VIN Number Needed

Hey Everyone,

I am trying to transfer my title and get insurance on my bike so I can ride the mug around town. Anyways, I've tried to decipher Chacal's vin number report, and I have had some luck, but I'm still struggling.

I should I have a 1981 XJ650 Midnight Maxim. The frame and engine are both stamped with the same 9 digit vin beginning with 4w5. It's a '81 so the 10th place should be a "B"?... jya 4w5 _ _ _ B _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _??

Can someone please transfer my 9-digit vin into a 17-digit for me... and later can you come over and walk my dog and cook me dinner?

4W5 000 266

Thanks guys!

 

The full VIN number is on a decal on the neck of the frame. It should also be on the pink slip you got from the previous owner or whatever paperwork you were provided.

 

Your almost-complete VIN will be:

JYA4W500?BA000266

The question mark is the "check digit", and can be calculated as follows:


* Here is how you calculate the "check digit" that is in position #9 in the VIN:

A) All letters and characters in the long VIN are assigned a numerical value. Numbers, of course, keep their like-value (i.e. 1 = 1, 5 = 5, etc.) Letters are assigned the numerical values as follows:

1 = A or J
2 = B, K, or S
3 = C, L, or T
4 = D, M, or U
5 = E, N, or V
6 = F or W
7 = G, P, or X
8 = H or Y
9 = R or Z


B) A multiplication factor is assigned to each VIN character position:

1st position: x8
2nd position: x7
3rd position: x6
4th position: x5
5th position: x4
6th position: x3
7th position: x2
8th position: x10
9th position: unknown, this is what you're trying to figure out!
10th position: x9
11th position: x8
12th position: x7
13th position: x6
14th position: x5
15th position: x4
16th position: x3
17th position: x2


C) Okay, now convert the 17-position VIN to the numerical value as outlined in "A" above:

JYA4H700?BA101457 (the ? is the check digit we're trying to calculate)

becomes, from the coding routine in "A" above:

18148700?21101457

and multiply each position value by the multiplication factor in "B" above:

1st position: 1 x8 = 8
2nd position: 8 x7 = 56
3rd position: 1 x6 = 6
4th position: 4 x5 = 20
5th position: 8 x4 = 32
6th position: 7 x3 = 21
7th position: 0 x2 = 0
8th position: 0 x10 = 0
9th position: unknown, this is what you're trying to figure out!
10th position: 2 x9 = 18
11th position: 1 x8 = 8
12th position: 1 x7 = 7
13th position: 0 x6 = 0
14th position: 1 x5 = 5
15th position: 4 x4 = 16
16th position: 5 x3 = 15
17th position: 7 x2 = 14


D) Now, add up all those sums from above:

8 + 56 + 6 + 20 + 32 + 21 + 0 + 0 + 18 + 8 + 7 + 0 + 5 + 16 + 15 + 14 = 226

Divide the sum (226) by 11 and note what the "remainder" is:

226 divided by 11 = 20 with a "remainder" of 6.........here, I'd forgotten basic math, too, so here's what a "remainder" is!:

226 divided by 11 is 20.5455, but the ".5455" part is not important. What IS important is that 11 x 20 = 220, and the "remainder" is 6 (because 220 + 6 is = 226). The "remainder" is the amount "left over" when you are using just whole numbers, no decimal places or fractions allowed.........

So the check digit for this VIN is 6:

JYA4H7006BA101457

By the way, if the calculations for a particular VIN leaves a "remainder" of 10 or more, then the check digit becomes the letter "X".

 

OW. I think something just went "pop" in my head.

That IS some serious reverse engineering there. Cool.

 

Oh my. That's sick how you do that. Thank you Chacal and everyone else!

 

You did get that "6" is NOT necessarily your check digit, right? It's how his example worked out?

He just showed you how it was done. My fifth grader wants to do yours, would you be offended?

 

Yeah-squared------I have NOT figured your check digit to be 6, I just gave an example of the sequence of steps that you would go through....with your own VIN....to "de-code" the check digit. I used the VIN JYA4H700?BA101457 as a sample for all the calculations above; you'll have to start at step A) and do the same for your VIN to arrive at the correct check digit.....

 

my check digit ended up being 6 also..

Thanks again!

 

Yes it did. Not only did my fifth grader do yours, he insisted that I give him my VINs with the check digit missing so he could calculate those too.

 

haha. that's awesome. I'm a school teacher and I thought about using chacal's vin # formula as a bonus question on a test... probably will do it!

 

I was told there would be no math.

 

Not to be an ass but "VIN Number" is redundant, like "ATM Machine." It's just "VIN" homie.

 

....right up there with those that say "it's like deja vue all over again".

Glad I direct a band.....I only have to count to four, and my alphabet stops at G.

Dave Fox