Frame Number Help : 20117556 ?

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interstateOz

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Hi, i was wondering if anyone can help me out, ive looked and searched the information on the internet for serial numbers but i cant really definitively understand which one is my one. The frame number 20117556 is stamped on the actual frame not a tag, near the headstem/forks, if anyone can decipher the frame number id really appreciate it?

Thanks
Adam
 
Commando engine and frames normally had a 6-digit number (with the addition of an 'F' prefix on many 850 frames) as far as I know, so an 8-digit number makes no sense at all?
 
yeh i just double chekced it and thats whats stamped onto the frame but it looks like it may have had a tag riveted in the past, as there is 4 small holes what could be holes from rivets and id tag, but it makes no sense as to why this 8 digit number is now stamped on there, where the id tags would go. Its not really an issue i just thought it would have been great to identify it exactly as its a 69-70 early commando frame.
 
interstateOz said:
could it have been stamped on there wrongly maybe extra digits by mistake???
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I somehow doubt that, I expect it's more likely to have been re-stamped because the plate has been...er...."lost"? I don't know how they do things where you live in that sort of situation, but maybe it's a vehicle dept. re-stamp? Don't you have any vehicle registration documentation that shows a frame number?
 
na i havnt got any documents except an import approval as the bike was imported and sold as is, not fully running/needed restoration, over here in Australia u can buy a bike without paper work just a receipt and just do club or historic rego, either way im not sure what to make of the 8 digits but im not worried.
 
20 117556 would be an Atlas engine and frame number from 1967 or so. Has somebody been using one set of papers for two bikes once upon a time ?
 
Is there a number stamped on the crankcase?

Atlas motors would normally be stamped 20/1xxxxx, and the number 117556 should be 1966 model year. Atlas numbers should fall into the range of around 101060 (the start of the 1962 model year) to around 126000 sometime in 1968, when they started the Commando. These numbers include all Norton and Norton-AMC hybrid models built during this time, as far as I know.

Sounds like somebody fit an Atlas motor, or at least an Atlas title, to a Commando frame?
 
Na the motor is fine its a 6 digit number 20xxxx it was only on the frame that the 8 digit number appeared, i reckon a shonky import maybe or wrongly stamped for who knows what reason, its definately a commando though!
 
Just order up a Vin plate and have it stamped with the Engine number, you can get the build date from the NOC.
 
kommando said:
Just order up a Vin plate and have it stamped with the Engine number, you can get the build date from the NOC.
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Of course the plate is NOT a VIN plate. The motorcycle VIN numbering system wasn't introduced until 1981. It's a US safety certification plate which shows the vehicle conformed to the necessary safety requirements in force at the time of its manufacture, although it does appear to be regarded as a VIN plate these days by vehicle departments and even by suppliers who should know better, and who are sometimes reluctant to either sell them or stamp them because of it.
 
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