VIN numbers (again)

[Ian Biddle]

I'm better with the pre 1920 stuff but I've just picked up a roller; cone shovel with S7S cylinders in a 1958 swing arm frame. I need some help with the numbers please. I've looked in the usual places but no luck so far. It's 'star DAKD 900377 star' I've seen the FLT stuff and police windscreen comments, also 77 means 1977 but can anyone please help with some detail? Thanks.

[Sargehere]

You have only the engine. The registrable motorcycle (frame) with those same letters and numbers and more, the complete VIN, is still probably running around out there somewhere, or been scrapped. The letters between the stars are shorthand, and match that frame, but the pre-1981 numbering system is completely different: number-letter, different codes.

Da best I can figure (this hangs together), your motor came out of a "DA"= an FLT of 1982 and 1983 only; "K"= 80 cubic inches (1340ccs); and "D"= an FLHTCU or "Tourglide classic Ultra." The sequence numbers repeat what's on the frame in that part of the VIN, but don't indicate the year, after 1980.

That's all going by a chart on another forum that's been pretty reliable in the past. Hope you have at least a notarized bill of sale, but that stuff all depends upon your local specific requirements. I don't know if you'll be able to raise this: ("Shovelhead Tech Resource Page"), unless you register with www.shovelhead.us/forum, which is the premier board for Shovelhead info on the planet, but: http://www.shovelhead.us/resource.htm

[Ian Biddle]

Thanks for the fast reply. Excellent resource and i can access it, thanks. Looking at the 81-84 vin chart, it says that a letter D as in my KD might mean K is 80ci and D is 1983 - does that sound right? The bike came with a California title and was listed as a 1984. That won't be a problem here in England for registration purposes. Thanks again for your help.

[Sargehere]

You've got it, now, Ian. An' yer welcome. Harleys after 1969 have to be registered by frame numbers in most jurisdictions on this side of the pond, making motors that have become separated from their like-numbered frames like step-children. Good luck with it!