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The last global crash all but ended the "grey import" industry with the big specialist importers closing down.Ĭars manufactured for the Japanese domestic market have been growing in popularity since the late 1990s. In the later '90s as Japan's economy fell into recession it became less profitable to export and Japanese owners held on to their bikes for longer.
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Any motorcycle more powerful than 250cc had to take an extensively stringent test every two years.Ĭombining these factors with a virtually non-existent second-hand market made it economic to export the nearly new bikes abroad where they were eagerly bought and a number of import specialists sprung up to cater for this "grey import" market of relatively inexpensive but interesting motorcycles.
4 JDM LEGENDS LICENSE
In the '90s the JDM power restrictions along with license restrictions that made it difficult to be licensed on larger motorcycles resulted in a number of models that were not offered anywhere else in the world, with 250cc and 400cc miniature replicas of the bigger 750cc & 900cc bikes.Īt the same time, Japan had particularly tough laws regarding road licensing and sales regulations.
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4 JDM LEGENDS CODE
Correct identification of the chassis code using these markers would help prove the authenticity of the model. Another useful example to help differentiate between pure JDM models and export examples is the code JHMEEG6 on the European Civic VTi models and E-EG6 on the Japanese fifth generation Civic SiR trims. Examples would include E-EK9 or GF-EK9 from the first generation Civic Type R, E-BNR32 from the R32 Skyline GT-R, E-JZX100 from the eight generation Mark II. These codes are only seen on JDM models and are not present on exported models of the same type. The Emissions Code refers to the vehicle's designated emission standard at the time, usually being placed before the vehicle's model number, and with the five most commonly used designations being E, GF, GH, ABA, and CBA. As an example, ST205-BLMVZ breaks down as "ST205", which means it is a third generation Toyota Celica GT-FOUR, and "BLMVZ" which designates a set of features incorporated in the vehicle.
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The model code designates the vehicle's model number and features.
4 JDM LEGENDS SERIAL NUMBER
For example, frame number SV30-0169266 breaks down as "SV30" identifying the model as Toyota Camry/Vista and "0169266" being the serial number of the vehicle. The frame number identifies the vehicles model and serial number. Instead, they use either a frame number, chassis number, or vehicle ID number and also a model code as well as an emissions code to identify their vehicles. Japanese carmakers do not use a vehicle identification number as is common overseas.
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Fender mirror of Toyota Celsior (UCF20 JDM)
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