VINs
We're at a point in the history of road-going motorcycling, when no one remembers what a motorbike serial number was. Riders are aging out, disappearing, and those coming into the activity are younger people who are unaware of the technological history of motorcycles. And user forums are doing little to correct that.

At one time, powersports manufacturers weren't required to have an identifying number on its vehicles. But of course they did, for their own internal record-keeping purposes, just like the makers of toasters and cameras. Naturally, every toaster manufacturer has their own system. However, all of them are "serial" systems--they recorded only the product's position in the manufacturing sequence. But although bikes were just like toasters, this changed in 1981. Late in 1979, Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 571.115) established that from the 81 model year forward (giving manufacturers time to comply) motorcycle identification would by law include nominal engine size and power codes, model year, body style, the manufacturer's plant, and more. The reason for this change was to increase the number of vehicles successfully recovered and repaired in recalls.

The vehicle identification system brought some other interesting things. First, unlike the serial number, each VIN had to be unique for a period of 30 years. Second, the VIN included an anti-theft code that if altered red-flagged a stolen vehicle. Third, the VIN, through its model id portion, codified the vehicle as either on-road or off-road. Despite forums doing it, calling a serial number a VIN is uber-incorrect and misleading. A serial number is of little informational benefit. A VIN by contrast is vastly more useful to all concerned.

Model dating
Even before the VIN system emerged in 1981, lawmakers were unhappy with the serial number system because it permitted manufacturers to sell last year's vehicles as current models. Nothing prohibited this. Until 1975. It was then that legislation mandated the addition of a model year to the already-existent manufactured year, to vehicle chassis markings. Two dates on each frame, in other words. Interestingly, 1975 was a big year for consumer legislation, bringing as it did the left side gear shift rule, headlights always on, and a host of similar vehicle laws. Among these was the watershed Magnusson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, the most impactive piece of consumer warranty law up to that time and possibly even since, because it gave consumers a ton of new rights, not the least of which was it made it impossible for manufacturers to "void" warranties.

A reader writes....

"My Father was a Suzuki Dealer in Bloomington, Indiana in the 1960s. I can remember, for many years, that he would send the MSOs [manufacturer's statement of origin--editor] for every bike in stock back to Suzuki, on December 15th, and they would send new MSOs updating the year of the bike. A 1966 model became a 1967 model with the stroke of a pen! Back in the day, new models came out at any time during the year, so a particular model could be deemed any year by requesting a new MSO on leftover units. This is evident when looking at Vintage Japanese bikes, and the variance in years produced. This process took about three weeks turnaround, and no bike could be sold and transferred during this period."