Help a Newbie Out!

[chambersc]

Alright, I know this seems dumb to not know for certain what year your own bike is, but that's exactly the position I'm in right now. I bought a 2003 MC250 recently from an individual. I was told at the time of purchase that it was an 03. A few days later the guy dropped the original owners manual off with me and it is for an 02. Is there somewhere I can go to look up the VIN number on it and find out for certain what year it is. I was looking into ordering Pre-Printed Number Plates for it and apparently there is a difference in the 02 and 03 front number plates so I need to know exactly which one I have. I would appreciate any help I can get.

[nhrider]

I found this http://www.gasgasrider.org/forum/sho...ht=VIN+numbers

[GMP]

Its been common to get older manuals with bikes, especially if the bike was originally bought early in the model year. My '07 is the first one that came with a current manual, and some of the pictures are still out of date!

Post some photos and we can better tell for sure.

[chambersc]

Now I'm confused. I went and looked at it on my lunch break and my 10th digit is the letter D and not a number? Is that maybe an 03 because it's the 4th letter of the alphabet? (i.e. - A=00, B=01, C=02, D=03)?

[AZjg]

You are correct; it starts out with an “A” in 2000, I had a bit of a problem when I registered my EC 250 with DMV here in Arizona but eventually got things worked out.

[chambersc]

I kind of figured that's what the situation was, but I wasn't certain. The other thing I'm a little confused about is if this thing is REALLY an MC250. The VIN Number reads VTREC2500D0138006. So does this mean that this bike is actually an EC with the enduro stuff removed? It has an Ohlins rear shock, Marzocchi forks, FMF pipe, and doesn't appear to have ever had a headlight or kickstand. The guy I bought it from I have known for a while and I don't think that he would try to decieve me but he also didn't buy it brand new. I'll try to post a picture of it.

[barkeater]

02-03 was the roughest transition year for Gas Gas (Makes this year look like a cake walk!). Knight and the Factory were fighting over who had rights to distribute the bikes in the US. Knight started distribution and lost it part way through the year. There were very few '02 models brought in to the US because of this. I'd be highly surprised if it were an '02.

I believe at that time MC's were essentially factory stripped EC's. The MC has always been a kind of red headed stepchild. How they were configured depended on what month it was. Some were 4 speed with a 19" rear, some 6 speed with 18" rear, a few had FMF pipes, some Messico, and every variation in-between.

From our experience uncrating bikes in 2003, my guess is that it is an '03 MC that came with a 2002 manual in the crate. Prior to 2003, if you got a manual at all, you were a very lucky owner.

[chambersc]

That's interesting to know. Mine is a 6 speed bike, with a 19" rear wheel, FMF exhaust, and Ohlins/Marzocchi suspension. So far I have to say I love the bike. I put a couple of hours in on it yesterday play riding in the trees and it did great. Climbs anything you stick in front of it. I'm just coming off of a KX250 2 stroke which I was happy with, but I bet if I had spent the day bouncing between the two of them I would have been throwing rocks at the KX by the time the day was out. I think Im going to be really happy with my decision to "Go Spanish". I got a deal offered to me on this bike I couldn't pass up. Another buddy of mine was looking to upgrade to a newer KX and offered to buy mine on the spot and the three way transaction was done in one afternoon. My KX got a good home, I got a new to me GasGas, and the guy selling it was able to buy the new bike he was looking at. LOVE the hydraulic clutch. After just a couple of rides I don't think I'll ever go back to a cable clutch again.