Greetings from Arizona...

[Nessism]

It's probably a Canadian bike. I doubt US dealers will have any info on the VIN.

http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gsx400_model13612/

http://www.cmsnl.com/suzuki-gsx400e-1982-z_model13618/partslist/

[Runeight]

That second link is the correct bike. Thank you so much.

r8

[SVSooke]

For some reason Suzuki Canada seems to have "forgotten" they imported bikes here that are different to the US models.It can make life difficult here to.Glad Ed (Nessism) linked you to the CMSNL site as I knew they'd have the fiches but couldn't remember the site nameBookmarked for future reference. BassCliff http://members.dslextreme.com/users/bikecliff/ has a VIN decoder but it hasn't worked for a while,I checked our 86 400 with it and it worked.

[Runeight]

This forum is a life saver for me.

I just received a picture of the vin on the frame. It does match the title. Good thing.

This is a "go" for me. $550 for the bike is not bad either. I'll start a build thread when it arrives this week.

r8

[Nessism]

That's a good looking bike. Seems to be in really nice shape. Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature for a list of issues to look out for. Hope you plan on keeping the bike mostly original. It would be a shame to hack that thing up.

[SVSooke]

That's a good looking bike. Seems to be in really nice shape. Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature for a list of issues to look out for. Hope you plan on keeping the bike mostly original. It would be a shame to hack that thing up.

+1 on that,this will be quite a rare bike down there.A bit of a sleeper to as most will think it's just another 450.

[tkent02]

Another thing that is odd. VA title, NV plates. Can't get NV plates without NV title. Odd.

r8

Not true, at least not always. My truck is still licensed in Arizona, it's been registered in Colorado about eight years. I lived in Nevada before Arizona, remember a bike or car or something with a different state's title, they didn't make me switch the title to Nevada. There's not much revenue in switching titles, as long as they make their money off the registration they don't care about the title at all. Since as the same guy owned it in the previous state, it's not required to switch. If you sold it they would then get the new state's title.

At least that's how it works in some cases. Congrats on having the two VINS match. I wouldn't hesitate for any of these paperwork reasons.

[Runeight]

That's a good looking bike. Seems to be in really nice shape. Check the Newbie Mistakes thread linked in my signature for a list of issues to look out for. Hope you plan on keeping the bike mostly original. It would be a shame to hack that thing up.

When I did Honda's they were all stock. Only original once of which this will be right down to paint. I do like red however.

No cafe stuff in my Shop. Some bikes that are to far gone maybe but not this one.

r8

[Runeight]

Congrats on having the two VINS match. I wouldn't hesitate for any of these paperwork reasons.

Yeah, it's a go.

r8

[mikerophone]

That's a great looking bike, personally I'd go through the electrical (weak point on these bikes) and dip the carbs, replacing the o rings like mentioned above, throw some new rubber on it, flush and potentially replace the brake lines, fix that crease in the tank like you say and remove that silly backrest.

Welcome to the fun house, as you've noticed, it's a great place to learn about all things GS. I was a Honda man for years too, Still have a few, but the GS prevails for me now. Great machines and very well built.

[tkent02]

Anyone know if that's the stock seat?



[/QUOTE]

I'm curious because it looks more old fashioned than the seat on my '80 450. Great looking bike, and it should be easy to get that dent out of the tank since it's right below the filler cap. Very nice. Agreed the backrest and rack has to go.

[SVSooke]

Yeah that's the original seat.Had an 81,82 and 86 at various points so I may know a bit.

[Runeight]

That's a great looking bike, personally I'd go through the electrical (weak point on these bikes) and dip the carbs, replacing the o rings like mentioned above, throw some new rubber on it, flush and potentially replace the brake lines, fix that crease in the tank like you say and remove that silly backrest.

Welcome to the fun house, as you've noticed, it's a great place to learn about all things GS. I was a Honda man for years too, Still have a few, but the GS prevails for me now. Great machines and very well built.

On the Honda forum someone asked if it was a single wall on the tank. Said he would fix it although it would need a repaint.

Replies are much appreciated.

r8

[Runeight]

It's gotta go,,

Yeah, back rest has to go. I'll hang onto the rack but will remove it.

r8

[tkent02]

Any paintless dent repair place could do that one perfectly and cheaply. Hard to tell from pics but that paint looks pretty good. Might be worth it.