first owner trace

[Scrimhorse]

Is it possible to trace first owner of my 1965 police special?.

[1950Panhead]

I have done it four times, twice to construct ownership history, twice to locate bikes I sold years ago, it involves work.
I was able to trace five previous owners of a 63 Chevrolet and talk to all of them.
I owned a Kawasaki Z1 in 1973 which I sold in 1974. I started looking for it in 1990, I found it by accident (I had given up) in 2008, 18 years after I started searching.
Who did you buy the panhead from? Ask the previous owner who they bought it from and work your way backwards. This often involves locating people that have moved or relatives of the seller that still live nearby. If it was purchased from a newspaper ad and you know the date you can look at old newspapers and find the ad and phone number. Names can be located in city directories by phone number.
You can also request the state where titled to report the title history for a fee. Results vary by state, retention time for records vary.
I see you are in England, this will make it harder but it can be done.

Jerry

[RUBONE]

Is it possible to trace first owner of my 1965 police special?

Easy if the first owner was in the UK, hard if the first owner was in the US. That info is by state, so no national record keeping!
Robbie

[Panacea]

I have done it four times, twice to construct ownership history, twice to locate bikes I sold years ago, it involves work.
I was able to trace five previous owners of a 63 Chevrolet and talk to all of them.
I owned a Kawasaki Z1 in 1973 which I sold in 1974. I started looking for it in 1990, I found it by accident (I had given up) in 2008, 18 years after I started searching.
Who did you buy the panhead from? Ask the previous owner who they bought it from and work your way backwards. This often involves locating people that have moved or relatives of the seller that still live nearby. If it was purchased from a newspaper ad and you know the date you can look at old newspapers and find the ad and phone number. Names can be located in city directories by phone number.
You can also request the state where titled to report the title history for a fee. Results vary by state, retention time for records vary.
I see you are in England, this will make it harder but it can be done.

Jerry

Jerry, I had a Z1 back in 92, I traded two cases of oil for it. It sat for about ten years in the original owners garage until his wife finally convinced him to get rid of it. He couldn't make it run and was tired of looking at it. He finally gave the bike, which had been "personalized", to a friend of a friend,(my pal from work), after leaving it sit out behind his garage for a couple years, I finally was able to talk him out of it. I put it back to stock removing the Vetter fairing and running boards the original owner added, and found the correct pegs at a motorcycle graveyard. I got it running and rode it most of the summer until one day this Japanese kid asked me about the bike at the gas station. This was his dream bike and he offered me a pile of cash for it! It was funny though, the kid didn't even have a MC license, so I had to deliver the bike to his place the next day. That was a fast bike, 84 horse power 900 cc. I took that money and bought my first Panhead...Mike

[1950Panhead]

Mike,
You could be in big trouble for talking about Jap bikes on the panhead site, I hope they don't kick you off, Z1's are great bikes.
Prices have gone up... now you have to trade three case of oil for a panhead and four cases for a knucklehead.

Jerry

[panhead]

You could be in big trouble for talking about Jap bikes on the panhead site, I hope they don't kick you off

Why should we?

[fourthgear]

Good luck tracing it down & I mean it .

[Ohio-Rider]

Tracing a bikes history can be challenging and also quite rewarding as well. It can take a lot of phone calls and mailings. Be prepared to be hung up on often by people who are suspicious of your reasons for bothering them.

It can also lead to getting to speak with folks who are truly happy you talk to you about their old bike and some great stories they had with the bike when they owned it. During my search for the original owner of my 1945WL, I got to speak on the phone with an elderly gentleman who lived in Iowa and turned out to be the second owner of the bike. He talked my ear off for nearly an hour about the good times he had with the bike and all the women he had met while riding it. It turned out he still had photos of the bike with himself proudly sitting on it. He was even generous enough to send me one of those photos. As if that weren’t enough he also still had the last license plate he had on the bike when he sold it and sent that plate along to me as well. Now I have a photo of my bike from 1953 with that license plate on it. That photo and license plate are my pride and joy. That is one great old timer. I wish I could have met him in person.

He had bought the bike from a personal friend who was the original owner. He informed me that his friend had died long ago but gave me the number of one of his children who still lived in the area. I was able to make contact with the original owner’s youngest daughter but she had no recollection of her father having ever owning a motorcycle, let alone the one sitting in my garage. It was kind of a bitter sweet ending but it was a great adventure along the way. Oh, by the way, I am the bikes fifth owner.

[pusher]

This is a bit different of a case... however it might help so I will post it...

I bought an 80's yamaha for my friend's birthday. It had a title but the previous owner never transferred the title into his name -- but DID manage to scratch his name (not signature) into the title's 'purchaser' area. The DMV would not accept this paperwork (can't scratch out names on a title) until I found the original titled owner.

I posted an ad on the craigslist where I purchased the bike. Lo and behold a relative of the individual who originally owned the bike emailed me "hey.. I saw your craigslist post -- John is my brother". I was then able to get the title transferred after meeting him at the DMV.

Technology (cl/forums) may be used to your advantage.