Harley Transmission Serial Numbers

Terry's Tech - Harley VIN Numbers. The engine number is the VIN and is located on left case. There are no frame numbers until the 1970 model year.

> > > Harley-Davidson VIN Number Explained In this article of Tech Tips we’ll breakdown the progression of VIN numbers used by Harley-Davidson and explain what they all mean. That being said this article is written to be a helpful guide, and hopefully you find it as such. However, we DO NOT provide support related to VIN numbers. So, if you are unable to find an answer to your question please DO NOT contact us.

If it is not in this article, we can not help you. Prior to 1930: Prior to 1930 H-D VIN numbers were a bit erratic and model number designations changed frequently. Unfortunately there is very little information out there for these numbers and what information is available is not always very accurate. From 1930 to 1962 the VIN number was the engine number and was only located on the left case. 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 number Example: Year Model Production Number 49 FL 0001 1962-1969: From 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. If the production number had 5 digits the first two digits would be odd during odd production years and even during even production years.

Example: Year Model Production Number 66 FLHB -1980: From 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 idea was quickly killed after law enforcement notified Harley-Davidson that it made the bikes look stolen. The production date range was from 1/9/1979 to 2/7/1979. The VIN numbers affected are 43000H9 through 48199H9. The engine numbers where 10 digit numerical IDs. The VIN numbers of this era where 9 digit codes where the first two digits corresponded to the model code (see list below), the next 5 digits were the production numbers (always starting above 10,000) and the last 2 digits were the year code (see list below).

From 1981 to present the VIN has been a 17 digit code located on the frame and abbreviated on the engine. In this VIN the first 3 digits are the world manufacturer ID (see list below), the fourth digit is the weight class (see weight class list below). The next two letters are the model designation (see list below), the sixth digit was the engine type (see list below), the seventh digit was the introduction period (see list below), The eighth digit was the VIN check digit which could be 0-9 or X, the next letter was the model year (see list below), the letter after that was the assembly plant (see list below) and the last 6 numbers were the production numbers.

If you are looking for information on a specific VIN number on a bike produced after 1981 you can look it up on Harley-Davidson's official VIN search at this link: Example: World Mfg. Class Model Engine Intro Check Year Plant Production Number 1HD 1 AA K 1 9 B Y 158126 World Manufacturer ID: 1HD = Manufactured for sale within the United States 5HD = Manufactured for sale outside of the United States 932 = Manufactured in and for sale only in Brazil MEG = Manufactured in and for sale only in India Weight Class: 1 = Heavyweight (≥ 901 cc). XL Sportster Models: CA = XLH CN = XL883 CZ = XL1200N CB = XLS CM = XL883L LA = XR1200 CC = XLX CP = XL883C LC = XL1200X CD = XR-1000 CR = XL883L LD = XR1200X CE = XL 883H CS = XL883R LE = XL883N CF = XL 883 Deluxe CT = XL1200C LF = XL1200V CG = XL 1200C CV = XL1200R LH = XL1200CP CH = XL 1200S CW = XL1200L LJ = XL1200CA CJ = XL 883C CX = XL1200L LK = XL1200CB CK = XL 883R CY = XL50 V-ROD Models: HA = VRSCA HF = VRSCA HP = VRSCF HC = VRSCR HH = VRSCDX HD = VRSCD HJ = VRSCX Street Models: NA = XG500 NB = XG750. Check Number: The check number is used to detect invalid VINs. The number that appears varies and is based on a mathematical formula that the U.S. Department of Transportation developed.

Model Year: A = 2010 J = 1988, 2018 T = 1996 4 = 2004 B = 1981, 2011 K = 1989, 2019 V = 1997 5 = 2005 C = 1982, 2012 L = 1990 W = 1998 6 = 2006 D = 1983, 2013 M = 1991 X = 1999 7 = 2007 E = 1984, 2014 N = 1992 Y = 2000 8 = 2008 F = 1985, 2015 P = 1993 1 = 2001 9 = 2009 G = 1986, 2016 R = 1994 2 = 2002 H = 1987, 2017 S = 1995 3 = 2003 Manufacturing Plant: Y, B = York, PA T = Tomahawk, WI J = Milwaukee, WI K = Kansas City, KS D = Manaus, Brazil E = Buell East Troy N = Haryana, India (Bawal District Rewari) This article is written to be a helpful guide, and hopefully you found it to be so. However, we DO NOT provide support related to VIN numbers. So, if you are unable to find an answer to your question please DO NOT contact us. If it is not in this article, we can not help you.