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Eve though there are some slight differences with the serifs and the curve of the "9", these look like factory stampings.

The "RT1" looks factory. I would not doubt its authenticity. My guess is that the "RT1" is stamped early in the manufacturing process. The individual serial number is done later..... that is just my guess.

The "RT2" stamped in the frame was not done by Yamaha...... and I guess I have to clarify that with: "in my opinion".

just looking through the album and came across this in reference to the stars either side as mentioned esrlier in the thread ...

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cheers
T1

That's a good news, thanks T1.
Still remain a strong doubt for my bike regarding the RT2 inscription.....which is not to be found anywhere for this bike.
I'm still researching to see if in some specific countries some models had this vin.

Cheers, Joe68

@joe68, with only 7 years delay I can tell that my recently bought RT3 360 from 1973 seems to be part of the same "series".

Both engine and frame serial are  RT2 600XXX and matching, bike bought in Italy.

Hope you still have that and to bring some peace of mind  ​​​​​
 

I recall that another of our European members bought a pre 1974 bike local to him (ie not US) and this had a VIN starting DT2 or RT2 (I can't remember if it was 250 or 360). Also, the European market DT250A and DT360A (1974) had VIN numbers starting DT2-700101 and RT2-700101 respectively.

As has been mentioned in other threads, the asterisks at either end of the VIN mean that it is a model for a country in the European Union.

**EDIT**

Here we go. 

Rt3 serial? - Vintage Enduro Discussions (yamaha-enduros.com)

This is a really old thread.  At that time I think I mentioned seeing some different VIN numbers from Europe...  stars may have been required in some countries and/or seem to be related to the importer in the Netherlands.

There is documentation that "AT2" and "CT2" prefixes definitely did exist on the smaller bikes.  They tend to be 1974 or later models if I remember correctly.  I've never found documentation on a "DT2" or "RT2" prefix but it seems plausible they did exist from the importer/factory with more than one showing up.

Mark, the title of the thread changed with your last post! 

Wow. That is strange!  Let me try to fix.

Seemed to jump back when I was looking at them.  Maybe a glitch in the Matrix? 

I did not post the response by "MSAVITT"
I am the real slim shady, I just changed my password