Nishiki Serial Number Database Bike

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By Year/Model

This is an estate sale find. This is a used vintage nishiki 14-speed road bike unknown model serial number ks-188661. The serial number indicates that the bike frame. 1976 Vintage Nishiki International, 58cm c-t seat tube, 57mm c-c top tube, 45cm chain stays. This bike was originally sold by Cycle Tree in Sunnyvale in June 1977. It is serial number KF32043; which indicates 32043rd frame manufactured in 1976 for the USA market by Kawamura in Japan. Comfort bikes are specifically designed for leisure riding during long periods of time and feature a frame shape that allows you to sit upright. Send me an email when my question is answered, We're committed to providing low prices every day, on everything. This one is from Sixthreezero, EVRYJourney is women’s hybrid bike with 26 inch tire size. This is a used vintage nishiki 14-speed road bike unknown model serial number ks-188661. THE SERIAL NUMBER INDICATES THAT THE BIKE FRAME WAS MADE IN JAPAN PRIOR TO 1975 FOR U.S. I AM UNABLE TO TELL THE MODEL OF THIS BIKE BECAUSE THE PREVIOUS OWNER HAD UPGRADES DONE ON THE BIKE TO INCLUDE PAINTING THE FRAME BLACK AND WHITE. Formerly NationalBikeRegistry.com, Project529.com is a free online database which will store the serial numbers for all of your bikes. They offer lifetime registration with only a name and email address. After creating an account, input all the previous data into these web forms.

1970's
Redline Squareback

First production bike was serial number 100. A low number bike would be early 1974.
By the 500-600 range somewhere begin the 1975's.
1974-1975 Front gusset had no hole
1976-1977 Front gusset had two holes

1978-1979 MX-II - 4130 frame/fork. Used the Squareback front end & the now familiar MX-II rear end on early models.

1978-1979 Proline - 4130 frame and fork.

1980's
Japanese made frames started in 1979
RI 79
RJ 80
RA 81
RB 82
RC 83

1980

RJ 09623

1981

1981 700 MX-II 4130 frame & down tube decals, Vbars & Redline stem, Suntour VX alloy 3 piece cranks.
1981 600 MX-II 4130 frame & down tube decals, Vbars & Redline stem. Only difference from the 700 is the 1 piece
cranks.
1981 520 MX-II 4130 frame & down tube decals, Vbars but cheapo slant stem & Coaster brake Tuff Wheels.
All three came in your choice of Red, White or Blue.

1981 700 MX-II 4130 frame & down tube decals, Vbars & Redline stem. Sugino Maxy-Cross alloy cranks, Suntour seat clamp & hubs, National skinwalls & KKT alloy pedals.
1981 600 MX-II 4130 frame & down tube decals, same as 700 but came with Sugino 4130 1 piece cranks & KKT steel pedals.
1981 520 unknown specs.
All three came in only Blue, Red, Black & White. Chrome would come to the lineup in spring of 1981.

Late 1981/1982
The new bikes appear in the Oct. 81 issue of BMXA. Since the Advertisement had to be shot & submitted before print deadline it probably means the bikes were out at the end of summer of 1981.
They feature the long huge Redline logo in red with white or black trim. As in the earlier years no decal Identifying the bikes as 600 or 700 etc is on the bike yet. The new blocky RL logo is on the seat mast sides & headtube.
1981/1982 PL-20 Carrera uses a Proline frame, flight cranks & still using Vbars.
Available only in Chrome at first with red or blue parts packages.
1981/1982 700 Now using a first generation MX-III frame which is really a MX-II. Sugino Maxy-Cross cranks. Everything else same for 600.
1981/1982 600 Now using a first generation MX-III frame which is really a MX-II. 4130 1 piece cranks.
Both available in Chrome, Red, White, Blue or Black.

