Awesome thread. Keep it going!

1986 MT. FUJI LTD.

Serial # FK510452

Craigslist find....Considering on switching over to drop bars & road tires and making it into a road only training bike. (27lbs)

Any reccomendations on the tires & bars ?

86 Fuji Palisade



A friend picked this out of the street side trash, and gave it to me. I was going to maybe cannibalize the wheels, or maybe ride it. I've only seen these photos, not the actual bike. I'll see if he wants to send further information. I won't physically see it til next May, when I return North.

My 81' Fuji Royale

Hi ALL,
I'm new in these forums and not sure if my request fits here. I've searched this thread but couldn't find information on this:

I bought a welded steel road frame which seems to be a Fuji frame, if it is I need information on how to read the serial number. The frame made out with really sleek thin tubing with fine weldings and a brushed steel clear coat finish which I dressed with all modern Ultegra components and Mavic wheels. it is a very comfortable and fast ride.

The fine weldings look like Titanium but I checked the tubing with a magnet and it magnetic which seems to be steel, but have to mention that there is not a single sign of rust in any part of the frame or inside or outside. The Serial Number is: F3104800.

Please help me find out if is in did a Fuji frame and what the serial number means.
Thanks for the help, Nick

Rideapony, do you have some photos that you can share?

Scott

Definitely, this sounds interesting.

Here are some pics, hope they help:

Here is another photo but don't know if can show enough details:

Alright! Looking at all these nice bikes is going to make me get out my camera and take a few pics of my current Fuji stable.

Fuji Palisade, Serial Number SL525065. Per your decoding it's a 1985.

It's a 1986 model. The build date was December 1985 and manufacturers generally start building the new models around September in order to build up the inventory and allow for the time lag for the shipments to cross the ocean, get though the US distribution system and into the LBS. This bicycle is so late in 1985 that there is no doubt that it is a 1986 model.

Oh, duh... of course. Should've figured that one out by myself.

Here is a link to the catalog page for the 86 Palisade. I used to own a blue one just like your white one. 1986 was the only year for a Palisade with stem shifters.

https://classicfuji.com/Palisade_1986_Page.htm

As requested (a year ago ) here's some pics of my 1974-ish S-10-S 'Special Road Racer'





Yes, that's a cheap rear rack... That orange thing on there is a USCG-approved Xenon strobe light

Really good looking ... how do you like the ride?

Scott

So, according to what I can decipher from the serial number chart, my bike's ser# K9I00300 is a September '74 build date, which would make it a '75 model, right???

I bought it late '76 as a scratched floor model for around $200 out the door - with a few changes. I can't recall what they were, but I know that a few parts were swapped out before I took delivery. Shortly thereafter, I replaced the downtube shifters with the SunTour bar-ends, added the cheap rack, a bunch of rear reflectors (one on each seat stay and another on the rack), tire flickers, Cannondale 'Toot' seat bag, Zefal HP frame pump, and a handlebar mounted waterbottle cage.

I went through probably four sets of tires that first year, I was riding so much - upwards of 500 miles/week by June of '77. One of my college dorm roommates was really into riding (and I became even moreso than he). He rode a gray+black Viscount Pro with the aluminum front fork. My other roommate ended up also getting a Viscount, but I think his was the GT... I joined the Ohio State Cycling club, and at my suggestion we bought some wheel-building jigs. I had built up a set of wheels using Phil Wood sealed bearing hubs and some kind of skinnier clincher rims (19mm, IIRC)... Like I said, vintage stuff!!! I spent my 'spare' time down in the dorm's common room watching Mash or Charlies Angels with one of my wheels and a tube of Semichrome polish until the wheels looked like chrome steel!

Anyway, My old Fuji and I have probably ridden 30-40 thousand miles together. I've ridden TOSRV a dozen times, Hilly Hundred twice (including when they were filming 'Breaking Away'), Mid-Ohio Century, plus many other Centuries and charity rides... I've ridden it from Cleveland OH to Madison WI and back. It has gone through four sets of wheels, two cranksets, bunches of chains and derailleurs, a freewheel (yes, I still have a six-cog SunTour freewheel on it now!) and about fifteen years ago, I replaced the seatpost with one with an elastomeric puck suspension since my old bottom ain't what it used to be!

Yes, the bike has gotten a bit chipped and scratched up over the past 36 years, but I can't bear to get rid of it or get something newer. In fact when I rode it on a 150-mile, two-day charity ride a few years ago, a guy at one of the repair stations/rest stops came running over to see it and some of the vintage components still on it. "Wow, now that's a piece of history!" he exclaimed.

As you can see in the close-up pic of the headtube, I'm missing one of the little screws in the side of my SunTour bar-ends. Do you know where I can find such an animal????

Cougrrcj,

wow, you do like the ride .. and the Belt saddle has held up pretty well by the looks of it. Here's mine:

https://vintagefuji.posterous.com/197...ial-road-racer

By the looks of it, mine was never ridden, which is really too bad.

Scott

Recent purchase? The reason I ask is that looks like the yellow one that was on eBay last month! I was 'watching' it to see what it sold for. ~$125, IIRC.

My saddle is getting quite a few age cracks to go with the scuffs on the topside from when I have had to stand the bike upside-down on the pavement to effect a roadside repair, LOL! I wasn't too kind to that seat (ie never treated it with anything like mink oil...) I thought about trying to find another Belt saddle, but that'd be almost impossible. I also thought about putting a Brooks on the there, but don't know which model I'd like... that, and I'd have to break it in and I don't know if my 55-year-old butt would like that, LOL!!!

That original three-pin crankset allowed the chainrings to flex quite a bit. IIRC, mine were an oddball 51/39 (I still have it in the attic)...

Up until last year, I still rode the Fuji to work a couple days/week in the Summer (11 miles each way) weather permitting, of course. For running to the corner store, I ride a decent-quality Schwinn (and free) mountain bike that I got out of someone's garbage.

no, I bought mine off of eBay about five years ago. I was the only bidder and ended up getting it for $75 plus shipping, which was an additional $30.

Keep your eyes on eBay, the Belts come up every so often. I equate the Belt to the Brooks B-15 and the Fujita Professional saddle to the Brooks Pro.

Your Special Road Racer has served you well, the Fuji gods are pleased.

Scott

i just picked this up a month ago
fuji special road racer (74 according to the first post)
SN - M9H06328
FD/RD - suntour
levers - suntour
brakes - dia-compe
stem and bars - nitto

Just got an '85 league fuji off craigslist here in seattle last weekend. S/N:FJ413419

Forgot to address this --

Funny thing about 'the ride' is that back in college, one of the guys in the dorm had a set of rollers that I'd borrow on occasion. What I found out is that my 23" framed bike had a longer wheelbase than just about anybody else's bike - a tad over an inch longer. My roommates had 23 and 24" framed Viscounts that were the same wheelbase as the roller owner's 25" Schwinn Paramount or any of his other track bikes. No my fork isn't bent, either. Maybe the frame has more 'relaxed' angles? Anyway, I had to adjust the rollers to fit my longer wheelbase. Maybe the longer wheelbase gives it a more comfortable (smoother) ride? Just a thought.