Where do all the stolen sleds go?

[Danbot]

Stolen toys are always on my mind now. My 13 pro was stolen last feb, and my 15 snowcheck RMK was stolen from dealer lot the night before I was going to pick it up.

So, in my mind there's a couple ways stolen sleds disappear:

1. Parted out.
Dispose of the tunnel and sell the rest.

2. Farm kids.
People who ride on private property, or such remote locations there's little fear of getting caught riding a stolen machine.

3. VIN swap.
Acquire clean paperwork from a smashed chassis, or part-out.

I'll dive a little deeper into #3...

I'll give an example:
A friend destroyed his 08XP a few years ago running into a tree. He did not have insurance at the time, so he purchased a new OEM chassis from BRP and I helped him do the swap. Once we had it all together, it dawned on us that this new chassis had no serial number on it at all. He called his BRP dealer to find out what to do. We expected some sort of official method , but not so. They had us haul the assembled sled, and the old chassis up to them, and all they did was cut the stamped VIN off the old tunnel and rivet it onto the new chassis. They assured him this was legal, and would cause no problems. Is this how aftermarket tunnel installs are dealt with?
So someone who steals a sled, need only purchase a cheap crashed chassis to stamp or rivet a clean and usable VIN to it? Same go for cars and trucks?

Just trying to wrap my head around the raw number of sleds that get stolen and never re-surface across AB and BC. I also believe that because up til now, BC had no requirement to have insurance and registration on snowmobiles lends to a situation where a guy can frequent mountain riding area's without getting checked for proof of ownership. I hear some area's RCMP do run occasional campaigns of checking paperwork and such but in the last 7 years of riding in popular area's I have not once been checked. System seems very flawed to me.

 

[89sandman]

Most thieves are lazy pos's that wouldn't bother trying to get the vins switched. With the cost of newer sleds the parts should be marked such as a car so the parts are easily identified.

 

[mortelec]

I would guess parted out but who knows. In Minnesota I'm not really sure if any authority would ever check the vin wether it a car, boat or sled. Seems like all they care about is the license #.

 

[Saskguy]

Interesting questions, I have snowmobiled/trailered to Montana, Wyoming,South Dakota, B.C (south and way north) from my home here in Sask. and have never had any paperwork checked. Makes you wonder how many guys steal sleds and just ride them as it seems chances of getting caught are slim to none.

 

[icr]

i remember reading an article a year or two back about a guy getting busted with a stolen pro in Canada. He told a professional thief what type of sled he wanted, handed over 3-4k, and it was delivered a week later. His neighbors knew he couldn't afford a brand new pro and hadn't bought it local so they turned him in.

 

[POLZIN]

Go back to riding a 900 ! No one will steal it


If I were a pos that would steal a sled I wouldnt worry about it one bit . I'd just get the same $ 35.00 Colorado non resident sticker and ride I can't think of a time anyone ever looked for anything more than that in my areas. I just order the sticker via the Internet no vin etc. required

 

[zalez]

I would never steal anything. I have too much of a conscious. That being said, I have also never been stopped and asked for paperwork. And when purchasing a sticker, they do ask for VIN but I could be giving a random number and no one would ever think twice. There has to be a better way/system to keep track of these.

 

[Danbot]

Go back to riding a 900 ! No one will steal it


If I were a pos that would steal a sled I wouldnt worry about it one bit . I'd just get the same $ 35.00 Colorado non resident sticker and ride I can't think of a time anyone ever looked for anything more than that in my areas. I just order the sticker via the Internet no vin etc. required

haha you got it Kreg, even the thieves know the legend of the poo 900!

I would never steal anything. I have too much of a conscious. That being said, I have also never been stopped and asked for paperwork. And when purchasing a sticker, they do ask for VIN but I could be giving a random number and no one would ever think twice. There has to be a better way/system to keep track of these.

In Alberta, any off road vehicle requires insurance, registration, and a license plate. If a cop or a CO sees you unloading, crossing a road etc they will likely come check out all said paperwork and verify the VIN on the machine.

 

[zalez]

If the checking of VINS would happen more often (especially in the states) then it would limit to parting out or keeping sleds on private land. Now if parting out wasn't so damn profitable, it would also possibly cut down on stolen sleds.

 

[0neoldfart]

In Canada...

Stolen toys are always on my mind now. My 13 pro was stolen last feb, and my 15 snowcheck RMK was stolen from dealer lot the night before I was going to pick it up.

So, in my mind there's a couple ways stolen sleds disappear:

1. Parted out.
Dispose of the tunnel and sell the rest.

2. Farm kids.
People who ride on private property, or such remote locations there's little fear of getting caught riding a stolen machine.

3. VIN swap.
Acquire clean paperwork from a smashed chassis, or part-out.

I'll dive a little deeper into #3...

I'll give an example:
A friend destroyed his 08XP a few years ago running into a tree. He did not have insurance at the time, so he purchased a new OEM chassis from BRP and I helped him do the swap. Once we had it all together, it dawned on us that this new chassis had no serial number on it at all. He called his BRP dealer to find out what to do. We expected some sort of official method , but not so. They had us haul the assembled sled, and the old chassis up to them, and all they did was cut the stamped VIN off the old tunnel and rivet it onto the new chassis. They assured him this was legal, and would cause no problems. Is this how aftermarket tunnel installs are dealt with?
So someone who steals a sled, need only purchase a cheap crashed chassis to stamp or rivet a clean and usable VIN to it? Same go for cars and trucks?

Just trying to wrap my head around the raw number of sleds that get stolen and never re-surface across AB and BC. I also believe that because up til now, BC had no requirement to have insurance and registration on snowmobiles lends to a situation where a guy can frequent mountain riding area's without getting checked for proof of ownership. I hear some area's RCMP do run occasional campaigns of checking paperwork and such but in the last 7 years of riding in popular area's I have not once been checked. System seems very flawed to me.

The long and the short of it: If you have changed the tunnel on a sled with an aftermarket unit, you are required (supposed to) obtain a new VIN for the vehicle. This is accomplished by having a vehicle inspection and an officer from the IBC assign a new VIN plate to the vehicle (BTW, this applies to bikes, quads, etc, as well). The machine will be registered as a custom build. In Alberta, they provide a blue VIN tag, and if you don't have it, the RCMP may chose to impound said vehicle until it can be proven where ALL of the parts came from. Does said impound happen often? No, but if you have a ticket happy officer, you may encounter this scenario...

 

[Hardass]

Parting them out seems like the best option to me there is a hi demand for used parts out there and the risk of getting caught by any one for buying say a clutch or a arm are probably very minimal.All these sites have places to sell used parts so theres a huge market place.Oh and once you sell enough parts you can buy a nice legal sled.