OldsCOOL

Recently acquired a garage find Custom Sport from a friend. Very few miles, reportedly and stored nearly all it's life. A very basic and heavy bike, has a 6sp FW, foam bars, turkey levers, 27" wheels, stem shifter blah blah blah......

Oh yes, the SN: C 3008.

EspenE

Thanks to all for a fantastic thread, I,ve learned a lot this evening.
Picked up a black NOS Nishiki International framset here in Norway today. Mangaloy 2001 Tange frame with Suntour dropouts and Hi tensile fork-blades. S/N is ED102650 and I assume this means made for Europe in 1984?
Following components was included: Crankset is Sugino VT with a 50 teeth outer ring, rear derailleur is a Sunrace, front derailleur is a Suntour AG Tech and brakes is Dia Compe DC700. All components are also NOS with absolutely no wear and tear. Should I keep them or will I be better off with something else. My idea with the bike is to participate in the Italian vintage Gran Fondo L'Eroica next summer or the year after that.
Need wheels, and so far the Velo Orange wheelset are tempting. Any other options?
Is this a frame made only for Europe or was it common in all markets?

Discovered one thing that confuses me: The Sunrace rear derailleur is probably a SR 555 EX arabesque and as far as I know, this is a part from 1995 https://www.disraeligears.co.uk/Site/...erailleur.html

Hummer

Yes, a 1985 Sport model. Originally came with Suntour ARX components and stem shifters.

EspenE

Managed to take a picture this afternoon. Forget about the Vento wheels, they're just there to support the frame for the picture.

EarlOfBike

I recently accuired a yellow Nishiki road bike but it doesn't have a serial number on the BB. The only markings I could find was a "P367" stamped towards the top of the seat tube. There is also some sort of Provo City bicycle permit sticker on it that expired 12-31-74.
I'm stumped!

The nishiki badge also looks different from others I've seen, the center is shaped more like a shield rather than a square.

Hummer

Hi EarlOfBikes,

thanks for posting your information about your Nishiki.

I have seen two Nishiki models with the shield inside the Eagle. One high end and one low end. The high end is the Professional from 1972-74 and possibly later years. The serial numbers for these bikes are on the BB and where made by Kawamura or Katakura.

The low end model was the Sports Cycle from about 1972. I have never seen a serial number from a Sports Cycle model. This bike came with stem shifters that remind me of engine throttles for a boat.

Do you have any pictures of the bike? Pictures with the decals and the serial number would be helpful in identifying the model.

EarlOfBike

Spot on Hummer!
I looked at the bike this morning and there was a "sports cycle" sticker on it. Even though this is one of the lower end bikes, I can't complain because this nishiki was given to me by a German fellow in his mid 80s that I met at a garage sale this past weekend.
Any idea of the year or manufacturer? Pictures soon to come.

EarlOfBike

Here go a couple of pictures from earlier

EspenE

Hello again

I'm searching the internet for pictures of a bike similar to mine. The closest I have got so far is the picture of the International in post #1291 . That bike has the same decals on the seattube and I could also spot the Mangaloy 2001 sticker. However that bike is much newer than the seller told me mine is. That's a pity actually because the rules in L'Eroica says that the bike has to be older than 1987 to participate. The serial number on the other hand indicates 1984 (S/N ED102650) so I'm a little confused. There is no "Handmade of Kawamura" but a decal under the clearcoat saying "Nishiki No1 and proud of it". On the bottom of the seattube there's a sticker with the word Japan. On the other hand, the bottom bracket is branded Kawamura.
I'm posting some new detailed pictures and hopefully someone can help me identify the frame. I have a feeling that european frames are slightly different than frames sold in the US and Canada. Have seen pictures of cantilevers on Europena Internationals, havent seen that on US bikes. Take a look at my pictures, old and new and tell med what you think but again, forget about the horrible Ventos I had to put on to make the bike "complete" for the picture.

EarlOfBike

If anyone has information about the "Sports Cycle" with the atom symbol please share.
What I've gathered is that they were used by Nishiki, Azuki, Premium and America Flyer Jewl. I believe that all four of these were part of WCC. I have come across no manufacturer information or anyone posting serial numbers.

mrv 

do you have a picture you can point to? i've got a 1985 Sports frame/fork, but I'm not seeing any atomic symbols. probably not what you're after, but I don't know what I've got, either.
s/n in an earlier post.
let me know before i start hitting this thing with 120 grit sand paper and add my water bosses and rack bosses. thanks!

EarlOfBike

Here is one from an Azuki but they all look the same.
The yellow one is my Nishiki

Bm7b5

Beautiful!

mrv 

howdy - a question, probably for @Hummer
- for the Nishiki Sport (G0185 / 5001862) I have, I'm going to run 700C wheels (mostly because I have them, secondly I want to run as fat as possible tires on the thing). The 600 brake calipers I have are not long enough for 700C wheels, so I'm going to buy some Shimano 600 Arabesque that have a 57mm reach (if I can get something reasonably priced on eBay).

