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I've recently purchased a Kawasaki GPZ500S (AKA EX500 or Ninja 500R) circa 1998.
I can't seem to find the VIN which should be embedded into the right hand side of the steering head (it's got the frame number instead).
Is it possible that it didn't came with one?

Clarification

Said vehicle was intended for the european market, and was imported by an authorized dealer to Israel.

Addendum

First of all, both answers seem to fit the glove, so thanks.
Just one last quibble: could it be possible that certain countries don't require a VIN?
Could this possibly be the case?

Community
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dd_dent
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3 Answers3

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It possible to have vehicles that no longer have a VIN despite having one originally since new replacement parts don't have a VIN on them... Motorcycles are worst case since there are so few places the VIN is located to begin with. On a car (with the VIN in a whole bunch of places from the factory), you can easily end up with original VIN parts being replaced with VINless new replacements as well as used parts with a totally different VIN on them...

The old "my father's hammer" problem applies to vehicles too, especially the smaller and simpler ones. :-)

Brian Knoblauch
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In the strict sense, yes it's possible. The probability that your bike has no VIN, though, is orders of magnitude less than miniscule, especially since it's not very old within the history of motor vehicles.

If it was built as a prototype and never intended to be placed in production, it may not have a VIN - that's the one possibility for a bike of that age.

In the broader sense, though, it's entirely possible that an older vehicle might not have a "VIN" by definition. I happen to own a 1968 truck, for example, that has no VIN; it has only a five-numeric-digit serial number - by definition not a VIN.

TDHofstetter
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If the frame number is 12 digits long (starts with ex500 or some variant of the bike model), THATs the actual VIN.

Related: http://www.kawasaki-rider.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=6903

D

dariusz
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