Classic
Simple:
Iceman #975, Joe. M
November ‘01
Count back 8 digits from the end of your serial number (VIN). A 01 has a 1, and a 02 has a 2.
The 8th digit from the right, that tells the model year, period. It's an international digit for year model, in all types of vehicles
If the 8th digit back is a 1, the year model is 2001, regardless of production date. 2000 and older stopped at the end of the alphabet (no Z, it can look like a 2), so if it's a Y, it's a 2000, X is 1999, and so on. No U's, Q's, O's, or I's either. Starts with B for 1981. A build date of 1/1/01 can technically be called a 2002 model. The 8th digit back is it for year model.
Q. Great but where is the VIN Number ?
On your Steering Head.
Joe M., Iceman #975
November ‘01
There's actually lots of interesting info in a VIN. Using my VIN as an example:
WB1 0182A 4 1 Z E450XX
WB1 is the manufacturer code
0182A indicates the type of vehicle (m/c), engine type, and net brake horsepower.
4 is a check digit that is derived using an algorithm; it assures that the rest of the numbers are correct
1 is the model year (iceman knows his stuff!)
Z is the plant of manufacture
E450XX is a sequential number assigned by the manufacturer.
Anything with a first digit of W is West Germany, J is Japan, 1 and 4 are the USA, 2 Canada, 3 Mexico, 6 Australia, and countless other countries.
Second digit signifies Manufacturer. F=Ford, B=BMW, D=Daimler Benz, T=Toyota. A JTxxxxxx is a Japan produced Toyota, a 4Txxxxxx is a US made Toyota.
Generally:
*The first three characters uniquely identify the
manufacturer, make and type of vehicle.
*The second section consists of five characters (VIN positions 4-8) and identify
the attributes of the vehicle. Different information is required for each type
of vehicle.
*The third section consist of one character which is the check digit, calculated
over the other 16 characters of the VIN. This character can be numeric or the
letter X;
*The fourth section consists of eight characters on positions 10-17 of the VIN.
The last five shall be numeric for cars, MPV's and light trucks and the last
four shall be numeric for all other vehicles. The first character represents the
vehicle model year, the second character represents the plant of manufacture.
The third through eighth characters are a sequential production number (for
manufacturers producing more than 500 vehicles per year). For other
manufacturers, the sixth, seventh and eight position represent the sequential
production number. chiefkeefe
There's a sticker (white, with black letters on it) underneath the right engine cover. If there's no sticker, it has fallen off. (From Oliver, in response to the same question).
On my 2000 F650 (classic) it's under the mudguard for the motor. Right side sort of near the brake pedal but underneath. It's a bar code sticker. I've never taken it off to see if the motor number is stamped in the metal. Good Ride'n Bill. Wamer #1021 CA
No idea on the GS, but on the Classic, except for Wamer's bar code sticker, that's it for numbers. There is no Official Serial Number stamped into the crankcase. If you were to remove the engine, turn it upside down and polish it, on the bottom of the crankcase you ~might~ see some numbers engraved very lightly by freehand in the finish of the aluminum. Not always visible, except on new engines. Todd #389
Anyone
know how to determine the color of a bike from the VIN?
Nope. Cannot.
I went to register on a site for my bike and BMW NA seems to think it is black. My bike is red and as far as I know it always has been. My VIN is WB10166A4WXA16072. Any help would be appreciated. MasterITRIT #F650-1231 -- '98 F650 Classic -- '80 Yamaha XT250 -- Rochester, NY.
The color from VIN (if it exists) doesn't necessarily mean that's what you got. I bought my black GS and noticed on the paperwork (the original shipping slip from the plant) that the bike color was specified as RED. I asked the dealer, and he said they swapped the colored panels out for a different customer that was looking for a red lowered bike. Since they only had the black one in the lowered version at the time, and a red regular GS they just swapped colors. Some dealers will do swaps like this as well as others on their new bikes. When I bought mine, I wanted a Dakar seat and they swapped my regular seat with a Dakar seat from a new bike as an incentive for me. As long as the parts are in new condition, they don't seem to mind doing this for customers. '03 black GS, Colorado.
I checked on the (what I thought was a shipping slip) "Montage Auftrag', which is basically the order to assemble the bike (whatever that is called here officially I don't know). The "Farb Schluessel" aka color code, is listed as 761 (which is identified as Rot 2 / red 2). This number is nowhere to be found within the VIN number of my bike, so apparently they list color codes somewhere else. Razz, '03 black GS, Colorado
Colour from the Sticker under the Seat?
Classic
GS GS/Dakar
Gelb is Yellow, Schwarz is Black, rest you can guess pretty easily.
On my bike there is a small tag on the frame under the seat, just in front of the seat locking mechanism. It says Colour: 695. My bike, a 1994 classic, is black, but I'm not sure whether this is the original color because all the panels are red on the insides. Perhaps the panels are made in a red plastic and then painted, or perhaps my bike used to be red. veggie_deluxe '94 F650 -- Malmö, Sweden.
BMW General Paint Colour Codes
by chiefkeefe
I got the following info from Motobins' catalogue (http://www.motobins.co.uk).
Perhaps some of it is relevant to F650s, tho' I know for certain that not all
BMW colours are included. (Sorry for the CAPITALS - I just cut-and-pasted it).
