Hello RoVr's,
I need some assistance. I am attempting to transfer the title of a US California titled '82 XZ550RJ to the state of Arizona.
According to the motor vehicle folks 1982 is the year that secondary VINs were stamped on the frame somewhere in addition to the tag on the steering head.
My bike shows a date of manufacture in December 1981. It does not seem to have the second VIN on the frame anywhere. If it does where should I be looking? If it doesn't where do the 1983 models have it stamped?
Mine appears to have the model (11H) and serial number stamped on the frame and engine but I don't see the long VIN on the frame.
So where is it SUPPOSED to be?
According to the Service Manual it should be on the left side of the "steering head pipe".
It is not there but I can see the date of manufacture: 12/81.
That means this frame pre-dates the VIN stamp regulation of 1982.
There's no VIN number on any of my bikes except #3 which was re-registered. In this country motorcycle VINs were not mandated till 1994. US is probably similar, give or take a few years.
I had a photo of mine that I took for a new insurance policy and it is on the right side on the steering head on my US '83.
Quote from: Walt_M. on July 01, 2020, 10:31:21 AM
I had a photo of mine that I took for a new insurance policy and it is on the right side on the steering head on my US '83.
Walt, Is that a VIN or just a frame serial number?. A VIN would be 17 long and start with JY4 (Yamaha). A serial number would start with the model code 11H 11J 24H 16R etc and usually match the engine serial number. Something like 16R-000679
Yes, it's a VIN JYA11Hxxxxxxxxxx.
My 1983 has the VIN stamped on the right side of the steering head starting with: JYA11H...
Thanks Kevin and my service manual confirms, right side, vertical lettering.
Mine is an '82 model year (JYA11H004CA******). It only appears on the tag. It has the model and frame number (11H-******) on the right.
The date of manufacture is 12/81 so I believe it pre-dates the 1982 requirement in the USA.
I suppose if all else fails I can get a state assigned "VIN" for the title.
I finally found my VIN photos that my insurance company insisted on before they could agree the bike existed. It is where we agreed it is and if you don't have JYA preceding the SN, good luck.
Arizona will issue a "VIN" generated by the state. It is a secondary number affixed to the frame.
I am a law-abiding citizen. I try not to circumvent things that are inconvenient. And this made more difficult by the fact that I have the tools to correct this numbering problem before it is inspected again.
I am just stuck in that time-frame between the VIN on a tag vs VIN on the frame itself.
Well the appointment with the Motor Vehicle Division went off without a hitch.
The inspector looked at the serial and VIN. I explained the problem as described by the folks at the front desk.
He replied,"We call it a partial VIN. These numbers match the serial number embedded on the tag. This is not an issue."
It took a few more minutes to run a search in the national crime database then the serial/VIN came back clear. The inspection cert was completed. I paid the princely sum of $20 USD, took the certificate and headed out.
Next stop is to get the actual registration.