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Old 08-16-21, 03:10 PM
  #429  
T-Mar
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Originally Posted by molleraj
Hey T-Mar! I just got a Huffy Touriste folding bike that I think is a rebranded Sekai folder. The serial number is S1F93356. What year and make would you guess?
I've seen photos of maybe a handful of these. They all appear to be identical, suggesting a relatively short production life. Most owners state that they are from the 1970s. If so, it would be late 1970s, as they all had four way reflector systems, which were very rare in the early 1970s. Also, the cotterless crankset appears to be a Sugino Idol, which wasn't available until the late 1970s.

I've seen the serial number format on a number of brands, including Nishiki, Sekai and Shogun. It seems to be most common on the latter. However, it does not indicate Shogun or any other bicycle brand but appears to be that of an unidentified contract manufacturer. It was probably their standard folding bicycle frame design, which they then branded with the client's name.

Based on the other bicycles with this format, the subject folder was built during a year ending in "1". It would not appear to be 1971, so 1981 is an obvious choice. The other possibility is Showa year 51 of the Japanese Imperial Calendar, which corresponds to 1976. That might fit but most Japanese manufacturers discontinued this practice by the end of the bicycle boom.

Normally, at this stage, I would have you check some component date codes for corroboration. Typically, Sugino was good about date codes on their cranksets but the majority of Idol that I've seen have curiously lacked them. Still, it's worth checking the back of the arms. Sugino used multiple codes, so it's probably just best to submit good quality photos of the back of the crankarms. If it's 1976+ there should also be a two character, alpha date code on the Shimano rear hub, though I'm not sure exactly where Shimano stamped the date codes on their three speed, internally geared hubs.

Last edited by T-Mar; 08-16-21 at 03:14 PM.
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