KARIB BLUE - 1986 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=183/618]
ALASKA BLUE - VARIOUS LATE [BODYWORK CODE=136/606/542]
YUKON BLUE - R80RT 1987 ON [BODYWORK CODE=202/615]
AZURE BLUE - R45/65 ETC [BODYWORK CODE=158/501/619]
BERMUDA BLUE - R80RT ETC [BODYWORK CODE=225/644/645]
DARK MET BLUE - ICEBURG 1979-80 [BODYWORK CODE=130/550/557/558]
ATLANTIC BLUE - 1981 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=160/504]
KOENIGS BLUE - K100RS/K1100LT [BODYWORK CODE=680/681/270]
TITAN BLUE - K's [BODYWORK CODE=665/664/241]
ASTRAL BLUE - K1100RS/LT/K75 [BODYWORK CODE=330/691]
LAGUNA BLUE - K1 [BODYWORK CODE=233/657]
SEIDEN BLUE - K1100RS/LT/K75 [BODYWORK CODE=338/690]
NAVARRA VIOLETT - K1100RT [BODYWORK CODE=346]
MIDNIGHT BLUE - R80GS [BODYWORK CODE=401]
BLUE - R80GS [BODYWORK CODE=428]
STAHL BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=372]
OPAL BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=424]
BLACK/BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=432]
SAPPHIRE BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=434]
VOILET BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=435]
SINUS BLUE - R1100RT [BODYWORK CODE=332]
PACIFIC BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=441]
DELPHIN BLUE - R850-1200, K1200RS [BODYWORK CODE=373]
FROST BLUE - R850-1200, K1200RS [BODYWORK CODE=447]
NEON BLUE - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=225]
ALUMINIUM WHITE - K1100LT [BODYWORK CODE=265]
PERLMUTT - PEARL WHITE [BODYWORK CODE=621/634/571/137/650]
CLASSIC BLACK - 1977 ON [BODYWORK CODE=162/506/670/656]
ONYX BLACK - K75 SPECIAL [BODYWORK CODE=228/622]
METALLIC BLACK - 1977-78 MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=032/532]
BLACK 2 - R850-1200, K1200RS, F650, R1100R/RT [BODYWORK CODE=668]
RED 1977 ON - 1977 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=541/566/575/654/675]
BAJA RED - 1985 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=174/578]
COLORADO RED - 1986 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=613/614/201]
h*ll RED - R45/65 [BODYWORK CODE=551]
METALLIC RED - RED SMOKE [BODYWORK CODE=575/654/553]
SIENNA RED - R1100RT [BODYWORK CODE=281]
MYSTIC RED - VARIOUS [BODYWORK CODE=323]
DAYTONA ORANGE - R90S CLASSIC [BODYWORK CODE=010/510]
MADISON - 1985 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=605/127]
ORLANDO ORANGE - R80GS [BODYWORK CODE=394]
BRIGHT RED - R1100RS [BODYWORK CODE=409]
CANYON RED - K1100,K1200RT [BODYWORK CODE=343]
AMARENA RED - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=403]
MARRAKESH RED2 - R850-R1200C, K1200 [BODYWORK CODE=392]
SILVER SMOKE - R90S CLASSIC [BODYWORK CODE=061/561/651]
PEARL SILVER - R1100RS/K100RS [BODYWORK CODE=240/661/678]
ARKTIS SILVER - K75/S/RT [BODYWORK CODE=309]
STRATO SILVER - 1986 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=161/505]
BRILLIANT SILVER - 1986 ON MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=623/635/666/235]
LAHARA GREY - R80GS [BODYWORK CODE=423]
ARKTIS GREY - R100RT [BODYWORK CODE=269]
METALLIC GOLD - R100RS [BODYWORK CODE=546]
HAVANA GOLD - 1976-78 MODELS [BODYWORK CODE=WHILST STOCKS LAST]
DAKAR YELLOW2 - R80-1200C [BODYWORK CODE=337]
KALAHARI YELLOW - R80-1200C [BODYWORK CODE=384]
SAND BEIGE - VARIOUS [BODYWORK CODE=226]
TOBACCO BROWN - K's [BODYWORK CODE=647/239]
YUKKA GREEN - K100RS [BODYWORK CODE=660/248]
PINE GREEN - K1100LT [BODYWORK CODE=683/684/227]
TOSKANA GREEN - K's [BODYWORK CODE=653/251]
PEARL GREEN - K's [BODYWORK CODE=676/249]
MOREA GREEN - K1100LT/K75RT [BODYWORK CODE=288]
TURQUOISE GREEN - R100R/1991 [BODYWORK CODE=525/261]
AMETHYST - R100R/1991 [BODYWORK CODE=685/284]
PALMETTO GREEN - K1100RS [BODYWORK CODE=391]
OCEAN GREEN - R80 GS [BODYWORK CODE=431]
TUNDRA GREEN - R850-1200C, K1200RS [BODYWORK CODE=412]
MINZ GREEN - R850-1200C [BODYWORK CODE=429]
GLACIER GREEN - R1100RS/RT [BODYWORK CODE=334]
OXFORD GREEN - R850-1200C [BODYWORK CODE=430]
ASCOT GREEN - R850-R1200C [BODYWORK CODE=353]