TOPIC:

Hello All, 
Been 11yrs since my last post here.
I have what I always believed to be a 1979 KZ650-b3.
The bike has been sitting since in my garage since 2008 under cover and in a semi-assembled state. As I want to put it up for sale I pulled the title out and noted that the VIN was in error. DMV recorded (believe it or not) the part number etched on the exhaust muffler when I took it to the DMV for registering it back in 1999 when I bought it. I never took notice of it till today.
So it's simple enough to get the VIN corrected in my state by submitting the proper paperwork into the DMV. While I was confirming the proper VIN for the bike off the headstock I noticed what I believe to be a manufacture date of "11-78". If I have to get the year modified as well I'd like to only mess with the DMV once for squaring the title.
So my question: Is the bike really a 1979 or is it a 1978?

Ultimately I want to ensure the buyer gets a clean, accurate title.

 

Your bike is most likely a 1979 model year produced in 11 of 1978.  I don't know exact production dates but the new model year bikes probably started rolling off assembly lines in September / October of the previous year.

wrote:

Your bike is most likely a 1979 model year produced in 11 of 1978.  I don't know exact production dates but the new model year bikes probably started rolling off assembly lines in September / October of the previous year.

WH,
Thanks! I was hoping this to be the case but didn't want to just assume.

wrote:

Your bike is most likely a 1979 model year produced in 11 of 1978.  I don't know exact production dates but the new model year bikes probably started rolling off assembly lines in September / October of the previous year.

In the car world this tends to be August as they use the summer shut down ( last two weeks of July in Europe) to re-tool ready for the new model year

Generally, Kawasaki ended their model year in June and started the new one in July.  But I've seen overlaps in serial numbers on Z1A's and Z1B's.

At the Lincoln Plant, Summer Shutdown, usually the last week of June and the first week of July, was the model year change over.  

Mike
 

Well thanks to all who replied, I received a corrected, CLEAN title from my DMV yesterday.
It took an in person visit by a DMV LEO to my home to confirm the VIN.
I'm happy to say at least in my state the process works.

The bike will be posted up for sale here soon.

Happy Holidays!

There are lots of different ways to distinguish a KZ650, especially between a 1978 model and a 1979 model - The tank badges are different, the pin striping is different, stock bodywork colors are different, and the cam chain tensioner is different between the two years.

Use this for reference :

www.jarlef.no/Kawasaki/Series/Z/650/z650b.htm