dumb serial number question?

[d.walker43]

Hey guys. So on my 1984 200s frankentrike, I noticed today that the gear order is opposite of what it says in the owners manual. It says in there that neutral should be all the way at the bottom. Contrary to that, neutral is all the way at the top on it. This is how it is on my '83 185s, which the owners manual for that trike agrees with on. This made me wonder if the engine might be unoriginal, as there are several other unoriginal parts on this trike. The forks are unoriginal, the gas tank is unoriginal, and 1 of the rear rims. I'll post some pics below. Anyway, so my question is, how do I decode the serial number on the engine? I tried the VIN decoder on the website and couldn't figure it out. it was telling me all of the numbers I tried were invalid. I have the serial number on the engine, and I found the sticker on the steering column but I didn't see a serial number there for the frame. Ive got a pic of that but not of the engine serial number, if anyone wants to see that I can take a pic of it. Any help? Thanks.

215392215393215394215395

[wonderboy]

In 84, the shift patterns for the 200ES, the 200S, and the ATC70 (that I know of) had Neutral all the way up. So, to shift into higher gears you pressed down, back to Neutral you lifted up. The way you describe it working sounds right to me for 84. This is backwards compared to a lot of the machines from other years (250sx, 250ES, ATC70 for 85).

To confirm your engine year, grab the serial number from the engine itself, but given your shift pattern I'm pretty sure it's 84.
215399

This link will let you correlate your engine serial number to the year:
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/141286-Honda-Engine-Serial-Numbers

[wonderboy]

...and your frame serial number is on the left side of the steering neck.
215400

[d.walker43]

Ok, thanks. The only reason I doubted it being an 84 is that in the owners manual for the 1984 Honda ATC 200s, it says the gear pattern is opposite of what you described, and also is opposite of my 83 185s. I know the frame is from 84, it says that on the sticker up by the steering neck so I don't doubt it at all. As you see in the pictures, it has the pre-82 style front forks, from an ATC 200. I would not have doubted if one of the previous owners had pieced it together, using the forks and engine from 1 mixed with the frame and everything from another. I also noticed it had the tank decal from an 85 200s, however it might just be that somebody changed the decals for whatever reason. Thanks for confirming what I kind of suspected before but wasn't sure.

EDIT: Found out the confusion. The owners manual I have on my phone is for the 85 200s:lol:

[tri again]

I think they changed the shift direction for safety?
I've climbed on a running trike and stepped on the shifter by accident and it jumps fwd.
With neutral all the way dwn, that almost can't happen.
Never have figured out what years / models or when they changed them.

Having some of each if downright confusing.
I like the old british bikes.
shifters on the right where most m cycles had the brake.

[Racer-X]

The 10th digit in the vin number will be an "E" if its an 84. If its a D its an 83 and if its an F its an 85.