Verge pick ups are fun.
This time I went to an older burb to find an older bike. Voila, it worked.
It's in a rather pittyful shape and lacks a few components including the wheels.
It's clear, however, that it was equipped with Shimano 600. The remaining components date it to about 1985.
The serial on the BB shell is L5M1388. The 5 could be for '85. The format is similar to Centurion as I've seen on T-Mar's data collection thread. However, these bikes seem to start with an N as the first letter...
The frame is really light weight at 2020g at a 58 and feels very thin and almost fragile like you wouldn't want to squeeze it to hard.
It has one feature that I haven't seen yet: the shift levers are not left and right of the downtube but in a combination set on top of the downtube. Looks silly - probably should result in better aerodynamics
One more thing: the dropouts are suntour pro.
Well, here are the pictures...
Thanks a lot.

First thought came to mind was Japanese origin. The style of finish of the stays at the rear dropouts, and the short fluted seat stay caps. Those shifter bosses were popular around the aero craze era. Both Shimano and Suntour had offered 'aero' shifters. Even Campy if I recall. Thank goodness it didn't last long.
Looks to be a quality frame. The head tube lugs should be helpful to ID it.
"N"...Nishiki?

My mid-80s Univega Competizione has that downtube mount for the shifters. I'm voting for Japanese origins.

Neal

My Miyata also has the same shifter mounting.

The aero shift mounts in conjunction with the serial number do suggest a 1985 model of Asian origin. It may be Japanese or Taiwanease as this was just after the massive yen re-evaluation which had many Japanese manufacturers transferring entry level production to Taiwan. However, based on the weight and features, it appears to be at least mid-range and therefore is proabably Japanese. The one curious feature for this timeframe is that the gear cables still route over the bottom bracket shell, as opposed to underneath. That may be a clue.

I don't believe that I have come across a brand using that format and starting with an L, but based on what is in my database, it is not a Araya, Centurion, Miyata, Nishiki or Panasonic. Univega used suppliers other than Miyata, but during this period, the Miyata serial numbers seem to be the ones which pop up, so we can proabaly rule them out too.

Are the shift cable guides above, rather than below, the bottom bracket consistent with 1985? Perhaps only in Japan? Perhaps a throwback forced by mounting the shift levers atop the downtube?

This bike looks very much the same as my 1981 Nishiki Comp II, which has similar headlugs, same concave (that's what it looks like to me) seat stay caps, over the BB cable routing etc... does this bike have a unicrown fork? Unfortunately I don't think I ever wrote down the serial number of the comp II, it's the one bike I sorta regret selling.

This is required for the aero shift levers, as you surmised. Under the BB won't work.

Hi cyclotoine!
I don't know what a unicrown fork is but here is a picture. At 680g the fork was suprisingly light, too.
Cheers,
Guido

I would like to say early 80s Nishiki Competition, but for the shape of what appears to be a wrap around head tbe decal... It's almost certainly Japanese and probably double butted chromoly, if it fits, get it media blasted and have a nice 2 stage powder coat down to it and then ride it.

I've had a look at Nishiki serial numbers and as T-Mar has already noted the format doesn't fit. However, I've found out that Nishiki of the time were made by Kawamura and that they also supplied for other brands. E.g. the American Eagle Semi-Pro is identical to the Nishiki Competition.
Would it be a reasonable guess that my bike was made by Kawamura to the specs of a local Australian brand and used an independent serial number system from other Kawamuras?!?!?
To start with: what Brands are known to be manufactured by Kawamura and do their serial number formats differ at all?
So far I've got:
- American Eagle
- Nishiki
- Norco
- Takara (Oklahoma)
How about other bands and how about serial numbers?

G'day!
I've just seen a pic of an Olmo with similar head lugs and seat stay caps.
Yes, this one is most definitly Japanese - but can just we rule out Olmo e.g. by serial number format?
Cheers,
Guido