Yamaha VIN decoder

Enter a 17-character VIN and the decoder checks it, then reads Yamaha's record in NHTSA's vPIC database: model year, model, body class, engine displacement, cylinders and fuel, and the plant. Recall campaigns NHTSA lists for street-legal Yamahas of that model and year show up with the result. NHTSA's VIN recall search or a Yamaha dealer can confirm whether one particular bike still needs a repair.

Yamaha's 2026 filing is four letters, one each for bikes built in Japan, Taiwan, Indonesia and France, and the first three characters of the VIN tell you which letter applies.

This is Yamaha Motor Corporation, U.S.A.'s layout for 2026 street-legal motorcycles and scooters:

From the filing, a 49-state 2026 MT-09 built in Japan reads JYARN94E?TA followed by a six-digit production number, with ? for the check digit:

1. JYA: Yamaha, Japan.
2. R: sport bike.
3. N: 751 to 1000 cc.
4. 94: MT-09 (95 would be the MT-09 SP).
5. E: 49-state. A California bike shows Y.
6. T: 2026. A: Iwata, Shizuoka.

That's a reading of Yamaha's filing, not a real VIN.

Yamaha listed this 2022 MT-09's VIN as the last in one of the VIN ranges in its recall report to NHTSA (recall 22V-130, for an engine stall caused by an improperly programmed ECU). NHTSA's vPIC database returns this for JYARN71E2NA001840:

Position 10 carries the year: T on every 2026 model in the filing. Car VINs pair that letter with position 7 to settle the 30-year cycle under 49 CFR 565.15, but that rule covers only cars, MPVs and light trucks, and on a Yamaha position 7 is the second half of the model ID: a 7 on the YZF-R1, an E on the TW200. T also stood for 1996, so if a decoded year looks 30 years off, check it against the title.

The 2026 filing covers street-legal bikes only. Off-road machines still carry 17-character VINs, and vPIC's 2026 Yamaha list includes the Grizzly, Kodiak, Raptor and YFZ450R ATVs and the Wolverine and Viking side-by-sides, so the decoder can return their model, year and engine where Yamaha supplied them. Expect vPIC's off-road vehicle warning on many of these results: it means the machine wasn't certified to the federal safety standards for road vehicles, and the rest of the decode still stands.

vPIC files one Yamaha code as an off-road vehicle code: JYE, Yamaha Motor Co., Japan, added in July 2022. It also lists JY4 (Japan) and 5Y4 (United States) as Yamaha motorcycle codes. The ATV VIN decoder covers other off-road brands, and the Polaris VIN decoder page walks through an off-road decode line by line.

Plant letters vPIC returns for partial Yamaha VINs, by code:

vPIC lists 56 Yamaha entries for 2026: road bikes such as the YZF-R1, R3, R7 and R9, the MT-03, MT-07, MT-09 and MT-10, XSR700, XSR900, Tracer 9 and Bolt; dual-purpose bikes including the Tenere 700, XTZ690, TW200 and XT250; the XMAX and Zuma 125 scooters; YZ, WR and TT-R dirt bikes and the PW50; Grizzly, Kodiak, Raptor and YFZ450R ATVs; Wolverine and Viking side-by-sides; and snowmobiles such as the Sidewinder, RS Venture and VK540. Its all-years list has 271 names. Yamaha's filing calls its 250 cruiser the V-Star 250, but vPIC's 2026 list has no entry by that name, only Virago 250 (V-Star), so a decode may show that name instead.

• Motorcycles and scooters: on the steering head. Federal rules also put the certification label, which carries the VIN, on a permanent part as close as practicable to where the steering post meets the handlebars (49 CFR 567.4).
• ATVs and side-by-sides: on the frame.
• Paperwork: the title or registration, where your state issues one.

Compare other brands on the motorcycle VIN decoder. Putting a Yamaha up for sale? Try CarShots free: it sets your phone photos on a clean backdrop in about 20 seconds each.