Neosophist wrote:
Wow completely forgot about this, never did go to that bikeshop yet either.
The letter thing is easy, it's the year.
For example
VFR400RG (1986) NC21
VFR400RH (1987) NC24
VFR400RH-II (1987) NC24
VFR400RJ-III (1988) NC24
VFR400RK (1989) NC30
The G/H/J/K/L etc after the VFR400R model indicates the model year. The -II -III in the case of the NC24 indicates the different revision of the bikes.
RH-II is a revision 2 for 1987 model, Ie something was changes.
NC30
VFR400RIII-K 1989
VFR400RIII-K-II (1989) revision 2.
I dont belive it means paint colors, just something was changed, like the VFR400RIII-K / K2 (3rd gen vfr aka nc30) K and K/2 probably had some differences, like the generator being changed etc.
Then you got the
VFR400RIII-L 1990 bike avaiable in 3 colours.. you need to look at the paint sticket to give you the base code
IE NH196 is the white bike, NH177 is the black bike and NH1 is the red/black one
There was only 1 revision of this bike
Then you get the the VFR400RIII-N (1992?) which was made in four different revisions
VFR400RIII-N / / NII / NIII / NIV
again you need to look at the paintcode sticker to determine your colour.. theres never more than one scheme avaialble with the same base-code for each year.
It just dawned on me that while I believe the Nx is a revision level it could also be a build spec, Ie for different parts of Japan as some have their different regulatiions.. I remember seeing somethign written about it in the parts manual now I think about it, next time I have a parts book on hand ill see what it says.
Its either revision level (somethings were changed) or different build spec.
I hope thats explained clear.
Any picture of mentioned catalogues?
Sure, I can scan whatever you want.
But let's not confuse the issues more than they already are. Honda Model Year codes are easy to understand; my web page on VINs explains them fairly well, (I think!):
http://www.vsource.org/VFR-RVF_files/BVINSystem.htm
The "J" in the Model Year code refers to the 1988 Model Year, and this is also used on the Paint Code sticker under the seat. However the J, 2J, 3J and 4J I'm referring to above is something else. It first makes its appearance in the NC30 Parts Cataloge on the Serial Numbers page:
There is some Japanese language at the top of the third column that probably explains it quite clearly...but I cannot read Japanese, unfortunately!
The J, 2J, 3J and 4J in the third column appear to correspond to the N, N-II, N-III and N-IV in the first column (in the case of the 1992 Model Year). Interestingly, the NC24 Parts Catalogue does use the "-II" and "-III", but does not use the "J" thing at all, and the NC39 Parts Catalogue uses the "Js", but not the Roman Numerals. Sometime between 1996 and 1999 Honda appears to have discontinued the use of Roman Numerals...
But even if the Js
are the same as the old Roman Numerals, I still don't really know what they stand for. On the NC30, for example, I have one of the last versions, the Type 9 (No. 8), 1992 (N) r/w/b version. But is it an RIIIN-III (3J) or is it an RIIIN-IV (4J)? The Paint Code sticker just says "RIII N"... The only difference I have ever seen in the parts catalogue between the two versions is, as Durka Durka points out, something to do with the speedometer--perhaps this had to do with the speed restriction? (My bike definitely has it, but it does not have the separate indicator light shown as pars 24-25 in the diagram below.) Within the speedometer microfiche, the J is grouped with the 3J, and the 2J with the 4J, which does seem to correspond with there being two different verisions--not related to the age of the bike.
Unless my bike has had that light removed, then, I suppose it must be a VFR400RIII-N-III (3J)... The wiring sub-harness shown as no. 13 in that diagram is also different for the 2J and 4J versions, so next time I pull the top fairing I suppose I can have a look for two "extra" female bullets and then I will know for sure!
Ciao,
)