actual Nishiki headbadge

Now, that's interesting. This would seem to indicate that both brands were manufactured concurrently, at least for a short period. I'd appreciate pictures of this unique find!

1973 American Eagle/Nishiki Semi Pro:



American Eagle ST decal:




Nishiki Head badge:



My 1974 was named a "Competition". See pics above of bikes in complete form. I strip bikes down to the frame, then rebuild. So these two are in the project queue.

So I wanted to restore this Nishiki I own and with a little looking around I found this thread. I'm the original owner and bought it around 1990-91 at the BX on Kadena AB, Okinawa, Japan. It's a great bike (entry level I believe) and nothing compared to today's standards. All that's needed is a good cleaning and repair to one of the front brake calipers. It will probably cost more to repair than it's worth, but I like it and it has sentimental value. Do you think it's worth it. The serial number doesn't make much sense though. Add it to your DB if it truly is a Nishiki.

Thanks, Craig

Serial number F1G00162

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B880...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B880...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B880...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B880...it?usp=sharing
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B880...it?usp=sharing

Worth it financially? No. Its a bottom of the line MTB, and even mid grade vintage ones sell cheap. Worth it for the sentimentality? Sure.

Actually, the serial number does make sense. It should be a 1991 or 1992 model, made in Taiwan. However, well over 95% of the Nishiki that crop up fit neatly into the Kawamura or Giant formats. The reminder have various formats, to numerous and varied to cover in the original post. It's much simpler to handle these exceptions, as they crop up.

Unfortunately, I can't acess the pictures, so I'll defer to wrk101's judgement regarding the value.

Here's a Nishiki I rescued last year. Frame number is 87F00317. Headbadge is a waterslide decal. Judging by the oldstyle Y handlebar, and a SunTour three pulley derailer, I thought it was a really early Nishiki MTB. Does the frame number make it a 1987 model? The only decals left on the frame are the headbadge, and part of the model name (near the head tube) which is undechipherable. Anyone know what model this is?

Hey T Mar,
I've been meaning to post this in here. I bought this Olympic that was the subject of this thread: https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...ishiki+olympic

And I'll repost the info here as I'm curious to your help-

"Sugino VT crank
Shimano Golden Arrow RD, FD, shifters
Dia Compe brakes and hooded levers
Standard Suzue/Araya wheels 27"
Schraeder valves
Forgetting the pedals right now. Suntour of some kind.

S/N seems to put it at later '84 production."
The S/N is CD 11297 now that I'm looking again.
My suspicion is then that whis would be an '84 model. I can't find that catalog for that year but it looks exactly like this '83 model https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbo...7613538725170/
What confuses me is that every model I have seen with an '84 attached to it seems to be full CrMo sith forged dropouts. Could it be that this is just a Canadian model vs. an American model? It also looks like the rims might be steel.

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

It's very tempting to reverse engineer the serial number to 1987 and it may well be, but it is not possible to positively identify the year or identify the model, given the high probability of this being a Eurpoean model. Unfortunately, there is very little documentation on the European models and those that have surfaced are typically spec'd and named differently than the USA and Canadian models which most members are familair with. You could try investigating the component date codes but I suspect this may be a Frankenbike.

Yes, I recall this bicycle. Based on the serial serial number it is definitely a Canadian market model manufactured in 1984, though it could be either a 1984 or 1985 model. The Canadian models were spec'd indeoendently by Norco during this period so there's not necessarily any correlation to the USA models.

Given the era and model I would suspect that it would have CrMo or CMn in at least the main triangle. While I don't have the Canadian Nishiki catalogues for 1984-1985, I do have the Norco catalogue for 1985 and their comparable model did have a CrMo main triangle. What's the seat post diameter? Given the stramped rear droputs, the forks and stays are probably hi-tensile steel.

You can test whether the rims are steel or not, by using a magnet.

I had one identical to this many years ago that I got in 1987 or 1988 as a warranty replacement for my cracked ONP frame. My first Altron broke in half in a head on collision with a kid on the M.U.T. in 2000.

I got the frame & fork pictured 3 years ago on eBay & built it with a mix of 9 speed Dura Ace, Ultegra and an XTR derailler. S/N KF2 106

The the serial number indicates 1986 and I'm quite confident that is also the model year, as the 1987 models had either a white to purple fade or the dark blue and white scheme with a Mondrian inspired top tube design.

BTW, I forgot to ask you in recent the ONP thread if you recall whether your ONP had the 0.8-0.5-0.8 tubing decal?

I remember a tubing size decal but can't remember 100% if it was 0.8-0.5-0.8. Mine had the vertical dropouts while some had horizontal dropouts. This and a few stray components is all I have left:



Man, whatever happened to that skinny 23 year old kid with the full head of hair?

Gee, if only you'd have been left leg dominant, maybe we could have made out the tubing decal!

Just picked up a Nishiki Continental with a claimed date of 1983. The seller was the original owner and seemed very meticulous. However, he said it was old stock when he bought it. But the date jives with what I know about Nishikis, though I am surprised there is no chrome as most continentals I have seen had chrome.

The Spec:
Tange 2 frame and fork
suzue sealed hubs on araya 700c clinchers 40/36
Cyclone MII GT RD
Mountech Front
Sugino 175mm triple
Symmetric shifters
Nitto stem and and gran randonneur bars
Diacompe brakes
SR laprade flutes 26.6mm post.
Serial No. CC 06904.

Will add photos later.

From the 1983 Canadian catalogue:

Not an '83 then? I had to remove the hideous hybrid saddle for the photos.

unfortunately the beautiful stem is heavily gouged






somewhere I also have the serial number for this international... it might even be in this thread from years ago. I always guessed 85/86 I sold this one years ago

Probably a 1984 model Continental manufactured in late 1983.

I have not been on my bike for 10 years. I pulled it out to take it in to the bike shop for new wheels, tires, chain..... It's in the shop as I write so I do not have any photos at present. I do have the serial number = CG06739. So from my understanding it is the 6,739th produced in Canada from 1977

The brand name Nishiki is today owned buy a Swedish company and designed in Sweden. Or in other words Nishiki is Swedish today.
https://translate.google.com/translat...e%2Fom-nishiki
Here is the office
https://goo.gl/maps/2rJQP

Hi guys! I'm new here, even though I've been lurking for some time now. I write because I need help identifying this bike - and I only got this picture

So if anybody have an idea, please write me. And I will upload the numbers as soon as possible!

Hi Andreas, it looks like the model name is on the top tube. TO get an idea of vintage you can also check the component dates as per the descriptions on the vintage trek site. Your serial number is likely to differ since it is likely a European market bike.

Yeah I see. Trouble is that I only have the picture at the moment, the bike is not anywhere near me at the moment. So I thought someone could possibly tell me the model, even though the picture is pretty bad - a long shot I know! But when I get the bike, I will upload photos and serial numbers for the database :-)

Well, its was not necesaarily produced in Canada, though it was made for the Canadian market. Given the serial number, it could be a 1977 or ossibly a 1987 manufacturing date. A 1977 would typically have a "Shields Nishiki" decal on the downtube, while a 1987 would have a "designed by Norco" decal, typically on the chainstay. We're not sure exactly when the Cnadian distribution changed from Shileds to Norco, but it was sometimes in the very late 1970s to very early 1980s. Pictures would be appreciated.