Harley-Davidson Motor Company, Inc. (Harley) brought this diversity action against Custom Cycle Delight, Inc. (Custom Cycle) and Richard Oliver and John Oliver, two of its officers and directors, after Harley recovered from Custom Cycle’s shop mo*1372torcycle parts that were stolen from Harley’s warehouse. Harley’s complaint stated three claims for relief: the first and third for the defendants’ participation in a conspiracy to convert Harley’s motorcycle parts; the second, for their participation in a conspiracy to fraudulently deprive Harley of the parts. The district court entered summary judgment against Harley on the ground that California’s statute of limitations for actions based on conversion, Code of Civil Procedure § 338(3),1 barred all three of Harley’s claims.

On appeal, Harley concedes that § 338(3) bars the first and third claims, but contends that the district court erred in ruling that the second claim was “ultimately predicated upon plaintiff’s claim of conversion” and therefore governed by § 338(3). Harley argues that the statute of limitations for actions based on fraud, Code of Civil Procedure § 338(4),2 which is a more favorable accrual statute, applies to the second claim. We agree with Harley and reverse and remand.

Under California law, an action for conversion is not the sole remedy for the taking of personal property. The owner may alternatively recover on a fraud theory if he can plead and prove that personal property was taken by fraud.3 2 B. Witkin California Procedure § 325(c) (2d ed. 1970); cf. Schneider v. Union Oil Company of California, 6 Cal.App.3d 987, 992, 86 Cal.Rptr. 315, 317-18 (1970) (plaintiff’s remedy is not limited to conversion; he may sue for breach of fiduciary duty).

Custom Cycle claims that even if § 338(4) applies, Harley’s second claim for relief is time barred because Harley discovered the alleged fraud when it traced stolen parts to Custom Cycle’s shop in February 1974, more than four years before Harley filed the complaint. Harley responds that it did not discover Custom Cycle’s participation in the conspiracy until Custom Cycle and Richard Oliver pleaded guilty, on July 14, 1975, to federal criminal charges of possessing parts with the knowledge that they were stolen.4

These competing claims give rise to a factual issue as to when Harley discovered, within the meaning of § 338(4), the facts constituting the alleged fraud. Under California case law, discovery, in the legal sense of that term, occurs when the plaintiff has the “means of knowledge or notice which followed by inquiry would have shown the circumstances upon which the cause of action is founded.” Bainbridge v. Stoner, 16 Cal.2d 423, 430, 106 P.2d 423, 438 (1940). We cannot decide that issue of fact on the record before us.5 Accordingly, we *1373hold only that § 338(4), rather than § 338(3), is the statute of limitations applicable to Harley’s second claim for relief.

REVERSED and REMANDED.