How can I ID the year looking at the VIN?

[Jay72]

I searched the site here and found the vin decoder.
Is there an easier way? I'm going to look at a Blaster late tomorrow and was wondering if there is usually a sticker or digit in the VIN that can tell what year it is.

It's advertised as a 2000, but when I called the guy he said it's actually a 2002.
I never owned a Yamaha 4 wheeler, I had a 1987 TRX 250X and it had a year sticker. And I've read 2003 have hydraulic brakes which would be sweet if thats what this is.

Other than that he says it has no spark and needs a $60 yamaha coil, I seen coils are more like $30 so I expect to chase down an ignition problem.
Asking price is $800 obo, I'm thinking $600 tops depending on overall looks, compression, etc.

I really need help on a quick year ID.
Any comments are welcome also, like speed wise, how would this compare to my old trx 250x (4 stroke)

Thanks.

Here are the ad pics

 

[sillykid]

thats an 88- 02 model

 

[Jay72]

Thanks.
I've been looking more, I found that the tenth digit is the standard year digit for just about anything with a vin. Guess I'll try that.

 

[little3mil]

whats the 10th digit of the vin on the left hand side (sitting on it) then look up the code its sitcked in body i think.. good luck

 

[Jay72]

whats the 10th digit of the vin on the left hand side (sitting on it) then look up the code its sitcked in body i think.. good luck

Thats answers my question. Actually the tenth digit is the year on everything with a vin. I found this on google and it holds true for everything I own, I checked, never knew this before.
Now when I go look at it, I'll know the year.
I guess besides the brakes there aren't many changes through the years?

Do most of you delete the oil injection?

 

[yb200]

brakes front knose and i think the cdi if a little diff

 

[fioz600r]

I think 99% of the members delete the oil injection. If the system fails you blow the top end. Deleting the oil injection is very simple. Also you should remove the T.O.R.S. Unit also another cause of problems.

 

[Jay72]

Been reading.....could the TORS cause no spark if it's bad?

What about the price? I always pay people what they're asking but I'm tired of it. It seems $800 is too much seeing how it doesn't run.
He says it needs a coil, I have a kx85 coil I might bring and see if he'll let me swap it in and see that it still has no spark. Of all the ignition problems I ever ran into I don't think I ever ran into a bad coil.

 

[Jay72]

I think 99% of the members delete the oil injection. If the system fails you blow the top end. Deleting the oil injection is very simple. Also you should remove the T.O.R.S. Unit also another cause of problems.

I deleted it on my nephews RT100 after he ran out of oil but not gas 8-|
What premix ratio is recommended for the Blaster?

Thanks.

 

[rideyamaha09]

32:1 is what most people run. Another thing you could check on that blaster is the tail light, up until 2001 they only had a tail light and in 2002 they switched to a tail/brake light. The 2002 and up lights are much bigger than the old style.

 

[mr_3_0_5]

if you go to buy it check the compression..

 

[Jay72]

Well this 2002 is actually a 1996, as indicated by the letter T in tenth position of the VIN.

And it's a serious POS. The swingarm bolt had no nut, it was just hammered on the end.
There was no bolt in the lower motor mount.

Heres were it gets interesting. In the ad it says it has no spark and needs a coil, the guy told me that he had his friend clean the carb yesterday.
And when I asked him what happened to the wires that are supposed to be coming out from under the stator cover he said his friend needed to clean something up under there too. It felt like it had no throttle cable. SO.....if it has no spark due to a bad coil, why clean the carb?! The BS detector was screaming at this point.
He even said the coil was still on it, but damn if I could see it.

The ad price was $800 for a 2000, but his wife put the ad up it's actually a 2002.
Well in reality it's a 1996, he'd take $400 for it, I offered $200 and left.

It had compression, going by feel.

Thanks for the time guys, I'll check back on this thread but it looks like I'm not going to be a Blaster owner any time soon.