MX-II vs. Series-III
Early MX-III were the designation for complete MX-IIs from Japan. The first MX-III frames confused people so Redline also called them Series 3, ST(as in ST-20), Series Three etc.
Late 1982 the first Series-III based bikes rolled out the 600a & 700. Here is how to tell if you have a MX-II or Series-III based frame. Bottom Bracket height(center of BB to ground)MX-II, 11 3/8' . MX-III, 10 3/4' Remember wear & tear on the tires and tire design will affect the BB height slighty.
MX-II Top Tube(TT)is 18'
MX-III Top Tube(TT)is 18 3/4'
MX-II weighs @ 4 lbs 8 ounces
Series-III weighs @ 4 lbs 1 ounce(Dont forget to weigh clean with no headset or BB cups in.)
Series-III have larger then normal drilled out holes on the BB(4 holes)& HT(2 holes), which are covered up by the main tubes.

1983
1983 versions of the MX-III bikes were set to arrive in showrooms, October 1982.
Was the first year of the Redline MX-III. Well sorta. Till then all MX-III series used a MX-II frame according to an interview by Len Weed from BMX Action Dec. 82. Linn Kastan stated in 1983 Redline debuted its first real MX-III. It came as a complete bike Models 700 & 600a & Frame set.
First year the complete bikes had the model (600a etc) on the frameset.
Specs. TT & DT outside diameter was 1 1/4.' Forks 1'. Wheelbase was around 36' BB height was 10 3/4'.
1983 700 - 4130 came complete with Sugino Maxi-Cross cranks & Redline stem & Vbars.
1983 600a - 4130 came complete with Sugino 1pc or Sugino GT 3 piece cranks, Mild steel Kusuki Vbar & Sugino alloy & 4130 stem.
Both available in Chrome only. Your choice of black or blue parts.

1984/1985
1984 500 A - 4130 Series III frame set(MX-III). Sugino 175 1 piece cranks. Red to Yellow fade decals.
Available in White or Chrome only. (Made in Taiwan)
1984 600 B - 4130 ST-20(MX-III? ST as in Series Three as in MX-II?)104A forks(A as in all weld instead of the three spot?).
Available in White or Chrome only. Black with some grey background down tube decal with red Redline. ST-20 on seat tube & not 600b. Vbars & same pads as the 700P. Mostly black with some grey & red Redline written several times.
1984 700 P - 4130 Proline frame, same frame that the Carerra comes with. 101A Tapered forks.
Available in White or Chrome only. PL-20 on seat tube & not 700P. These use a Red to Yellow fade. Bike has 1 piece Sugino 175 cranks.

1985
1985 500 B - Tri Moly. 4130 front, mild steel rear triangle. MX-III type frame. Fully painted finish or all chrome. Econo stem.
Available in all Hazard Yellow (not partial Chrome like the 600 C) or Chrome.
1985 600 C - 4130 Front was painted or chrome, rear was chrome. MX-III frame. Forklifter stems. 1 piece cranks.
Available in Hazard Yellow, White or Chrome. Parts all black & chrome. Rear dropouts are gnurled. (Made in Taiwan)
1985 800 P - 4130 Proline frame & fork. Forklifter stems. 1 piece cranks.
Available in Turquoise/Chrome, Yellow/Chrome & White/Chrome

1986

1987
1987 400 C - Tri-Moly?
1987 600 CXL - Available in White, Red or Turquiose

1988
1988 400 C - 4130?, Available in Chrome, Inca Red, Jaguar Black, Kiwi & Mango. Series-III frame
1988 800 PXL - 4130, Available in Chrome, & a Red & Jaguar Black. Proline 2 frame.

1989
1989 390 -
1989 400 C -
1989 400 D -
1989 700 EXL - Retro Inspired logos & Proline tapered type forks, 180mm 1 piece cranks.
Available in Red, Blue, Black & Chrome.
1989 800 PXL -

1990's

1990
Blue=Pacific Blue, Red=Rio Red, Yellow=Solar Yellow, & Gray=Carbon
Color was front end with Gray or Chrome the back end.
1990 Three (300) - 18th Anniversary model, uses a Series-III type frame.
1990 Three (390) - 18th Anniversary model, uses a Series-III type frame. MX-II type forks.
Available in Red/Gray, Blue/Gray, Yellow/Gray & Black/Chrome
1990 Four (400 EXL) - Series-III type frame. TRX Type, leading axle, dropout forks.
Available in Red/Gray, Blue/Gray, Yellow/Gray & Black/Chrome
1990 Seven (700SL) - Proline type frame. Proline type forks.
Available in Red/Gray, Blue/Gray, Yellow/Gray & Black/Chrome.

