Shorty VIN Confusion

I recently picked up what I assume is an '83 XJ550 that has sat for a few years to fix up and ride this summer. Since spring is slowly creeping up on us here in the great white north, I'm looking to get my paperwork in order to get the bike registered.

The bike's ID sticker is still intact, and it lists a shorty VIN, that matches both stamps on the frame and the engine. 5K6-100138. Upon reading through the VIN Tech Topic, and the frame engine ID PDF, I thought I had a good enough understanding of everything to get a full 17 digit VIN going. I tried the dissinger decoder site from the tech topic, but nothing comes up for my number.

In the tech topic, it lists 5K6 as being an '83 XJ550 for Canada, but the serial number doesn't fall under what's listed for serial range, being that Canadian bikes start at 200101. Is this a mistake, or do I have some weird in-between serial that I won't be able to decode? I'm not sure if the previous owner registered it with the shorty VIN.

 

It's probably a mistake in this listing:

MODEL NAME: XJ550K
STREET NAME: 1983 XJ550 Maxim
MODEL ID CODE: 5K6
FRAME ID: 5K6
SERIAL NUMBER STARTS AT: 200101


I'd assume that the 1983 models start with s/n 100101, and the info above is a typo, I'll get it corrected.

The process for getting the correct full VIN will still apply:

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Some Other Semi-Useful Tidbits Of Information About VIN's:

* In order to avoid visual confusion errors, the letters I, O, and Q are not allowed in any position of a 1981-later VIN.

* In order to avoid visual confusion errors, the characters U, Z, and 0 (zero) are not used for the model-year designation (the 10th position); however, the letters U and Z and the number 0 can be used in any other positions of the VIN.

* Although you didn't ask, 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".

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Your full VIN will be (assuming it is a 1983 model......does it have the white VIN sticker on the headpipe; if so, what is the build date of the bike?):

JYA5K600?DA100138

and you have to solve for the ? in the 9th position...............

 

Interesting....

Looks like frame code 5K6 started with SN 000101 in 1981, then 020101 in 1982, and then 200101 in 1983.

Given a SN of 100138, I would guess that it is a 1982 model.

 

@chacal - looks like they use the same frame code with different SN ranges.

 

Dan....yes same frame code for all 3 years because............it's the same frame!

Actually, my info is probably wrong regarding the 1983 s/n beginning with 200101....the 1983 sn range probably starts at 100101. If it was indeed 1982 model (s/n range starts at 20101), then his Canadian 550 Maxim would be the 80,000th + version built, which I doubt!

 

That makes sense.

 

Build date on the sticker is 07/82. Looks like my 9th digit is 3. Thanks for the help!

 

That's definitely a 1983 model then.

 

That was an EXCELLENT explanation of the VIN number coding! Well done. I have an 81 SECA with the short VIN of 5G200xxxx and I had some difficulty with my insurance carrier that insisted that it had to be 17 digits. My title reflects the same and I was forced to find another insurance company.