1981 KZ550 with a 12 digit VIN??

hey all,

i searched and searched here and on google and the only reports i see is that people are saying that kawasaki had a 12 digit vin up until the late 70's sometime. well i bought my second kz in november and its aparently a 1981 kz550c but the vin number is only 12 digits long. it sounds correct but who knows... can anyone clarify this?

the number looks legit -> kz550c - 008673

I think you are not looking at the vin. The vin is stamped on the steering head and should be on a decal there, too. It should look like this - JKAKZFA17BA009701

yeah im looking at the vin info sticker. cream coloured sticker on the tree. also has production yeat n such. is there a number on the frame i can match it too maybe? no number looked scratched or anything....


its odd to me too. my other vin is a 17 digit jkak...... vin number

thanks

After further poking around, I have seen a 1980 KZ with the shorter number. I wonder if yours was an early production model made before the reg went into effect?

Depending where the vehicle was originally marketed, the 12 digit frame VIN was used through 1983. Where are you located? Do you have any info on the history of the bike?

Interesting. I just went to the garage (brrr) and checked mine. My 81 was made in Feb. of that year and has a 17 digit vin, the 82 also has the longer number.

TexasKZ wrote:

Interesting. I just went to the garage (brrr) and checked mine. My 81 was made in Feb. of that year and has a 17 digit vin, the 82 also has the longer number.

Yeah, North America mandated the 17 digit VIN...other places used the 12 digit VIN.

My 1980 550 has the 12 digit VIN , starting with KZ550. I have 3 81's, they all have the 17 digit JKAKZ..... type. None of them are "C" models however. The 1980 is an "A" and the 1981s are "D" models

im from saskatchewan canada. so flat here i can almost see the west coast!... if there wasnt snow blowing EVERYWHERE lol

i just went out and check them both again. the one is 12 digits on both the frame and sticker. mfd. 6/80 and has the KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD. made in japan.

where as my other bike with 17 digits. all the info was the same but was mfd. in 12/80... still made in japan with kawasaki heavy industries.

The non-US spec bikes came with the shorter VIN codes later than US bikes. I bought a couple 1986 RG500's from Canada and they had the shorter VIN. I thought non-US VIN codes were 13 digits not 12.



17 digit VIN's became mandatory for 1981 model year in US.

Found this info:

www.kerrywilson.com/vin.htm

mjg15 wrote:

I thought non-US VIN codes were 13 digits not 12.

They are, if you count the dash space as a digit.

lowie182 wrote:

im from saskatchewan canada. so flat here i can almost see the west coast!... if there wasnt snow blowing EVERYWHERE lol

i just went out and check them both again. the one is 12 digits on both the frame and sticker. mfd. 6/80 and has the KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD. made in japan.

where as my other bike with 17 digits. all the info was the same but was mfd. in 12/80... still made in japan with kawasaki heavy industries.

So, the 6/80 bike is titled as a 1981?? I can see the 12/80 titled that way, but June seems too early. I wonder if there was a titling sanfu somewhere along the way??