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GT500 Uk VIN Plate
Posted: Sat Mar 08, 2025 11:24 am
by Willsy69
Anyone know when VIN plates were fitted to the Suzuki GT500 models? Or were the frame numbers stamped on the headstock, or both?
Cheers
Colin
Re: GT500 Uk VIN Plate
Posted: Sun Mar 09, 2025 4:09 am
by jabcb
All of them started out with both. One of my T-series twins has the stamped VIN underneath the VIN plate -- only the last digit or so is visible.
Of what I've seen early bikes had the VIN plate centered on the front. At some point the government required that it was located on the side.
The GT-series triples started out with riveted plates on the side.
Early T-series bikes have a riveted centered plate. When they switched to side mounted, Suzuki didn't drill holes for the new location but used glued-on plates.
Of what I've seen, the glued-on plates are extremely difficult to remove when the frame is repainted or powder coated. And lot of the glued-on plate are lone gone.
Have done cafe builds on a 72 GT550 & 73 GT250. Both with powder coated frames. The riveted GT550 plate was easy to remove & reinstall. We destroyed the GT250 glued-on plate when removing it.
Re: GT500 Uk VIN Plate
Posted: Mon Mar 10, 2025 7:09 pm
by Willsy69
Cheers
I couldn’t remember if mine had a plate.
Probably took it off when I painted the frame in the eighties…..too long ago for my old brain
I managed to get the Suzuki emblems off the calipers using isopropyl alcohol. Takes a while to soften the glue but they do come off eventually.