1991
All Have commemorative sticker stating 1972-1991
1991 320 -
1991 420 - Available in Chrome, Red, Yellow or Blue.
1991 520 - Tri-moly frame. Tapered Proline 4130 forks.
Specs: TT-18 1/4', WB-35', BB-11 1/8', RE-15 1/2', TT OD 1 1/8', DT OD 1 1/4'.
Available in Yellow/Gray, Blue/White, Red/Gray(or Chrome)
1991 720 SLX - Available in Yellow/Black, Red/Black, Blue/White(White or Black being the back end color)

1992
1992 Redline Platinum - 20th Anniversary Edition. Only 50 made. Browning front suspension.

1993
1993 RL 340 -
1993 RL 440 -
1993 RL 540 - 4130 frame/fork. Two tone paint & chrome finish.
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By Serial Number
Early USA made bikes may have had a code like this:
RA = 81 Then run number is 5 digits.
RB = 82
RC = 83 etc...

**However bikes in the Museum throw that formula in the trash** (I will leave it up for now. The second letter may mean something, but its not the Formula people have been saying.

RA 04320 - 1982 Redline MX (Made in Japan, Redline Hotdog stamp)
RB XXXX - 1982 Redline MX-II
RB 01382 - 1984 Redline 102b (May possibly be a 82 or 83) (Redline Hotdog stamp)
RB 01693 - 1982 Proline II (has No gusset behind seat, CS bridge)
RC 01878 - Unknown Year, (maybe 600a) MX-II or III (Redline Oval stamp)
RC 06430 - 1984 Redline 600b
RC 07870 - 1984 Redline MX-III(ST-20), (has gusset behind seat, Redline Oval stamp)
RC 07631 - 1984 Redline 600b (Redline Oval stamp)
RC 09325 - 1984 Redline Proline (Redline Oval stamp, CS bridge)
RC 09858 - Unknown Year, Redline Proline (has NO gusset behind seat, Redline Oval stamp, CS bridge)
RC 13645 - 1984 Redline 700p
RE 00533 - 1985 Redline 800p
RH 00726 - 1983 Redline 600a (Redline Oval stamp, NO CS bridge)
RH 07118 - 1983 Redline 600a
RH 00250 - Unknown Year, Redline 102b
RI 0394X - Unknown Year, Redline MX-II or III (claims top tube is 17' but they only came in @18 & 18 3/4)
RI 05788 - Unknown Year, Redline MX-II or III
RJ 00829 - Unknown Year, Model
RJ 02630 - Unknown Year, Model
RJ 03295 - Unknown Year, Model
RJ 05818 - 1980 MX-III (MX-III was a MX-II frameset sold as a complete bike that came from Japan)

RJ 09623 - 1980 MX-II/MX-III

9 Digits, Letters & Numbers
WA9F01870 (1999, June)
WN0C05414 (2000, March) Redline 340
WN0C07804 (2000, March) Redline 340
WV9G05080 (1999, July)

The third number appears to be the year in this case 1999. The letter that follows that may be the month.
This is speculation based on the bikes age.

Someone posted a RMCF80257. Perhaps the C was actually a 0, then it would fit in with the above structure more.

8 - 7 or 6 Digits year stamped
866814 1986 Redline 500c (Redline Oval stamp. Trimoly stamp)

8609340 1986, September, bike number 340. Or maybe a typo & it is supposed to be 8 digits.

