I picked up a frame a few weeks back that had been spray bombed flat black. It seemed like a decent frame with clean brazing. It's relatively light weight and takes a 27.0mm seat post. The other day I applied some citrus-based paint remover to the downtube and top tube to see if any decals were revealed. Here's what I found:





Looks like most of the frame is yellow, but that downtube is black. Any ideas as to which model Centurion? Will the serial # tell me anything?

Probably a Lemans RS. Tange 2 frame.

+1 for Lemans RS. Would have come with mid-level SIS Shimano -- light action or Sport LX. Serial should be on the BB she'll, but they're pretty difficult to decipher.

Looks like a slide on to the top tube post. Or your saddle is bowing to someone.

Not mine. Just an image off Google.

Thanks for those responses. Serial # is N6M5996, which I believe means it's an '86 model. The Lemans RS sure looks like a good match; however, that yellow seems to be poking through the overspray on all the tubes except for the downtube. I've put some paint remover on the top tube where the model decal should be, so we'll see if that's still intact.

FWIW, its a 1987 Model the 86 models were not available in the Black/Yellow combination. The Yellow was sprayed first then the black so yes you will find some yellow on the other tubes.

Heres a 1987 Catalog for reference

Beat me to it.

That's a lot of bike, Neal. Be very careful.

Just to close the loop on this one, I let the paint remover do its work overnight, and this is what I saw today on the top tube:



Thanks all.

What's going on with the headset on that bike? Looks like somebody shoved a big set of forks with a non-threaded headset in there.

"I shall call you Turion, warrior of wheels, guardian of miles and steed of the street."... Oh, you were looking for a model name; never mind.

That's exactly what it is! I was experimenting with fitting an Electra Ticino fork I had in the stash. It has a super long steerer, so I figured I could run a 1" threadless headset. But now I think I'm going in a different direction.

If it fits up then, you could always hack saw it off to the right size.