TOPIC:

Is there a part of the vin number that indicates the original paint for my KZ? I looked the information up on zedders.com for my 77 and it indicated 2 colors and neither are black but didn't reference paint to any part of the vin. Any advice, Thanks.

The pre-1981 VINs did not. They consist of the model and the sequential six digit serial number of that specific model series. If there really is a reference, number XXXXXX to XXXXXX was Candy Persimmon Red and XXXXXX to XXXXXX was Candy Emerald Green, etc., it's not information that Kawasaki has made publicly available. Most likely production records were kept, but haven't turned up.

Beginning with the ISO VINs in 1981 there is room to encode such information. However, I've yet to find a guide to Kawasaki's use of those VINs and what means what. Secondly, by the time the ISO VINs came into use, there wasn't nearly the variety of color available on the bikes as in the '70s. GPzs were pretty much red. ELRs were green and most everything else (the LTDs) were ebony or dark maroon.

Of course, having said that, here will come a list of models that prove me wrong. I'm basing my opinion on the Kawasaki ads of the time and the colors shown in them. I had no dealership to hang around in (and I was too strapped for cash to buy new anyway) to see the models not in the ads.

- Nate >>

I don't know or care about the newer models, but for sure there was nothing in the vin # of a KZ that reflected the color. I really doubt even on the newer models there was. I really don't think even auto vins ever reflect the paint, at least any of my factory service manuals never suggested anything about it.