Kymco VIN Decoder
Enter any 17-character Kymco VIN. Free US-market Kymco VIN decoder backed by the official NHTSA VPIC database — engine code, assembly plant, model year, body class, and every open recall, in about 30 seconds.
How to read a Kymco VIN
A Kymco VIN, like any modern road-vehicle VIN, is 17 characters split into three blocks: the World Manufacturer Identifier (WMI) in positions 1–3, the Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) in positions 4–9, and the Vehicle Identifier Section (VIS) in positions 10–17. Here's a real Kymco VIN broken down position by position.
1R2F3B4S5A6T75849810N11B124134140155165171
| Position | Chars | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | R | Country of origin R = Asia region; together with position 2, the RF pair identifies Taiwan. Every US-market Kymco — scooter, ATV, or side-by-side — is built by Kwang Yang Motor Co. in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, so all genuine Kymco VINs start with RFB. A "Kymco" whose VIN starts with anything else deserves extra scrutiny before purchase. |
| 2-3 | FB | Manufacturer (WMI) FB completes the WMI: RFB = Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd., the Taiwanese manufacturer behind the Kymco brand. Founded in 1963 as a parts supplier to Honda, it builds the full US lineup — Agility, Like, People, and Super 8 scooters, the AK 550 maxi-scooter, MXU ATVs, and UXV side-by-sides — under this single WMI, unlike multi-plant brands such as Polaris or BRP. |
| 4-8 | SAT54 | Vehicle Descriptor Section (VDS) Encodes the model line, body style, and engine family — for this VIN, VPIC decodes it to the AK 550 maxi-scooter. Kymco's scooter records in VPIC are decent by powersports standards (our verified samples return model and series, e.g. People S 125 and Yager GT 200i), but some fields carry engine-family values rather than exact specs, so treat displacement and trim as best-effort. Off-road models (MXU / UXV) decode with an off-road vehicle warning. |
| 9 | 8 | Check digit A mod-11 checksum computed from the other 16 positions. NHTSA uses this to reject typos before returning a decode — for this VIN the check digit is 8 and VPIC confirms it validates. A failed check digit returns ErrorCode 1 and CheckMyVIN flags the VIN as a possible typo. |
| 10 | N | Model year N = 2022. The full year code table is below; the 30-year cycle skips I, O, Q, U, Z and 0. Kymco began selling in the US in the mid-2000s, so essentially every US-market Kymco carries a modern 17-character VIN — a shorter frame number usually means a grey-import or non-US-market unit that VPIC will not decode. |
| 11 | B | Assembly plant B = Kaohsiung, Taiwan — VPIC returns Plant City = Kaohsiung, Plant Country = Taiwan for this record. CheckMyVIN reads Plant City and Plant Country directly from the VPIC record rather than inferring from this character. Kwang Yang's Kaohsiung operation is the source of the entire US-market Kymco lineup. |
| 12-17 | 440551 | Production sequence A 6-digit serial number that increments through the model year at that plant. Not useful on its own, but combined with year and plant it confirms the VIN is internally consistent. |
VIN year codes (position 10)
The 10th character of every modern VIN encodes the model year. The cycle skips the letters I, O, Q, U and Z, and the digit 0, to avoid being confused with similar digits. This table covers every model year currently on US roads.
| Code | Year | Code | Year | Code | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | 2010 | H | 2017 | R | 2024 |
| B | 2011 | J | 2018 | S | 2025 |
| C | 2012 | K | 2019 | T | 2026 |
| D | 2013 | L | 2020 | V | 2027 |
| E | 2014 | M | 2021 | W | 2028 |
| F | 2015 | N | 2022 | X | 2029 |
| G | 2016 | P | 2023 | Y | 2030 |
Full year code chart for all years (1980–2030) →
Kymco WMI codes (positions 1–3)
The first three characters of the VIN identify the manufacturer and country of assembly. Kymco uses several WMI codes depending on plant and model line.
| WMI | Meaning |
|---|---|
| RFB | Kwang Yang Motor Co., Ltd. (KYMCO) — Kaohsiung, Taiwan |
Kymco build sheet & options
A full Kymco build sheet — original color, market-specific equipment, and dealer-installed accessories — is not part of the federal NHTSA VPIC dataset. CheckMyVIN can confirm make, model line, model year, body class, assembly plant (Kaohsiung, Taiwan), and NHTSA recall history, but it cannot return the original configuration, and some VPIC engine fields for this brand carry family-level rather than exact values. For the original spec, a Kymco dealer can pull the unit's record by VIN, and KYMCO USA publishes owner manuals and safety-recall notices on its official site at kymcousa.com. CheckMyVIN never claims options data it cannot verify against the NHTSA record.
Kymco VIN decoder FAQ
Is the Kymco VIN decoder free?
Yes — every Kymco VIN lookup on CheckMyVIN is free, no signup, no email gate, no usage cap on individual users. Data comes from the public NHTSA VPIC API. The optional "full vehicle history report" link at the bottom of each report is an affiliate to a paid third-party history service; you can ignore it.
How do I decode a Kymco Agility, Like, People, or AK 550 VIN?
Enter the 17 characters above. Positions 1-3 = WMI (RFB = Kwang Yang Motor Co., Taiwan — every US-market Kymco starts with it), positions 4-8 = the model encoding (AK 550 on our verified example; People S 125 and Yager GT 200i on others we tested), position 9 = check digit, position 10 = model year (N = 2022 on the example), position 11 = plant (B = Kaohsiung). CheckMyVIN reads each field from NHTSA VPIC and runs a live NHTSA recall check on the result.
Where is the Kymco VIN located?
It varies by model, which trips people up. Common locations: stamped into the frame at the steering neck; on the frame tube behind the front apron or kick panel (sometimes under a small plastic cover); on the center tunnel beneath the floorboard; or inside the under-seat storage bucket. On MXU ATVs and UXV side-by-sides, look on a main frame rail. The number stamped on the engine case is an engine serial, NOT the VIN — always match the frame stamp against the title.
What Kymco recalls should I know about?
The best-documented NHTSA campaigns are both on the 2018-2019 Like 150i: 19V037000 (the fuel pump could leak fuel around its electrical connection when the tank was full — a fire risk; dealers replaced the pump) and 20V350000 (excess grease could degrade the ABS sensor's magnetic ring and knock out ABS; dealers cleaned the sensor sleeve and replaced the ring). Both repairs were free, and the recall check on this page queries NHTSA live for whatever model you enter. For older or low-volume models, also ask a Kymco dealer to run the VIN.
Can you decode a grey-import or European-market Kymco?
Usually not. NHTSA VPIC reliably covers vehicles certified for sale in the US; Kymco sells far more models in Europe and Asia than it imports here, and a European-market Downtown or X-Town that reached the US privately may return no record. That's a data boundary, not proof the VIN is fake — but on a unit you're buying to ride on US roads, no federal record is worth treating as a caution flag for registration and insurance.
Why does my Kymco report show slightly odd engine specs?
Powersports makers file lighter VIN-decode data than car makers, and some Kymco records in VPIC carry engine-family values rather than exact figures — one of our verified samples (an AK 550) returns a rounded displacement, and 125-class scooters can decode with their family's larger displacement listed. Make, model line, model year, and plant are the trustworthy fields; CheckMyVIN shows the record as NHTSA holds it rather than silently "correcting" it, so you can see exactly what the federal data says.