Originally Posted by
lorica
I have 5 Centurions right now, at least 3 of which I'll be selling. One is an early to mid 70s coffee color Super Le Mans SN Z672083. I'm not familiar with this SN format. The decals on the bike look like 1975 and prior but I'm guessing the SN indicates a later production date. Does anyone have any insight into the year made? I'll post a photo when I have 10 posts.
Given the era and format, one possible source is Bridegstone, in which case it would have been built in late 1976. However, typically the number string would only be five characters long and when they did get up to six, the lead number wouldn't be as high as '6'. Another manufacturer using a similar format was Miyata but that would make this late 1971 manufacturer and I have yet to come across any confirmed cases of Super Lemans that are this early. The other way to narrow the date is via the date codes that are often stamped on components, provided they are OEM.
Date of Manufacture of Bicycle Components can be used to date a bike: component dating