Want to know what year and where your motorcycle was made? Since Triumph organizes their parts by serial numbers and aftermarket parts are organized by year models it can be tedious to determine the correct parts for your motorcycle. This Triumph VIN explanation will guide you in the right direction. A full explanation and verification of the information below can be obtained through the NHTSA website.
By Mike Grage, Customer and Technical Support at Modern British Iron
VIN Numbers Established
In 1981 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration standardized the vehicle identification number format for all engine powered wheeled vehicles sold in the USA. This 17-character numbering system contains a lot of useful information for owners, and for parts and service personnel. There are four sections to a VIN.
The first three characters are the world manufacturer identifier, the first character indicates the country and the second and third indicate manufacturer. The next six are the vehicle description section. The last eight are the model year, plant it was produced in and the last six are the actual serial numbers. Please note that this is for the large production North American VIN codes. There are some differences in Triumph VIN codes for small production NA, the UK, and the EU.
Triumph VIN Explanation
The fourth character that indicates the physical characteristics of the model line also changes with significant engine design changes. For example, the air-cooled vertical twin models like the Bonneville, Scrambler, and America will also have 9 in this position. The liquid-cooled vertical twin models like the Street Twin, T120, and Scrambler 1200 will have a D in this position. Since two models can have the same fifth and sixth character, we will combine them to indicate the models.
Codes for the Year
The numbers 0 is not used and neither are the letters I, O, U and Q code used in the 10th position to indicate the year of production. Here is a list of the codes for each year:
S=1995 T=1996 V=1997 W=1998 X=1999 Y=2000 1=2001
2=2002 3=2003 4=2004 5=2005 6=2006 7=2007 8=2008
9=2009 A=2010 B=2011 C=2012 D=2013 E=2014 F=2015
G=2016 H=2017 J=2018 K=2019 L=2020 M=2021 N=2022
P=2023 R=2024
https://vpic.nhtsa.dot.gov/decoder
Physical Characteristics and Model Codes for the Bonneville engine line
905=America
920=Thruxton
910=Bonneville T100 air-cooled
925=Scrambler air-cooled
D44=Scrambler 900cc liquid cooled
D10=Bonneville T100 900cc liquid-cooled
D20=Thruxton 900cc liquid cooled
D40=Bonneville T120
D52=Thruxton 1200
D53=Bonneville Bobber
D51=Scrambler 1200 XE
Bonneville Engine Codes
H=790cc 360 degree air-cooled twin
J=790cc 270 degree air-cooled twin
K=865cc EFI 360 degree air-cooled twin
R=865cc EFI 270 degree air-cooled twin
G=900cc EFI liquid cooled SOHC twin
H=1200cc EFI Liquid cooled twin
Physical Characteristics and Model Codes for the Other model lines
D00=Daytona 675
A02=Daytona 675R,
B02=Thunderbird Storm
P01=Speed Triple 1200 RS
P02=Speed Triple 1200 RR
L03=Street Triple R 675
A46=Street Triple RS
E67=Tiger 900
D31=Street Twin
C00=Rocket III
G10=Rocket III GT
399=Adventurer
E62=Tiger 900 GT
E67= Tiger 900 Rally
L10=Trident 660
Other Models Engine Codes
J=2458cc Rocket III in-line
N=675cc EFI liquid cooled triple
Y=Daytona 675R EFI liquid cooled triple
4=765cc liquid cooled triple
S=1200cc EFI liquid cooled triple
W=1700cc EFI 270 degree DOHC twin
D=900cc liquid cooled triple
U=660cc liquid cooled triple
Helpful Search
Once you know your year and model you can use it on our British Iron homepage to search for parts applicable to your bike.
