Motorcycle VIN decoder
Every motorcycle and scooter certified for the road in the U.S. since 1981 carries a 17-character VIN, and the manufacturer files what it means with NHTSA. Paste it and see the model year, make, model, engine size, frame and suspension type on file. Free, and the VIN stays in your browser.
17 characters. Find it stamped into the steering head — the right side of the frame neck, behind the fork — and on the frame label. The engine case number is a different number and will not decode.
Where the number is
Steering head
Stamped into the frame on the right side of the neck, just behind the fork. Turn the bars to the left to read it.
Frame label
A certification label on the frame, often the downtube or the swingarm area, repeats the VIN with the build month.
Not the engine number
The number cast into the engine cases identifies the engine, not the motorcycle. It is shorter, it is not a VIN, and NHTSA cannot decode it.
What a VIN decode cannot tell you
Source: free federal toolsEverything the decoder shows is what the manufacturer built and filed with the federal government. What happened afterwards — title brands, odometer readings at each transfer, insurance total-loss and salvage records — lives in state DMV records, which reach the public through the federal NMVTIS system. WhichTrim does not sell those reports and takes no commission from anyone who does.
Motorcycle recalls are federal and NHTSA lists them by VIN like any other vehicle — helmets and tires too.
Recalls for this exact VIN
A decode says what was built. To check whether this vehicle is still unrepaired, NHTSA looks the VIN up against the manufacturer's own campaign list.
NHTSA recall lookup →Stolen or salvage
The National Insurance Crime Bureau checks a VIN against insurers holding about 92% of US premium. Free, five lookups a day. It sees participating insurers only, never police records.
NICB VINCheck →Title, odometer, total loss
The part that costs money. The Department of Justice publishes the list of providers approved to sell it — buy from that list and compare prices; they all draw on the same federal system.
DOJ approved providers →Worth knowing before you pay: the Department of Justice states that consumers cannot get an NMVTIS report from Carfax or Experian/AutoCheck — those two supply dealers only. A consumer report from either is built on their own private sources, not on the federal title system, which is why the two can disagree about the same vehicle.
How a VIN is put together
Source: ISO 3779 / NHTSA| Position | Section | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | World manufacturer identifier | Who built it and where. 1, 4 and 5 are the United States, 2 Canada, 3 Mexico, J Japan, K South Korea, W Germany, S the United Kingdom. |
| 4–8 | Vehicle descriptor | Model, body style, restraint system, engine — the section that makes a VIN say which car this is rather than which unit. |
| 9 | Check digit | A checksum of the other sixteen characters. A VIN that fails it has been mistyped or invented. |
| 10 | Model year | A letter or digit, not the year itself: N is 2022, P 2023, R 2024, S 2025, T 2026. I, O, Q, U and Z are never used. |
| 11 | Assembly plant | The manufacturer's code for the factory that built this vehicle. |
| 12–17 | Serial number | The unit's own sequence number on that line. |
Decoding something else?
Common questions
Source: NHTSA vPIC, 49 CFR Part 565Do motorcycles have 17-character VINs?
Since the 1981 model year, yes — the same federal standard as cars, with the same check digit and model-year code. Scooters and mopeds certified for road use carry one too. Off-road dirt bikes do as well, but they are regulated as consumer products; see the off-road page.
What does a motorcycle VIN decode to?
The model year, make and model, the engine displacement in cc and the number of cylinders, the chassis type (for example a scooter or a three-wheeler), the suspension type, the plant, and the gross weight class. Trim and colour are not filed.
Where is the VIN on a motorcycle?
Stamped into the steering head on the right side of the frame neck, behind the fork, and printed on the frame's certification label. The number on the engine cases is the engine serial, which is a different number and does not decode.
Does the decode show recalls?
Not directly. Motorcycle recalls are federal and NHTSA lists them by VIN, so the recall card below sends the VIN to NHTSA's own lookup, which checks the manufacturer's campaign list for this exact bike.
Is my VIN stored?
No. The decode runs in your browser against NHTSA's public database. WhichTrim never receives it.