VIN Tags and Dates

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It sounds like an SOB w/o a title.
I'm in law enforcement in Penna.
1981 all autos became standardized 17 digit Vehicle Identification Numbers (Hence VIN).
Formally they were 13 or 14 digits I can't remember.
Motorcycles were non conforming and may have come into line at a later time.
My 1995 Harley is a 17 digit Vin number.
I believe the standardization was mandated due to auto thefts which increased dramatically in the 1980's.
When I worked at General Motors in the 1980's now called Government Motors, The vin told the story of the car.
IE..... 1 = Chevrolet Division, 3 Oldsmobile Division etc...
Next digit was last year of manufacture ie.... 7 = 1967.
next was the body style ie.... 44 = 442.
next was the production run ie.... 2314567 this was the number that car was off the assy line.
On the fire wall was a protecto plate whch gave the building plant Lansing, or Flint etc....
Interior trim code, paint code, month and week it was built during year can not tell exact day but weeks were specified.
If it was a crappy car it typically was refered to as a Monday car cause everybody was hung over still.
Motorcycles never received this type of attention to detail till much later.
General Motors did not do this for the benefit of the collector some 30 + years later but for their own recording purpose.
Just a little Mr Good wrench for every one.
I know I'm buying every thing with a title as it gets kinda sketchy in this post 911 world trying to get things documented w/o prior
documention. It is just gettin tougher thats all.
Best O luck RS and let us know when it comes through titled
Marshal
 
HIGHLY disagree
True, it may not satisfy "todays" beaurocratic requirements for NEW bikes with NEW standardized VIN.

THE red plate IS the VIN for the era the bike was made, and since generally the number would be "grandfathered" as valid here in the US. At least in the states I have dealt with.

My 72 combat with VIN 202206 is dated dec 1971 the tag is original, unmolested and very faded.
My friend with 200205* is also Dec 1971 and is also an original combat .

*Edited by the moderator as dynodave subsequently discovered the number to be 202005.
L.A.B. said:
RoadScholar said:
Just before I purchased the bike I called the police and asked them to run the number; the guy who, finally, did it was convinced tha the number was way to short.


VIN numbers typically contain 14 digits. But then, the Commando frame plate number is not a true "VIN number", and the plate is not a "VIN plate"-even if registration authorities tend to regard it as such these days, it's a safety certification plate-as the VIN number system for motorcycles wasn't introduced until around 1980.
 
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I have removed the tag from my frame, have it in a safe place, and have purchased a shiney new blank tag from an ebay seller, mine also only has a number, no date, if I wanted to add the date, where would I find what month the bike rolled out of the factory, 1970 Roadster : 140 892.
VIN Tags and Dates

VIN Tags and Dates
 
I GOT IT!!!

L.A.B. said:
RoadScholar said:
Just before I purchased the bike I called the police and asked them to run the number; the guy who, finally, did it was convinced tha the number was way to short.


VIN numbers typically contain 14 digits. But then, the Commando frame plate number is not a true "VIN number", and the plate is not a "VIN plate"-even if registration authorities tend to regard it as such these days, it's a safety certification plate-as the VIN number system for motorcycles wasn't introduced until around 1980.

These are the ONLY numbers on the bike, so call them what you will, they are unique enough to qualify for being a "VIN".

Anyway... I got the Vermont plate and registration yesterday!!!

VIN Tags and Dates



There were a number of times when I worried that I may end up with a great motorcycle that I couldn't ride (legally). Thanks to SwooshDave (?) for pointing me to Vermont!

RS
 
I'm restoring a 1971 Roadster, and getting the frame ready for powdercoating. Using an excellent suggestion from this forum, I removed the VIN tag by carving a slot in the screw heads with a Dremel cutoff wheel and unscrewing them.

Here's a pic. It appears that Norton did not discriminate against the dyslexic in their hiring :D

VIN Tags and Dates


Now I have to decide whether or not to correct it on the replacement tag...

Cheers,

Dave
 
I would correct it. YAM, that's good, sounds like a yellow potato. I took my plate to a jeweler to have it engraved after I tried stamping one in the dark of a workshop and ruined it and got the 3 backwards. I told the wife I was drunk when I did it and she believed me. The jeweler will engrave it just right and they have the automatic machines and it looks just fine, cost me less than $20. Keep your old one just in case with your title.

VIN Tags and Dates


Dave
69S
 
Greetings... I'm new here. Love the YAM stamping and the whole forum. My '71 Roadster has the 6 digit number, same as engine, stamped on the data plate but the date is stamped upside-down from everything else and fallen out of the box toward the ground... gravity? Great to know those are screws and there are shiny new data plates available. I had to have pencil rubbings of the frame and engine numbers when I re-titled and registered in Alaska in 1985 even though I had a good title from Maryland. Awkward but not too much of a hassle.

I would stamp everything rightside up and spelled forward in the box on a new data plate. No need to commemorate the drunken dyslexic backwards guy that did some of them right back then.

GREAT website and forum. My Norton is currntly a back burner project since it needs so much; currently working lazily on a '71 airhead which is still in the "in-deeper" "that's stuck too" phases of deconstruction. I'll be here reading the former million posts for quite awhile. There's a lot I don't know.

Chuck
 
NOTRON said:
Greetings... I'm new here. Love the YAM stamping and the whole forum. My '71 Roadster has the 6 digit number, same as engine, stamped on the data plate but the date is stamped upside-down from everything else and fallen out of the box toward the ground... gravity? Great to know those are screws and there are shiny new data plates available. I had to have pencil rubbings of the frame and engine numbers when I re-titled and registered in Alaska in 1985 even though I had a good title from Maryland. Awkward but not too much of a hassle.

I would stamp everything rightside up and spelled forward in the box on a new data plate. No need to commemorate the drunken dyslexic backwards guy that did some of them right back then.

GREAT website and forum. My Norton is currntly a back burner project since it needs so much; currently working lazily on a '71 airhead which is still in the "in-deeper" "that's stuck too" phases of deconstruction. I'll be here reading the former million posts for quite awhile. There's a lot I don't know.

Chuck

Hey Welcome to the forum! What part of Alaska are you in?
I don't run into many Nortons around here.
Russ
 
Russ,

I live in Kasilof on the Kenai Penninsula. I've only seen one Norton around here a few years ago. It was a runner but a total rat bike. Totally wired together and very loud. The owner loved it though. He didn't seem like a gear-head but maybe that's changed. I've seen two in Anchorage over the many years. Maybe the same bike. Mine has been off the road since '85. It was pretty thrashed from the trip up. The Alaska Highway is a lot smoother now.

We just got above zero and up to twenty degrees so I might start sanding my frame on the porch soon. Easy work and lots of it.

Another thought on the VIN plate question. It's possible a front office guy stamped the #s on the plates at various stages of construction and completion. That might explain the upside-down month and year on mine... stamped when completed and easier to reach through the cables and wiring. The assembly guys would have a tough time knowing what number was next and there was probably some legal paperwork related to the creation of a motor vehicle.

Give me a PM Russ if you want to call and talk bikes. I'm a luddite on dial up so be patient with me.

Chuck
 
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