Hitchcocks Forum

So i bought my Enfield Classic Desert Storm a few days ago. The bike was standing at the dealers shop. I asked him from what year the bike is. He stated it has been delivered to him only a few weeks ago in 2019 but he would assume that it was produced at the end of 2018.

So now i received his invoice including the VIN.....hmmmmm.....i tried to decode it and am not happy with the result. Maybe I am wrong???

Who can tell me what the Month/Year of my bike is:


ME3CKECT5HK008xxx

Looks like 2017 to me.

VIN data

I think the year is the letter H, but I don't know the year that relates to.
The engine number is easier.

Thank You, i feared so. That really spoiled my night. I hate it when a dealer lies to me.....

Any significant changes between 2017 and 2019?

The biggest change was from Euro 3 to Euro 4 around 2017
Easy to spot as Euro 4 has a rear disc brake and abs.
Is yours a Euro4 ?
If so I don't think there has been any changes since then.

Unfortunately I was able to find out about my bike:

it was produced before August 2017 and delivered to the RE-Dealer in September 2017....so he got me.....

Hi, I think a trip to trading standards is in order as the bike was incorrectly sold.Vince

Just a small point, or two.

Does anyone know when Indian Royal Enfield production years start? Some manufacturers production years start from September, this allows them to show their new model range at the various major shows around the world, most of which are help in October or November.

BMW production years are like this, as an example; the 2018 model year runs from September 2017 to August 2018.

My second point; does anyone know if the letter 'I' was used in the VIN codes? My own 2018 Classic 500 Battle Green has the VIN ME3CKECT5JKXXXXXX, the letter J being the Year Letter, but this is for 2019 according to the previously posted example? However, the motorcycle was first registered in May 2018. Or have I missed something somewhere?

Hi DWS,

let me answer Your question upon my experience i made last Monday. I phoned many RE-Dealers to find out about the Model-Year-Policy and Manufacturing-Date-Indicator in the VIN.

Since the Importer qould refuse to give me information about the manufacturing and delivery date of my bike, i tried to find out something via the dealers. That was really helpful.

I found out, that all dealers that had ordered their bikes in December 2017 were supplied with 2018 Models having the Letter "I" in the VIN. Delivery was as early as Februar 2018 for them.

So, if You have a "J" before the "K" that means you have a 2019-Model.

Check on the engine number. The second letter behind the "J" will be the month then.

Hi BB52, That's interesting as you say my VIN has the letters JK preceeding the Model Serial number, making it a 2019 model motorcycle, according to your information. So my question is how can this be if the bike was first registered in May 2018? Something amiss here...