85021290 1985 Redline 600c
85050047 1985 & 05 the month
92081262 1992 & 08 the month
92081370 1992 & 08 the month

6 Digits
Some bikes have the Oval Redline stamp & some dont.
Speculation is that if it has the stamp it is made overseas. That isn't confirmed.
118468 (No Info)
341200 (No Info)
346386 (No Info)
370904 (No Info)
373568 (No Info)
494904 (No Info)
496287 (No Info)

109891 1984/85 Redline Proline (700p or PL-20) Frameset

**It is my opinion that these bikes were simply stamped in order, with no date coding put into them. The lower the number the earlier it was made, starting in 1979. Some model years started earlier & this throws off the fluid look. Also some bike owners may confuse the year of the date it was originally purchased with the model year which in some cases could be different**

340790 1980 Redline Proline (PL-20)
341692 1978-80 Proline (has No gusset behind seat, No Redline stamp)
343277 1979 Redline MX-II (has No gusset behind seat, No Redline stamp)
348647 1982 Redline MX-II (600 or 700) Frameset.
349470 Unknown Year Redline MX-II or III
350291 1981 Redline Proline 2 (had No gusset behind seat, & No CS bridge)
350294 Unknown Year, Redline Proline
354065 Unknown Year, Redline MX-II
357485 Unknown Year, Redline Proline (No CS bridge)
363127 Unknown Year, Redline Proline (Redline Oval stamp)
375830 Unknown Year, Redline Proline 2 frame (has gusset behind seat, CS bridge, Redline Oval stamp)
375996 1982 Redline Proline 2 (has the gusset behind seat, CS bridge, Redline Oval stamp)
499612 Unknown Year, Redline MX-III frame
502365 1984 Redline MX-III frame (has gusset behind seat, CS bridge, Redline Oval stamp)
502867 Unknown Year, Redline Proline (CS bridge)
505092 Unknown Year, Redline MX-III frame (has gusset behind seat, No CS bridge, Redline Oval stamp)
507159 Unknown Year, Redline MX-III frame (has gusset behind seat, No CS bridge, Redline Oval stamp)
510537 Unknown Year, Redline PL-24 (CS bridge)

5 Digits
08453 1978-79 Redline Proline.
15188 Unknown Year Redline Microline

Assorted Codes

Giant Made
Giant made should have two separate code areas, 1 on each dropout.
G0684 (on one side) First two digits are month, last two digits are year.
4673620 (on the other dropout) Run number

G0684 4673620 Giant made, June 1984
G0684 5676717 Giant made, June 1984 1984 Redline MX-III (Redline,Hotdog stamp
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R88041521 - 1988 Redline Proline (800 PXL - April, 1988)
R87112584 - 1987 Redline (November, 1987)

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85 RL REO 03155 (1985, Redline, Built by Code, run number) ???
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DBSN 401Q7687 (Built by code, came with 401's, Q cause they look cool & run number) ???
Or did he write it down wrong was the Q actually a 0? That would work with the below bikes sequence.

DSRM 40110554 This bike is a survivor. Owner cant remember the exact year but it was 1984/1985ish. It is a white 500a.
The 500a used a MX-III frame. Well the owner thinks it may be an 1984 & the code starts with 4 so maybe that was the year & the 01 is the actual month. the rest 10554 could be the run number.

DSRM 40555038 Only certain info is it is a MX-II or III frame.

DJBM 4020463 Perhaps 4 is 1984 & 02 is for February.

**Sure looks like the 4 is for 1984 & the 01,05 etc for the month, with the run number following**

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Third digit is last digit of year. The 4th digit is most likey the month of production.

IS7K0384 1997 Redline Cruiser (The bike seems to also have date codes on the seat tube & forks)
IS7J0211 1997 Redline 20

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ACX0G0461 Unknown Cruiser code. 0 may be for 1990 & G for July.
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ACR2K00### 1993 Redline RL340 (Serial number stamped on BB)
ACR3A00### 1993 Redline RL340 (Serial number stamped on BB)
ACR4J05213 1994 Redline Cruiser (Serial number stamped on BB, Redline Oval stamped)
ACR5B00094 1995 Redline Cruiser (Serial number stamped on BB, Redline Oval stamped)

RLW0050#### 1991 Redline RL320 (Serial Number is stamped on seat tube)

RMCF802527 Unkown Year, Redline RL 340 [1 1/8 head tube]
RMCH023215 Unknown Year, Redline RL 340 (perhaps H is for August & 02 is the year)
RMCH00287 Unknown Year, Redline RL 340 [1 Inch head tube] (since these two appear to be numbered same series but one has 1 less digit a error reading the serial numbers may have occured)

L90050069 1990 Redline Proline (700) (Full Chromoly stamped and Redline Oval stamped)

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Will try to dig deeper. If you can add to this, make corrections please do.
Unfortunately almost no one posting serial numbers posted pics or posted bike that posted the serial number.

