Where to get an official date of manufacture?

mavis cruet

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Hi all. I have been trying to get official proof of the manufacture date of my r80 g/s to hopefully sort out historic tax for the dvla. I was wondering where people have got these from? Mine is registered as an ‘84, but looking at frame numbers and dates of manufacture on a website (can’t remember which) it looks like it was made in ‘83. Any help appreciated.
Cheers
Karl.
 
If your bike was UK supplied any BMW bike dealer will be able to look your bike on their 'IVS' sales system. This will show the week it was built, obviously this has no bearing on when it was registered. I have a 1969 Triumph & for the benefit of tax & MOT exception, I just downloaded the declaration form from the DVLA , filled it out & signed it. You cannot register the details anywhere, but it is handy to have on file. I have never been asked to produce the form in relation to tax or MOT purposes. (I don't bother with the MOT now!).

I am a retired BMW car sales manager & the car & bike sales systems are identical, we had to have the bike system when we were tucked up to market the god awful C1!!
 
Notwithstanding Cheney's advice (which I think doesn't cover classic-aged bikes like your G/S), in my experience the only way to do this is getting a dating letter from the factory in Berlin. You can do this directly or via the BMW Club (you would need to be a member). There is a price advantage through the club. DVLA won't accept anything other than this for BMWs (again, in my experience - I've done this perhaps 5 times in the last 20 years?). You'll need your VIN number.

BMW Factory Archives: info.grouparchiv@bmwgroup.com +49 89 382 68281

Robert Freeman is at dvla@bmwclubuk.net

Hope this helps (I gave this advice to a guy on Facebook and he didn't take it. He is now riding around with a Q plate).
 
Mavis

If you do manage to get this done, and get it registered as historic, I would be very interested in the process as my R80ST was built early 1983 according to the frame numbers, but wasn’t registered u til December 1984….. so I am in the same boat you are.

I’d like to be able to register it as historic a bit earlier, so saving on VEL tax.

Thanks
Bubb
 
Mavis

If you do manage to get this done, and get it registered as historic, I would be very interested in the process as my R80ST was built early 1983

I think there's an annoying rule that you won't succeed in historic reg until you reach/apply after the January after the bike is 40 years old. So that will be Jan 24 for any bike built in 1983.
 
Thanks for the replys. I've been in touch with a bmw dealer and all they can give me is the year of registration. I had heard about contacting bmw directly, but had no idea of the contact info - thanks for supplying that! I'll give that a go & let you know how things go...
Cheers,
Karl.
 
Contact Andreas. He was very helpful when I reached out to him for info on my GS.


Andreas Harz
BMW Group Classic
Historisches Dokumentationszentrum


Postadresse / Postal adress:
BMW Group
AK-52
80788 München
Besucheradresse / Visitor's adress:
Moosacher Straße 66
80809 München


Tel: +49-89-382-68281
Fax: +49-89-382-24765
mailto:Andreas.Harz@bmwgroup.com
http://www.bmwgroup.com/
 
I think there's an annoying rule that you won't succeed in historic reg until you reach/apply after the January after the bike is 40 years old. So that will be Jan 24 for any bike built in 1983.

Its 40 years after date of manufacture , not registration.
A lot of early G/S's and ST's in the UK stood around in the dealers because they were not very popular. My G/S was manufactured in Sept 1981 but not registered untill late 82 , in the owners manual i have a pre delivery check early 83.
Once i got the dating letter via the BMW Club and BMW the DVLA changed it to historic and taxed it straight away.
The easyest way to initiall find out the date of manufacture is to enter the VIN number into the real OEM website.
 
Contact Andreas. He was very helpful when I reached out to him for info on my GS.


Andreas Harz
BMW Group Classic
Historisches Dokumentationszentrum


Postadresse / Postal adress:
BMW Group
AK-52
80788 München
Besucheradresse / Visitor's adress:
Moosacher Straße 66
80809 München


Tel: +49-89-382-68281
Fax: +49-89-382-24765
mailto:Andreas.Harz@bmwgroup.com
http://www.bmwgroup.com/

I did this he was great and happy to ask a couple of questions
 
I think there's an annoying rule that you won't succeed in historic reg until you reach/apply after the January after the bike is 40 years old. So that will be Jan 24 for any bike built in 1983.

Is it January?
I thought it was after the 1st April after it was 40 years old.
If it’s April, my bike was made feb 1983 I think from chassis number, so would be eligible for historic status this year if I can get the certificate from BMW

I will check on the details of whether it’s January, or April…
 
I am in a similar position because my G/S was manufactured in March 1981 but first registered in March 1982.

I will try and apply for change of VED this April.

I made enquiries about verification certificate before lockdown but the archives were then closed for a long period.



For quick reference here is a list of R80 G/S Vin numbers manufactured by month in 1983 (Euro bikes).

01/83 6258246 6258383
" 02/83 6258384 6258588
" 03/83 6258589 6258686
" 04/83 6258687 6258869
" 05/83 6258870 6259136
" 06/83 6259137 6259407
" 08/83 6259408 6259654
" 09/83 6259655 6259725
" 10/83 6259726 6259815
" 08/83 N/A N/A 6362874
" 09/83 N/A N/A 6362888
" 10/83 N/A N/A 6362900
" 11/83 6259816 6259989
" 12/83 6259990 6260000
" 12/83 6281001 6281211

http://www.bmbikes.co.uk/chassispages/enginechassis800.htm
 
Is it January?
I thought it was after the 1st April after it was 40 years old.
If it’s April, my bike was made feb 1983 I think from chassis number, so would be eligible for historic status this year if I can get the certificate from BMW

I will check on the details of whether it’s January, or April…

It is the year after the 1st of April after it was 40 years old. Mine is a Jan '81 and I tried to get the historic status after the April 2021 but had to wait until after April last year before it was available on the Post Office computer. Essentially, your bike has to be 41 or over to qualify.
 
It is the year after the 1st of April after it was 40 years old. Mine is a Jan '81 and I tried to get the historic status after the April 2021 but had to wait until after April last year before it was available on the Post Office computer. Essentially, your bike has to be 41 or over to qualify.

And to be “heavily modified” from original, Ahem.
 
Its 40 years after date of manufacture , not registration.
A lot of early G/S's and ST's in the UK stood around in the dealers because they were not very popular. My G/S was manufactured in Sept 1981 but not registered untill late 82 , in the owners manual i have a pre delivery check early 83.
Once i got the dating letter via the BMW Club and BMW the DVLA changed it to historic and taxed it straight away.
The easyest way to initiall find out the date of manufacture is to enter the VIN number into the real OEM website.
Hi
im in the same boat with a R100 built in June 83 but not registered til March 84. Was the process with dvla easy once you had the dating letter from the BMW club? What was the process?
Thanks
 
Hi
im in the same boat with a R100 built in June 83 but not registered til March 84. Was the process with dvla easy once you had the dating letter from the BMW club? What was the process?
Thanks
Check out this thread, the latest conversation about this subject
 


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