ID Confusion

Just curious. Does it have a disc brake?
Combat chassis had a disc front.

Yes, front disk

Mike:

It does have a front disk brake.

frame number VS VIN

Jason Curtiss said:

Debby,

The frame on my '75 Commando has a unique Vehicle Identification Number stamped on the right-hand side of the steering head stock. Texas and Oklahoma, and I'm sure many more states, use this number for the VIN on the title.

This causes confusion as owners may look at the flimisy red tag for the VIN and find it doesn't match the title. I came across one e-bay seller in Oklahoma that claimed the title did not match the bike. In reality, he was looking at the tag number instead of the frame number. Upon closer inspection, the frame number matched the title perfectly.

"A Thiefs Dream" sounds like the basis for a great essay!

Regards,

Jason

Click to expand...

The 850 frame# was a guvmint mandated thing, and was stamped on the neck of the frame. Yet the flimsy plate carried the VIN number that had long stood as nortons presentation of the actual VIN, and ususally has meaning to norton owners for norton discussions.
Changing to an entrely different subject....unerring government policy. In the US, different states do things differently. Some use the frame #, some use the VIN and some use the engine#.
Due to my overwhelming confidence in govmint beaurocracy, I generally ignore the title and registration (including Tx & Ok) and look at the VIN plate and a general look at the bike to tell the vintage. Though I will admit that TX and OK and sometimes CA may have been attempting to follow what the feds intended. It is obvious the states are not together on this and even within one state you will not get consistant titling/registrations.
Here in mass, my 75 E-start vin is 330046 not 850F130370.

I guess you just satisfy the "govmint" where ever you are and give them what ever # makes THEM happy (along with their money of course)
. :roll:

Just for the record, I feel pretty certain my registration plate is original to the bike. The bike is a 1970 Fastback and is clearly marked DEC 69. From the factory records that I've seen published, my serial number would place production square in this time frame. I've been thinking about replacing the plate because it has 35 years of wear and is as much silver as red with a few "character" marks on it. The rest of the bike is in nicer shape than the plate due to resto and refurb. I almost feel it's taboo to replace the plate. Rob

Mine looks original (i.e. is in pretty bad shape) and says OCT 1971

Debby