Gork Informed me Redline has no Records of those early Invoices or Serial Numbers.

Nishiki is a brand of bicycles designed, specified, marketed and distributed by West Coast Cycle in the United States, initially manufactured by Kawamura Cycle Co. in Kobe, Japan, and subsequently by Giant of Taiwan. The bicycles were first marketed under the American Eagle brand beginning in 1965^[1] and later under the Nishiki brand until 2001.

Throughout the U.S. bike boom of the 1970s and into the 1980s, Nishiki and West Coast Cycle competed with domestic companies including Schwinn, Huffy, and Murray; European companies including Raleigh, Peugeot and Motobecane—as well as other nascent Japanese brands including Miyata, Fuji, Bridgestone, Panasonic, Univega, Lotus and Centurion—itself a line of Japanese-manufactured bicycles that were specified, distributed and marketed by Western States Imports (WSI), a U.S. company similar to West Coast Cycle. Japanese-manufactured bikes succeeded in the U.S. market until currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made them less competitive, leading companies to source bicycles from Taiwan.

As of 2013, Nishiki Europe markets bicycle models in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. In 2010, Dick's Sporting Goods acquired the licensing rights to the Nishiki brand for the U.S. market and began marketing Nishiki-branded bicycles and accessories.^{[citation needed]}

History[edit]

West Coast Cycle and the Cohens[edit]

West Coast Cycle was founded by Leo Cohen Sr. and RosaBelle Cohen^[2][3] who had previously been partners in Wheel Goods Corporation in Minneapolis, later moving to Los Angeles in 1946 to purchase an existing retail bicycle store, Atlas Cycle, renaming it Playrite Bicycle Supply Co.. The Cohens subsequently founded a bicycle, parts and accessory distribution company in the late 1950s, naming it West Coast Cycle Supply Company. They operated the company — widely known as West Coast Cycle (or WCC) — with their daughter Louise and sons Leo Jr. and Howie (Howard Sherwin Cohen). Howie Cohen subsequently took over the business, followed by his brother.^[1]

When Cohen Sr. died in 1963, Howie Cohen traveled to Japan to find new sources for bicycles,^[1] and especially, a Japanese bicycle factory capable of producing high quality bikes that would be welcomed by U.S. independent bike dealers and the bicycling community; bicycles that would be able to compete with American and European-built bicycles.

After visiting over 60 bicycles factories over a period of six weeks, Cohen turned to Kawamura Cycles. Kawamura had produced quality bicycles for the Japan domestic market, but at the directive of their overseas buyers, had produced lower-quality, lower-priced bicycles for the U.S. market, for example, under the brand name 'Royce Union.'

Cohen also created working relationships with Japanese bicycle parts manufacturers including Asahi, Araya, Dia-Compe, Kashima, Kusuki, Kyokuto (KKT), Mikashima (MKS), Mitsuboshi, Taihei, Sanshin, Shimano, Sugino, Takagi, Suntour and others.^[1] Cohen travelled to Japan 8-10 times per year while developing his brands (American Eagle, Nishiki, Azuki and CyclePro).

Cohen placed his initial order for 570 bikes with Kawamura, selling them under the American Eagle brand.^[1] WCC sold tens of thousands of American Eagle bikes^[1] before changing the name — when a customer suggested it was disingenuous to put such an American-sounding name on a Japanese product.^[1]

WCC wanted a new, Japanese name that was easy to pronounce, with an inoffensive translation — and a name not easily mispronounced for comic or derisive effect. Cohen held a contest with Kawamura factory workers for Japanese names, choosing Nishiki for WCC's primary, nationwide line of bikes (after Saga Nishiki and the gold Nishiki thread often woven into wedding kimonos) — and Azuki for the secondary bicycle line (after the sweetened, red Azuki bean), using the chrysanthemum as the Azuki logo.