I need the nutted brakes and not recessed, correct?
The frame is currently stripped of paint and I'm brazing on rack bosses, DT shifter bosses, and a second set of bottle bosses. Powder coat in a week or two.

Also - see any issues with an '80s Shimano 600EX group? (Probably I'll go bar end shifters, might go DT, not sure yet; also need to check the FD clamp diameter, can't recall what I have right now.)

VINTAGE GIRL

I just picked up a Nishiki bike at a thrift shop and I'm trying to find out more information about it. There is a number stamped on the bottom of the frame, but there are no letters before the numbers. This is my first post so I will try and post pics to see if some one can help me to identify the model. Would the serial number be located somewhere else on the bike?

dddd

If that frame tubing sticker reads "FEMCO", I believe it is Taiwan-built, so won't have the Kawamura prefix letters.

The same name "FEMCO" likely appears stamped into each rim, no?

tkam

I have the frame and fork and seeking model and original specs/component info -
decals are worn out...

Apparently, Suntour Symmetric shifters were used ( square button on DT top )

Fork:TANGE.2F, Suntour dropouts with with dual mount bosses.










any ideas?

Thanks!

T-Mar

Tkam, your frameset appears to be a 1982 Nishiki Ultra Tour 15. While I don't have the 1982 literature it's a close match for the 1981 model (see link), except for some minor features that could be attributed to model year variation. The pertinent features are the vertical dropouts and the dual eyelets on the fork. Despite it being a touring model, the (1981) Ultra Tour 15 did not have features like cantilever brakes, bar end shifters or rear rack upper eyelets. It even only appears to have one set of bottle bosses though it looks like yours may have a 2nd set under the down tube, which would be a logical for a touring model.

The unspecified Tange double butted CrMo tubeset s probably #2 or #3 given the touring application.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesb...924840/detail/

Sharkish

About 4 years ago I picked up this mountain bike at a garage sale for $10. It's been in the shop waiting for restoration, and now that I think I have it identified, the restoration will begin. I believe it is a 1984 Nishiki Westwood. I made an initial posting on this bike over on my blog when I first picked it up and since then have had some feedback that has turned me on to its real identity: Four Bees: Vintage Mountain Bike Bonanza!

The serial number is a bit filled in with paint, and there are not frame decals to be seen.....head badge is missing. It seems that the original owner did a bit of a "re-paint" job. The West Coast Cycles "W" is present on the bottom bracket. I bought the bike based on the components and a hunch that it must be an original early 1980's mountain bike. There is a 7-83 date on one the wheel hubs.

I would love to get some feedback and any information on original color schemes and decals.

Sharkish

The first letter of serial number on my bike is a "K", which if I read the serial number chart correctly, would make this a pre-1985 Kawamura manufactured frame. Does anyone know what type of tubing they were building these frames from at that time?

Hummer

Hi Vintage Girl,

thanks for posting the pictures of your bicycle.

The model of your bike is simply "5 Speed". It is the 1979 model made by Giant of Taiwan.

The date stamp will be stamped on the right side rear dropout. It will start with a "G", for Giant.

The serial number will be stamped on the left side rear dropout. It should be seven digits long. Sometimes the serial number was stamped on the bottom bracket shell.

Hummer

Hi tkam,

thanks for posting the pictures and serial number.

Your bike is a match for a previous posting by @lubes17319.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...l#post13514733

This was an Ultra Tour 18 and the serial number is 20 less than yours.

Two differences from the Ultra Tour 15: the symmetric shifters and three brazed on cable guides on the top tube (as opposed to two).

euronisdey

Anyone familiar with European Nishiki serial numbers? I have two 80's Nishiki Road Masters that have serial numbers that differ from the ones listed in the first message of this topic:

86FQ0750

All components on the bike are original and according to codes stamped on them, were made in 1985. So it would seem that the bike was built in 1986.


88FP
1356 (on two lines)

Accordingly, all components on this bike are from 1987, suggesting a build from 1988.



I'm guessing, but it looks like pattern "YYMF NNNN" YY = year, M = manufacturer code, F = fortnight, NNNN = sequential manufacturing number.

If letter 'F' is a manufacturer code, what would it mean?

Hummer

Hello euronisdy,

thanks for posting your serial numbers.

I have seen several other posts with this format of serial number.

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...l#post16940778

https://www.bikeforums.net/classic-vi...l#post10696059

Most of the bicycles with this format of serial number have come form Finland. I am thinking that maybe the 'F' is for Finland.

What do you think?

euronisdey

Thank you! Four "F-codes" from Finland then.