VIN vs Engine/Frame Number

[jkjoller]

Hello-
I'm trying to wrap my brain around the difference between a VIN and the engine & frame number. I know the older Honda's (mine being a 1965 CA95) have a number on the frame and a number on the engine. I never considered these to be the VIN. And when asked I would tell someone they didnt put VIN's on antique bikes only engine and frame numbers. Is this correct? I was thinking of selling this bike and a guy kept asking me for the VIN number so he could check it out. I told him it didn't have a VIN number and he got pissed.
So one of us is wrong. Can someone please advise?
I was thinking of getting a title for this bike but this whole VIN thing has me mixed up.

Thanks.

[deuce_7]

Vehicle Identification Numbers (VINs) weren't standardized nor were they always called VIN (also called chassis number or frame number) by the auto industries until the early 1980s. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle_ ... ion_number

On a vintage Honda before VINs existed, the frame and engine numbers are used to document, title and register the bike, varying by State. Some States use both frame and engine numbers for motorcycle registration; California, for example.

This Buyer guy wants to know the frame number, although he incorrectly refers to it as the VIN.

[jkjoller]

Thanks Deuce! I appreciate the clarification.