I think VIN on Banshee says its a 03' but it has J arms?

[banshee1999]

So, I recently picked up my first banshee and promptly blew it up within 3 days of owning it. Anyway, that's not the point of this; I was checking out the VIN number on the frame, and it is JY43GGW003C248131. I have done some research, and it looks like it is a 03', but it confused me since it has J arms on it. I don't know if someone could have done an A-arm to J-arm conversion, but that really doesn't make sense to me since A-arms seem much better. also, it looks like the previous owner replaced one of the J-arms previously, as they do not match on both sides. not too sure if this will affect the riding of the bike and get new j arms,  or if I should just leave it the way it is. thank you for any advice!

[Jereme6655]

J-arms ended in the late 80s. Where are you reading your vin # from? 

Edited October 10, 2024 by Jereme6655

[banshee1999]

11 hours ago, Jereme6655 said:

J-arms ended in the late 80s. Where are you reading your vin # from? 

From my frame. I asked the local Yamaha dealership If they could run the VIN, and it apparently came back as a 1999, but it seems a bit odd that someone would do an A-arm to J-arm conversion. Maybe someone re-engraved the vin? but the vin seems to be factory, so I don't really know.

[JerzOutlaw350]

  J-arm Banshees were produced from 1987-1990 then in 1991 Yamaha introduced the Banshee with A-arms. Can you post a picture of the area where the VIN # are ?  I got an idea what the previous owner could have done. 

[kawa110]

Replaced the complete tube section with the vin#.
Tube sections used to be on ebay with titles. Don’t know if they still are.


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[banshee1999]

The vin is on the clutch side frame tube below the engine. there's no indication of another tube being welded in. sorry I don't know how to compress an image below 50 kb without making it impossible to actually see.