[inlinejohn]

anyone with a 1995 Ducati 900SS, please post a pic of your VIN on the head stock. Is it a riveted plate, stamped in metal, or etched....or doesn't exist?

The silver frame example is a pic I found on forum. It appears that my frame might have so much powder coating that the VIN is buried.

The second silver pic is from a forum member. Thank you.

 

[CaribooBC]

The serial # is on the right side of the steering stem and it is stamped into the metal. Your frame has either been replaced or repaired (welded and braced). Frames from 95's do not have the brace between the top frame rails that the tank hold mount (seen in your 1st pic) is attached to. The tank hold mount on 95's is just attached to 2 small circular threaded mounts tack welded to the steering stem. Sorry I don't have any pics to try to explain this better. The coating on your frame would lead me to believe that it was probably repaired and then re coated which covered the serial # stampings.

 

[inlinejohn]

The third pic in my frame pics shows another example of a VIN and the side brace you mention is there on that bike too.

The serial # is on the right side of the steering stem and it is stamped into the metal. Your frame has either been replaced or repaired (welded and braced). Frames from 95's do not have the brace between the top frame rails that the tank hold mount (seen in your 1st pic) is attached to. The tank hold mount on 95's is just attached to 2 small circular threaded mounts tack welded to the steering stem. Sorry I don't have any pics to try to explain this better. The coating on your frame would lead me to believe that it was probably repaired and then re coated which covered the serial # stampings.

 

[ozmanyyy]

anyone with a 1995 Ducati 900SS, please post a pic of your VIN on the head stock. Is it a riveted plate, stamped in metal, or etched....or doesn't exist?

The silver frame example is a pic I found on forum. It appears that my frame might have so much powder coating that the VIN is buried.

I have a 95 ( for sale btw ), and it has the replacement frame. The VIN was stamped into the right side of the headstock of the frame and it looks just like your third pic ( like a bunch of dots ).

I agree with Brad on the other thread, I'd just do it or get someone to do it. If you have the title and you know its perfectly legit, I wouldn't think twice. Whenever I've had to get a VIN verification ( ie buying an out of state bike ) where the officer matches the title to the stamp, the guy spent all of 10 seconds matching the numbers.

Heck, I can remember twice where he asked me to read the numbers for him cause he couldn't see.

I don't have the bike with me at work else I'd snap a quick pic for you..
Best

 

[Stopwatch]

This might be a wacky idea, but if you take your bike to a high-end bodyshop and ask nicely you can have the paint thickness measured with a special device. If the powdercoat is applied generously there certainly would be a chance it could obscure the VIN.

I'll post some pictures of how the VIN looks on my replacement frame later today; it is different than the other pictures posted here.

In California the registration and the title each list the VIN and the engine number. On my '96 ss/sp the VIN is ZDM1LC4M3TB0XXXXX (replace the last 5 X's with actual digits) and the engine number is LC4R03XXXX (replace the last 4 X's with actual digits). There is no similarity at all between the numbers.

 

[inlinejohn]

It's comforting to see another example of engine number LC...blah blah blah. Thanks for sharing. My plan is to try and remove the powder coating and see what's under that paint.

This might be a wacky idea, but if you take your bike to a high-end bodyshop and ask nicely you can have the paint thickness measured with a special device. If the powdercoat is applied generously there certainly would be a chance it could obscure the VIN.

I'll post some pictures of how the VIN looks on my replacement frame later today; it is different than the other pictures posted here.

In California the registration and the title each list the VIN and the engine number. On my '96 ss/sp the VIN is ZDM1LC4M3TB0XXXXX (replace the last 5 X's with actual digits) and the engine number is LC4R03XXXX (replace the last 4 X's with actual digits). There is no similarity at all between the numbers.

 

[Stopwatch]

The problem with removing the powdercoat is mainly an aesthetic one: you might have to scrape a large area before you even start to see the VIN. You need to ask yourself if you're feeling lucky. This would not be an easy place to touch up with paint and impossible with powdercoat.

 

[Stopwatch]

Clearly the VIN stamp on my frame was done by a specialized machine and is shallow enough that it would probably be obscured by a thick powdercoat.

 

[CaribooBC]

The third pic in my frame pics shows another example of a VIN and the side brace you mention is there on that bike too.

The diagonal frame brace in pic #3 is in all frames. The brace I am talking about is a small horizontal brace under the tank hold down mount, it looks like a flat piece of steel. It is barely visible in pic #1. I have only seen this brace on factory 98 FE frames or on repaired frames. Does anyone know if replacement frames from Ducati have this brace? I have also not seen a 97 frame do they have this brace?

 

[TassieDave]

Pic #3 would be me - 1993 900SS.

I was under the impression that if a replacement frame was supplied, the original number was stamped on the new frame and the old one was taken away and crushed. So if that was the case there might be a number under the powder coat.

On my 93 (Australian model) the number on the head stock is a frame number and is different to the VIN (has a bunch of info required on Australian delivered bikes) and is stamped onto a plate and riveted to the frame tube that goes to the left foot peg. The numbers have a different combination of letters and numbers - the easy way to put it is that both the VIN and frame numbers start with ZDM and both have the same last 5 digits.

My VIN has HC and not LC - there is a list on here somewhere that will decode your VIN number. Mine starts as ZDM1HC3 and translates to
Z - Italy
D - Ducati
M - Motorcycle
1 - Street version
H - Homologation version
C - air/oil-cooled twin
3 - Australian 900SS

http://www.ducati.ms/forums/showthread.php?t=27112&highlight=VINs+Decoded

 

[h60mech]

The diagonal frame brace in pic #3 is in all frames. The brace I am talking about is a small horizontal brace under the tank hold down mount, it looks like a flat piece of steel. It is barely visible in pic #1. I have only seen this brace on factory 98 FE frames or on repaired frames. Does anyone know if replacement frames from Ducati have this brace? I have also not seen a 97 frame do they have this brace?

My 95, with 9500 miles on it, does not have it. Its frame cracked and has been repaired

My 96, with 24000 miles on it, does have it. Its frame has not cracked (knock on wood).

 

[CaribooBC]

My 95, with 9500 miles on it, does not have it. Its frame cracked and has been repaired

My 96, with 24000 miles on it, does have it. Its frame has not cracked (knock on wood).

Thanks for the info. We have a 94 and a 95 both do not have the brace. The 94 has just started to show some cracking on one side of the stem. I plan on getting it welded and braced. 55000 km on the 94 and 25000 km on the 95. I was wondering if Ducati had added the brace to the frames that they replaced under "warranty" and how successful that brace is. Do I need to have the brace added when I get it repaired or will it be OK if I just get the crack rewelded.

 

[h60mech]

frame brace

Thanks for the info. We have a 94 and a 95 both do not have the brace. The 94 has just started to show some cracking on one side of the stem. I plan on getting it welded and braced. 55000 km on the 94 and 25000 km on the 95. I was wondering if Ducati had added the brace to the frames that they replaced under "warranty" and how successful that brace is. Do I need to have the brace added when I get it repaired or will it be OK if I just get the crack rewelded.

A previous poster was saying that replacement frames have the brace. I don't know how effective it is. It doesn't look like much, but maybe it's enough.

I heard Nichols www.nicholsmfg.com sells and/or installs some kind of gussets that I'm sure would be effective, knowing their reputation.

My 95, which I just got a month ago, was rewelded without any added bracing and the previous owner seemed to think that it would not crack again due to the quality or type of welds done.