The engine numbers where 10 digit numerical IDs. The VIN numbers affected are 43000H9 through 48199H9.

The idea was quickly killed after law enforcement notified Harley-Davidson that it made the bikes look stolen. If the production number had 5 digits the first two digits would be odd during odd production years and even during even production years.įrom 1970 to 1980 the VIN number could be found on both the frame and the engine and would match exactly with the exception of a few months in 1979 which was due to an idea by the factory to make them different. The VIN was between 8 and 10 digits with the first 2 digits being the production year, the next 2 – 4 letters being the model designation and the last 4 digits being the production numberįrom 1962 to 1969 the VIN numbers where pretty much the same as from 1930 to 1962, but if the production number had 4 digits the first digit would be odd during odd production years and even during even production years. Unfortunately there is very little information out there for these numbers and what information is available is not always very accurate.įrom 1930 to 1962 the VIN number was the engine number and was only located on the left case. Prior to 1930 H-D VIN numbers were a bit erratic and model number designations changed frequently. In this article of Tech Tips we’ll breakdown the progression of VIN numbers used by Harley-Davidson and explain what they all mean.

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