Missing frame number

In the mid 50's I crashed a Dominator 88 (van pulled out from a side road in front of me),the frame was severely bent, below the headstock. A new frame was supplied, direct from Norton, which came without a number. The repairer stamped the new frame, with the original number. This may now not be strictly legal, but, if your frame has no number, you could do the same, after all, who will know? John.

My son bought an 88 with a frame number which didn't match the V5. DVLA issued an new VIN (great big number) and an age-related registration. Gordon.

It would be interesting to see if there is a date stamped into the head-steady bracket which is welded onto the back of the frame steering head. One of my old 650 bikes has a stamping of "1-62 M" for instance, January 1962.

Many authorities and old coin dealers have a chemical that when put onto metal that has been stamped then worn or sanded smooth, will make the old numbers visible again enough for identification purposes, something to look into.

You can get the dispatch date of your engine from the NOC factory records check, then see if the date stamped on the frame is a few months before the dispatch date. I think Reynolds stamped the date on the frame, so a date earlier than your engine might indicate something built up from parts, a date later than your engine might indicate a replacement frame has been fitted.

Good luck with your quest for paperwork!

frame numbers and engine number are not the build date .as most Norton's were stamped up to 2 weeks after the build date . us letting you all know this.

As DVLA go on frame numbers as proof of manufacture year, and you don't have one, you'll get a Q plate because you can't prove the year of manufacture. The only way you'll get an age related plate is to have a frame number. I have done this lots of times and had a few pit falls. You need to say the parts of the bike are of the same year as well or that can be an excuse for them to call the bike a bitsa and give you a Q plate. I had this on a Harley I built. They issued me a very long frame number although the bike already had a number, and gave me a Q plate. As far as I know it is legal to re-stamp a number on a frame. I know someone who went to court over this and won, as he was restoring a bike. So I would re-stampthe frameproperlyand get your age related number.