd that this VIN doesnt seem to check out.

Should I be concerned?

[Chris8187]

From my own experience, I don't think those sites include motorcycles. What I did to find out if the guy I bought my motorcycle from was giving me the correct VIN number is to go to an insurance site. Put the VIN number in when receiving a quote, and it should put in the year and model of the motorcycle for that VIN number.

[vikram]

Carfax does not seem to support researching motorcycle VINs. I went to the local DMV site and paid $15 to get information on every VIN. Try to call up your local DMV or check up their online site.

[Wizzard]

What kind of bike and what year are we talking about ?
The 10th character of the VIN should be a digit denoting the year of the bike .
Regards, Wizzard

[buddhacide]

Its a 99 v-star 650. One site I went to did identify the model, but also said that they had no information on that particular VIN.

If motorcycles arent listed, that would be a painfully obvious answer to my problem I guess.

Now, I've never done this before, but the "used vehicle package" that he would provide will be the same info I would get from a VIN check right?

[ofblong]

well if the title vin matches the bike vin I would say your golden.