A second line allowed WCC to market essentially identical bikes through more than a single dealership in a sales territory. Louisville Cycle & Supply (Louisville, KY) were sub-distributors for both brands in the Southeast, and Pettee Cycle (Denver, CO) were sub-distributors of both brands in Colorado and surrounding states. Kawamura trademarked both names for the Japanese Domestic Market and Europe, WCC trademarked the brands for the USA. Early promotional material for American Eagle and Nishiki lines often carried the tagline 'KB Bicycles' or simply 'KB' — signifying 'Kawamura-Built.' WCC continued also to market the bicycle brands of Mundo, Caloi, Windsor, Zeus, and Mondia.

Howie Cohen served as President of WCC from 1965 until his retirement in 1976,^[1] with WCC subsequently operated by his brother, Leo Jr. and outside investors. Through the 1980s WCC continued to sell Nishiki bikes produced by Kawamura. International currency fluctuations in the late 1980s made Japanese-manufactured bicycles far more expensive and less competitive in the United States, leading WCC to move Nishiki production to Giant of Taiwan. Leo Cohen and his associates later sold West Coast Cycle to Medalist — with Derby International eventually acquiring the rights from West Coast Cycle to market bikes under the Nishiki brand in the United States.

After manufacture of Nishiki bikes shifted to Giant, Kawamura continued manufacturing bicycles for the Japanese and European markets (including private label bikes for Takara, Schwinn, and others), to be subsequently acquired by the sporting goods company Mizuno.

Howie Cohen later founded the company Everything Bicycles, working with Kuwahara to build and import BMX bikes carrying the Kuwahara brand name, developing the first major BMX distributorship^[4] — and ultimately supplying Kuwahara bicycles for the 1982 movie E.T. and securing the right to market the 'ET Bicycle.'^[1] To make the Kuwahara brand name a household word, Cohen ran a promotion giving free stickers to children who called a toll-free phone number and could correctly pronounce the brand name.^[1] In 1989, Cohen sold the Kuwahara name back to the Japanese parent company.^[2] In 1992, Cohen returned to the bicycle industry to assist the Gary Fisher bike brand^[4] — 18 months later brokering the acquisition of Gary Fisher Mountain Bikes by Trek Bicycle Corporation.^[4]

Cohen later worked as a consultant in the bicycle industry for several companies, including Rotor Componentes of Spain, ^[4] and subsequently retired from Lomita, California^[5] to Colorado where he and his wife, Kay (Kay Piercy Guithues Cohen)^[5] catalogued his collection of bicycling memorabilia and maintained his website, HowieBikeMan.com.

When Howie Cohen died on July 11, 2013, Bicycle Retailer said he was 'a hugely influential figure in developing the U.S. BMX market and arguably the first person to bring high-quality Asian-made bikes to America.'^[4] retired from Lomita, California^[6]

Derby[edit]

From 1989 through 2001, Derby International marketed bikes in the United States under the Nishiki as well as Univega and Raleigh brand names. Some of the all terrain bikes and mountain bike models were designed in partnership with famed mountain bike designer and Mountain Bike Hall of Fame member R. Cunningham and have his name on the frames. These Nishiki models, though manufactured outside Japan (e.g., in Taiwan, by Giant Bicycles and possibly in Italy by Colnago, Olmo or Viner) often carried the name Nashiki and some of the same model names as had been used on the Kuwahara-built bicycles.^[7] The brand name Nishiki was retired by Derby in 2001 in North America.^[8] As of 2010, Nishiki-branded bicycles, manufactured by Accell Group were available for sale again in the U.S. at Dick's Sporting Goods. Dick's had obtained licensing rights to the Nishiki Bike brand in the U.S.

Currently (2013), Nishiki Europe, an unrelated group of European distributors markets bicycle models in Denmark, Finland, and Sweden. Nishiki bikes had previously been also marketed in Norway, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Estonia.

