This is THE stupidest situation

[BornAgainPan]

Hello All.
I dunno if anyone else has experienced this but I recently took the Pan European frame and various other bits to Booths in Purton to have them shotblasted and transferred to Holland and Farmer for powdercoating. I emphasized to Paul Booth the importance of the VIN plate and he assured me they, 'would sort something out'. He then called me to tell me Alan (from H&F) was there to transfer the pieces and casually says,
"We had a bit of a problem with the VIN plate 'cos the silver gaffer-tape came off and the shot-blast man didn't notice and accidentally erased it." (I'm paraphrasing.)
So!
Has anyone any ideas on what the hell I need to do now?
I've called the DVLA and they tell me the plate is supplied by the original manufacturer, i.e. Honda.
I called Blade Honda here in Swindon and the parts guy has never had this problem in his 20+ years in the trade. He emailed Honda UK before the holiday and I'm waiting for his advice.
Any ideas?
Please?

[Burbler]

A blunt rusty knife springs to mind...

[Hondafan]

The VIN is also stamped into the headstock normally so you shouldn't really have a problem

[Red Zed 1]

as hondafan says..if not then i have a set of stamps you can borrow to stamp the vin to the frame..

[Jon_W]

The VIN is engraved or stamped. even if the decal of the VIN plate is erased the number should survive.

[BornAgainPan]

Fortunately for me the VIN number was stamped in the headstock so the frame still has an ID. (Otherwise evisceration with the aforementioned rusty knife was seriously on the cards!) I've talked to a few people and all suggest I might be looking at a significant cost here to get a new plate. Still waiting for info from Blade Honda.
I'll post the result here for the benefit of anyone else in this stupid position...

[Conehead]

If you are worried about the police etc then dont. Many moons ago I restored an XS400 and in the process I realised the frame number and engine numbers did not match and to make it even worse the engine number was not correct according to the V5. I spoke to DVLA at length and also personally visited the local police station and neither were interested. They even went as far to get confirmation that it was not a problem by getting the traffic police to call me direct to discuss. Looks like they dont care.

Anyway, I would take up Als offer of using his stamps to restamp it if you were worried.

[Jon_W]

I've had a frame number wrong compared to the V5. It was picked up by the MoT tester and reported to the DVLA. I got a one page form to fill in confirming the vehicles details, then got sent a new, corrected V5.

[Jed]

Working on the principle that getting a duplicate VIN plate must be something that car/bike restorers need to achieve their showroom condition finishes; I googled replacement VIN plate and came up with this http://www.vin-plate.co.uk/ Suggest you have a look, give them a call etc but it seems like a solution!

[BornAgainPan]

Well that's a turn up!
Thank you Jed.
I have been in touch with Blade Honda in Swindon and they did some investigation as far as Honda UK HQ and eventually said that even if I bought a new frame there wouldn't be a plate with it. The number is stamped into the headstock and that is what the MOT tester will look for. After all, as they said, anybody can change a plate.
In the interests of authenticity I will probably get a replacement one from this place assuming they can supply the screw rivety things to fasten it to the frame.
The frame now looks like new since Holland & Farmer worked their magic with black powdercoat. However their service was less than perfect since they did not do what we agreed. After discussion with Alan it was agreed that the area where the number was would be masked off, not powdercoated, and then sprayed black after the powder was baked. That would mean the stamped number would not be "buried". When I collected it he apologised and said the powdercoat man hadn't masked it as we agreed but the number was stil visible, so it was OK.
Is it me or is customer service a dirty phrase around here?