Well, I guess the thing that really drives it is my frustration with the wild/uneducated cases that some (not all) people offer to well intentioned requests. While component codes get you into the ballpark, there are pitfalls such as replacement parts, poor stock rotation practices at the factory and the fact that most owners will stop at the first date code they find, which is usually the rear derailleur and one of the most commonly replaced components. The frame serial is the only truly reliable indicator of the manufacture date, though you do have compensate for late calendar year manufacturing when determining model years.

Beyond that, it exercises the skills I developed during my previous, 22 year career as a Quality Engineer. Part of that job was to make order out of what appear to be random occurences. Serial numbers are a prime example of this. And of course, I'm a bicycle fanatic.

It all started out with the perception that I was some kind of Miyata guru. Miyata had always been my favourite Japanese brand and I had most of their catalogs. As the age requests popped up on the forums, my Quality Engineer's eye was able to pick out the subtle differences between model years and I applied the model years to the supplied serial numbers and quickly decoded the format. This seemed to be a big hit with the members and the process was repeated, solving the serial number codes for Bianchi (Italian manufactue), CCM, Centurion, Fuji, Nishiki and Raleigh (Asian manufacture).

A lot of people have requested that I create a website for the various makes that I have knowledge of. Frankly, I don't have the skills or time to do this. A thread like this is the next best thing.


As you probably already realize, these fit neither of the two identified serial number formats. I do have a handful of late 1980s and early 1990's codes for which I do not have sufficient samples to solve. However, an educated guess is that by this time the remaining Kawamura manufacturing had shifted to several non-Japanese manufacturers as a result of the yen revaluation that started in late 1985. By 1987, the yen had doubled in value agasinst the US dollar, making Japanese manufactured bicycle much more expensive.

There are also a couple examples of a unique, unsolved Kawamura format. It appears to be for a department dedicated to high end models such as the ONP. It may have been short lived, as some other high end models such as the Ultimate use the standard format.


Yes, I suspect that is the case. The Canadian distributor would probably not have even imported any, instead obtaining them from the US distributor, as required. The other thing is that not all models sold in Canada may have had the different format. It may have been used only if the Canadian model was distinct from the US model.