MK2 or MK2A?

Most reliable method on a bike missing the MK2a air cleaner is the battery tray. If the battery long side is aligned front to back of bike it's a MK2, if it's aligned left to right it started as a MK2a.

It has the steel filter backplate and it's unlikely that someone customising in those days would have fitted it and then no filter.

In general, although there were exceptions, UK and Europe got 2As and the US and Canada the straight Mk2s...It was the air filter and silencer changes that made the difference, so its a Mk2 now !

Battery tray is different i.e. the battery on a Mk2A sits crosswise, the left side-cover attaches via a dzus fastener at the bottom to the battery tray and more differences

Hi Luke

I have a MK2A and did a quick walk-around the bike to try and pick out some of the little differences. I'm sure that there are others that I missed. The video description also includes a few items that I learned from the AccessNorton forum.

Good luck! Mike

https://youtu.be/LfFQkk-A1gI

There is a lot of confusion about the MK2 MK2a changes, they were made concurrently so some of the changes made interim mid mark to get ready for the MK3, such as the welch plugs on the swing arm were common to the 2 and 2a and are not MK2a identifiers despite them being used as identifiers. My early MK2a only has the normal 850 extended shock mounts not the MK3 ones with the seat hinge mounts so I doubt the MK3 seat hinge mount identifies a bike as MK2a but more likely a late MK2/2a or a bike reframed with a MK3 frame after an accident.

And what were your suspicions for future ref, look very like a MK2 but no shot shows the battery tray.

@john holmes

Luke's battery tray goes front to back and there is no dzus on the sidecover - these were the two aspects that made me alert him to it in the first place.

Together with the fact that it was not registered in the UK until 1994 meaning it was first supplied to Canada. As opposed to sold in the UK then shipped out there.

Obviously the airfilter is different anyway as he runs a single mikuni, and the bike was running an old SU before it was restored.

Same goes for the exhaust downpipes and silencers which can be easily swapped.