800 VIN count down

[Pete]

  Ok so I have tried this system and on both the bikes the start is good, but they wander from the form, the engine size is incorrect, and so like four to eight seem messed up, but if I look at your chart mine both are VN 800 C1 bikes and the numbers and letters are correct.
in position 10 both mine have an "X" and then 2419 and 2449

Yes, it's interesting, there seems to be two slightly different systems running in the Drifter VINs. I don't know why for sure, but I have seen an article that states that the US has mandated one or two small changes to the standard for vehicles sold in the US (so no change there then, the US creating a "standard" different to everybody else).

You can't calculate how many Drifters were made from the chart, because you don't know how many of an allocation of numbers for a given year were actually used, but you can make an estimate of the upper limit of Drifters made if you make a couple of reasonable assumptions.

[CDNRatMan]

     Ok so I have tried this system and on both the bikes the start is good, but they wander from the form, the engine size is incorrect, and so like four to eight seem messed up, but if I look at your chart mine both are VN 800 C1 bikes and the numbers and letters are correct.
in position 10 both mine have an "X" and then 2419 and 2449

[Pete]

Here is how the VIN is interpreted:
# The VIN system was initially defined in ISO377 of 1977. The current revision is ISO3779 of 2009.
# The VIN does not tell you anything about where a bike was sold.
# Manufacturers start a year with a block of numbers. They do not necessarily use all of that block of numbers. The numbers are not necessarily used in sequence.
The System works like this:
Character 1: Where vehicle built.
Characters 2 & 3: Identity of manufacturer.
Characters 4 to 8: Identifies vehicle model, version of model, engine type (characters chosen by and for convenience of manufacturer).
Character 9: Security code (calculated by an algorithm from the rest of the VIN, it changes for each motorcycle, it can be 0 - 9 or "X").
Character 10: Year of manufacture.
Character 11: Identifies assembly plant.
Characters 12 - 17: Serial No to identify specific vehicle.

If your VIN differs slightly from this scheme it may have been allocated at a different revision of the standard.

So to find the earliest VIN you need to use Character 10 and the characters 12 -17.

Here are the VN800 VINs.   The earliest VN800 will have an "X" at position 10.

[rob f]

The 800 that I just bought has VIN....0210 but a 2001. Guess I don't win nuthin' for that eh?
R of Ab

[The Bride]

Princess is a 2000, 7279

[2beers]

Blue is a 2000, 7331

[CDNRatMan]

  on the triple tree plate both say 1/99 and then

Red is 2419

Pearl is 2449.............

[greenbarn]

So what are yours?

[CDNRatMan]

  Quess we should see who has the lowest VIN's in the 800's lol like the big boys over in the 1500 section....lol......