I understand the registration, but the Certificate of Origin is from the manufacturer to the dealer, then the dealer takes it to get the purchaser the title, or the purchaser takes it to get the title... And, the plates on the down tube and the one inside the rh box, also state 1996 as the year. So, it should be the same as the VIN for the year, I would suppose. Not sure why this one is a year off, but it could be it wasn't imported until 1996.