Nishiki Bikes Ebay

Models[edit]

Nishiki Serial Number Database Bike Seat

• Apache
• Aero, Aero II
• Alamosa
• Alouette
• Alien
• Anasazi
• Ariel
• Arrow Speed
• Arroyo
• Barbarian
• Backroads
• Blazer
• Bombardier
• Bravo
• Bushwhaker
• Carrera
• Cascade
• Century
• Cervino (possibly uncataloged)
• Citi Sport
• Colorado
• Comp, Comp II and Comp III
• Competition
• Continental
• Custom Sport
• Cresta
• Crossroads
• Expedition (made in Taiwan)
• Gran Sport
• Gran Tour 15 (probable precursor to Ultra Tour 18)
• International (earlier named Kokusai)
• Katmandu
• Kodiak
• Kokushi (later renamed International)
• Landau
• Linear
• Maricopa
• Manitoba
• Marina
• Maxima (possibly uncataloged, frame only)
• Medalist
• Meridian
• Modulus
• Mountain
• NFS Alpha
• NFS Beta
• NFS Altron
• Odyssey
• Olympiad (American Eagle)
• Olympic, Olympic Royal
• Prestige
• Professional
• Pueblo
• Race Master
• Rally
• Regal
• Riviera
• Road Compe
• Road Master
• Rockhound
• Royale
• Safari
• Saga (Cunningham Design drop bar ATB)
• Sebring
• Seral (uncatalogued, spec'd like Continental)
• Semi-Pro (American Eagle)
• Sport, Custom Sport
• sTORM
• Stony Point (mountain bike)
• Super-five
• Superbe
• Team Issue
• Timbuk
• Tri-A
• Triathlon
• Trim Master
• Ultimate
• Ultima (possibly uncatalogued)
• Ultra Tour (uncatalogued, possibly specified by one store in Southern California, USA)
• Ultra Tour 18 (probable successor to Gran Tour 15)
• Westwood

Serial Numbers[edit]

Serial Numbers for Nishiki bikes were decoded by Tom Marshall, using a trial and error database methodology.

Kawamura manufactured frames (1972–1987): These frames used a serial number XYZZZZZ format where:

• X is the market (A = Australia, C = Canada (pre 1987), E = Europe, K = USA (pre 1985) + non-ferrous frames 1986-1988), W = USA (1985-1987)).
• Y is the last digit of the manufacturing calendar year (A =1, B = 2, C = 3… J = 0. Exception is letter S, used on all frames prior to 1975).
• ZZZZZ is a five or six digit number, possibly representing a sequential frame manufacturing number for the year (or era in the case of pre 1975 frames).

Example 1: KA24587 is the 24,587th frame produced in 1981 for the US market

Example 2: CG23117 is the 23,117th frame produced in 1977 for the Canadian market

Example 3: WE54612 is the 54,612th frame produced in 1985 for the US market

Giant manufactured frames (1980-1986*): With a date code generally stamped on the dropout on the drive side of the bike, these frames used a two part serial number in a G MM YY format, where:

• G = Giant.
• MM = month (01 = Jan, 02 = Feb, etc.).
• YY = year (80 = 1980, 81 = 1981, etc.).

Example: G0384 is a Giant-manufactured frame from March 1984

Nishiki Bikes Reviews

See also[edit]

• Giant Manufacturing - Giant was the original equipment manufacturer for Nishiki of Japan for several years.^{[citation needed]}

References[edit]

1. ^ ^abcdefghij'A lifetime in the Bicycle Industry, Howie Cohen'. Bicycle Industry and Retailer News, Steve Frothingham, August 1, 1999.
2. ^ ^ab'Bicycles in his blood'. Kickstand Magazine, James Burrus, August 15, 2009. Archived from the original on April 30, 2010.
3. ^'Southern California Retrospective'. Bicycle Retailer and Industry News, Jason Norman, 5/29/2009.
4. ^ ^abcde'Early BMX Pioneers'. American Bicycle Association BMX. Archived from the original on 2008-08-16.
5. ^ ^ab'Bicycles Appear Everywhere in Collectors Home'. The NewsPress, December 8, 1989.
6. ^'Beloved industry figure Howie Cohen, 74, dies'. Bicycle Retailer, July 12, 2013.
7. ^A Nishiki History
8. ^Japanese Bicycles in the U.S. Market

Nishiki Serial Number Database Bike Pump

External links[edit]

• Official Website for the European company (Denmark, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Spain and Sweden)

Nishiki Mountain Bike Models