Nishiki International
 

So I just purchased one of these earlier today, and so far i love it! It's my first road bike and I can tell we'll have fun together. Anyway, I know next to nothing about it as of right now, but here is what I do know:

Nishiki International, obviously
Suntour gears (10 speed)
Dia Compe brakes
Sakae Custom Road Champion handlebars
Kyokuto Top-Run pedals
Number on bottom is: KI 17205

Any information is greatly appreciated. I don't have pictures of it right this minute but I will try and put some up as soon as I can. Everything seems to be in pretty good condition to me. Thank you in advance!

Welcome to C&V.:)
The golden rule for bike IDs here is:
THOU SHALL INCLUDE PICTURES IN POSTINGS.
It makes things a lot easier. However, you listed the serial number and some of the parts, so that helps enormously.
Personally, given that you state it's a 10 speed, my guess would be that it from the period 1975-1980ish. I can't tell you much else, but my 1983 International has a serial number starting with CC...which of course means nothing to you...;
T-Mar, who posts here quite regularly, should be able to give you a year based on the serial number alone. Patience is key...

Leigh.

sn
 

leigh what is the rest of your serial #. my international starts the same, CC 061 88. maybe they know each other.:) I think the only original parts on my bike were the headset, nishiki branded and the crankset, drilled sugino GT. i will have to check the BB.

Thou shalt conjugate correctly when waxing Biblical (and use KJV when quoting scripture).

Are there any date codes on the crankset? Is it a first-generation 3-bolt Sugino Maxy or a later version? Centerpull or sidepull brakes? This information may help us with the date coding.

My 1971 Semi-Pro was KS78091, where the K denotes Kawamura, Nishiki's frame builder. I wonder whether KI denotes Kawamura International, which would make yours a fairly early specimen, within a year after Nishiki dropped the Japanese model name, Kokusai, in favor of its English equivalent.

Oh yes, photos would be an excellent addition to this thread.

East Hill

Thou SHALT stay on topic.

My International is CC00943. Yours sounds like it has been outfitted with parts from a Nishiki Continental. The Continental that I once had had Sugino GT cranks with drilled rings (now actually on my International), and a Nishiki branded headset. Is the top nut black with white "Nishiki" and the rest of the headset chrome? That's what the aforementioned Continental had. Its serial number was CC06760.

If there aren't any pics of it this time tomorrow I'm dragging my international out and taking pictures even though I still haven't found a good inexpensive set of 27x1/8 tires for it that don't look totally out of place yet.

The bicycle in question should be circa 1979. I don't have specs for this this year but I suspect it's similar to 1978 which used SunTour Cyclone derailleurs, a Sugino Super Maxy II crankset and Dia-Compe 500 brakes. The frame was plain gauge CrMo with hi-tensile forks and stays.

I guess that's the one constant feature of Kokusais/Internationals through the 1970s.

Do you happen to know the fork and stay composition of the Semi-Pro/Competition, which had a butted CrMo main triangle?

Actually, the International bounced around a bit. I have a 1977 with "Tange Hi-Tension Tubing". The tubing decal is even color matched to the other decals. The early Competitions were spec'd with a hi-tensile fork so the stays are almost certainly hi-tensile.

BTW, here's a model that you and some of our Nishiki followers may not be aware of. During the boom, Nishiki had a grand touring model called the Safari that came fully kitted with racks, panniers, lighting system, kickstand, pump and water bottle.

Really? Have you got photos? Has anyone ever posted about one here?

East Hill

I think I just sent East Hill off on her quest for her Nishiki version of the Holy Grail. :eek: Before she gets too far, I should warn her that it did not come in a mixte version and therefore 21" would have been the smallest frame size offered. :(

:(

That would be about two inches too tall!

gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

East Hill

nishiki
 

yes leigh the headset on my international is a black nishiki branded in white lettering and the rest is chrome.
the tubing decal is on the top tube and say "chro-moly tange # 2". i believe it has Suntour dropouts. Even tho the cranks might not be original to this bike i do like them. any idea what the CC stands for in the SN. anything to do with the fact the bikes are in Canada?

Yes, the leading C designates a Canadian market model. The second C designates 1983. Very soon I'll be outlining the results of my longtime Nishiki serial number analysis in a new thread. Then you won't need me anymore.

I guess that makes mine a 1984, the year they went to cantilevers... But mine is powder coated and the components are total mix not even closely resembling what it might have looked like originally. I have put more miles on my international than any other bike and that margin will continue to grow for years and years to come unless I should happen on a late 80s miyata 1000, specialized expedition, nishiki continental or the like for dirt cheep in 62-65cm.

This very interesting indeed, as my International is a 1983 (going on T-Mar analysis) but is Tange 5 Champion tubing with a completely different component spec. Your sounds absolutely identical to a Continental (serial number, tubing, decals, headset, cranks), with perhaps the only difference being the lack of lowrider mounts and not as many bottle braze-ons and mudguard eyelets...

nishiki
 

T-mar we will always need you!

nishiki
 

i quess time for a few pics leigh. i am not quite sure what you mean by low-rider mounts but it does have lots of eylets.

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3029Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3026Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3025Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3020Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3022Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3023Large.jpg

http://i242.photobucket.com/albums/f...N3021Large.jpg

WEIRD! It even has the rear rack mounts on the seat stays.
By lowrider mounts, I mean braze-ons to carry front panniers on a rack that attaches to the middle of the fork as opposed to the eyelets near the fork ends.
If yours has these, two sets of water bottle bosses and of course most importantly, cantilever brake bosses, then I can see NO difference whatsoever between this particular International and a Continental.
The only thing I can think of is that perhaps yours got labelled wrongly as an International when it should have been a Continental. I say this because my International from the same year as yours is COMPLETELY different, as I outlined above.
Anyway, check for the lowrider bosses halfway down the fork and for two sets of bottle cage mounts.
EDIT: Maybe yours is the Kawamura-built version and mine is the Norco version? Or were Norco built by Kawamura as well? T-Mar, please help....:)

:eek:

Not true! We need you simply for your good cheer, even if we aren't picking your brains :p .

East Hill

That's much later than my International, which is a '76.

You can read about how I got mine here:
http://www.salt2salt.com/scans/SD/SD.html