I think the law to go to uniform 17 digit vins for all vehicles started in January 1981. Would make sense that the change on the vin pad would be for '82 models
81-82 VIN pad
Did H-D changed the length of the VIN pad in the early 80s when they started using longer VIN numbers? Im looking at a frame that the VIN runs on past the pad, a picture of an 82 frame has an obviously longer number pad and the VIN fits on it nicely. Does this change at that year jive with people knowledge of this?
81 pad
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82 pad
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81 pad
82 pad
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For Shovelheads the 17-character frame VIN was introduced as of 1981 models but that is the eighth frame I’ve seen with the long(er) VIN stamped on the short(er) boss. I imagine H-D had a lot of frames like that left over from the previous model year? That VIN’s sequence portion looks like it starts with 016 (?) which is consistent with the other seven I’ve seen because they are all 021+++ or lower.
But at some stage during the 81 model year the longer boss appeared. The lowest 1981 Shovel VIN I’ve seen on the longer boss so far is 026+++.
Eric
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But at some stage during the 81 model year the longer boss appeared. The lowest 1981 Shovel VIN I’ve seen on the longer boss so far is 026+++.
Eric
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