I was going to snatch the badge off this little bike, but I changed my mind and will give it some TLC.....It's an oldie for sure;-)

^^^^^ Hey, it's pink! Did you post it in the color-of-the-month thread?

^^ That's almost certainly from the last year of American Eagle production, as we have a Nishiki in the databse with a serial number that is only 8,602 units newer. The Nishiki brand was introduced for the 1972 model year, so it's likely a 1971 model. Thxs for posting.

Hi, I have an addition to the database.

Using the serial number info from your first post, mine looks to be a 1984 year model Riviera.

Serial Number KD08 077
AH stamped on Rear der. which also points to 1984 (from your link)
Strange codes on Cranks: 4D 2 and 4D 4 are stamped on the back of the crank arms which doesn't match up with any iteration of the Sugino date codes listed on your link

While it is a 1984 serial number, it is a 1985 model. That style of Nishiki logo was only used on the 1985 models. Typically the manufacturers start building the new models around September. This is a good fit with the September component code and what may be an August serial number. Your bicycle was probably completed around. September-October.

Regarding the crank codes, Sugino was offering double and triple chainring versions of many models during this era. The D may indicate a double version but I'm not positive. The codes may represent February and April 1984.

I have a Nishiki pro, which I believe were custom made by Kawamura for the Japanese market (I bought it in Japan). It is a .8 .5 .8 chromoly tubing, stamped "made by Kawamura" has mostly a Shimano Arabesque groupset, Early Dura ace hubs on tubular french rims and Dia compe G brake levers. The nice kicker is that it is the only chrome finish nishiki I have ever seen. The serial is M7320015. Is there anything that can be known from this serial number?

Your serial number format is one of about four variation that have turned up on the USA market Nishiki ONP (Order Nishiki Professional). As implied, the ONP was a high end, special order (but not custom) frameset. These frames were built by eight hand selected craftsmen in a separate department of the factory. Your frame uses the same 0.8-0.5-0.8 (i.e. Tange #1 ) decal as seen on the ONP but used different dropouts and stay caps. I assume these are market dependent variations.


The format for the ONP appears to use the first two numerals as the year of manufacture. That would mean your frame was built in 1973. However, according to a magazine road test on the ONP, the project wasn't conceived until 1974 and the the first production frames were't manufactured until the 1976 model year. Circa 1973, the American market Professionals were being contract manufactured by Katakura, who have a different S/N format. Also, Shimano 600EX (aka Arabesque) didn't come out until the 1978 model year. All the evidence suggests it is later than 1973 and I'm thinking that the '3' is actually a partially stamped '8'? Does your bottom bracket shell have an 'N' cut-out or one that looks like four petals?

T, that is a fantastic amount of information, most appreciated.

1973 could as well be the correct year. I purchased this bike in Japan while living there, it is quite possible that Kawamura was branding bikes “Nishiki Pro” before they got picked up for the overseas (U.S.) market. If so it is also possible that it was one of their custom works, I’m saying that because the sizing doesn’t fall within the normal spectrum you see on production bikes, 51.4cm seat tube, 52.7cm top tube, center to center. I think at the time you could walk into their shop an order a custom race bike from them. The parts smorgasbord is not much of a surprise either. I have seen a few Japanese bikes that got raced in the 70’s and 80’s, parts were swapped as they wore, upgraded as it became available, enjoyed every step of the way. The Shimano 600EX stuff would have been a significant upgrade from the early Shimano Crane derailleur.

I miss Japan and the bike shops around Tokyo. My daughter has a Ravanello bike; we visited the shop (which usually have old frames in display, a treat on its own right) and upon talking to the builder he sold us the frame that he built for his wife back in the day. She’s an old lady, not riding road bikes anymore so for a reasonable amount they factory painted it for us. We built that one up with a Dura Ace 7800 groupset and Mavic Ksyrium Tour de France edition wheelset. It rides like a dream.

Several other frame characteristics suggest 1978 as opposed to 1973, such as the top tube cable tunnels and what appear to be short dropouts and recessed brake nuts. None of these existed in 1973, even on top end Italian bicycles, but they would be appropriate for 1978. I can't tell if it has bottle bosses but it looks like they may be present. Some better pictures may provide further insight; rear dropouts without wheel mounted, bottom bracket showing cut-out (if any), head lugs, head badge, any decals.

Thanks sir, After looking again, I think the date code on the cranks looks close to Code 3.

I havent seen many Rivieras out there that are Non-GT version.

WG11865

Folks,

Here is a unique one. Nishiki Cervino made in Italy, imported in 82. I purchased it frame only from Ted Ernsts shop in Manhattan Beach in 83-84. I have lots of additional info if needed.

The SN is a Olmo sequential number that has no date or model meaning but puts the frame in the 81 Olmo production time frame. It's pretty close to a Olmo Comp of that period with the addition of internal drive train routing. Let me know if you want additional info.

SN 56 1638

From Olmo db

Type 1 head lug with triangle cutout
Type 1 seat stay lugs
Seat lug with triangle cutout
tubular chain stay reinforcement with teardrop
top mount downtube shifters
campy portacatenca rear dropouts

This is my 1987 Nishiki Modulus
Serial # WG 01588

She rides nice (very vertically stiff), shifts without fault, but most importantly she has fun 80's paint. She was just put up for sale to make room for a more outlandishly painted Nishiki Altron somewhere in my future. This model is a little odd as it isn't lugged and I've found Nishiki's with similar paint, similar little rainbow fades, but they were all lugged. Then when they switched to welded, the paint details changed so I've always assumed this one is an odd ball, but probably not.

May not be a Nishiki.

Here are two other references to this format of serial number, neither are Nishiki.
Hugh?s Sportex 12 | Old Ten Speed Gallery

Centurion Serial Number Database

Kuwamara made American Eagle serial numbers go to at least KS110000. The frame that you refer to, KS78091, is discussed in this post and talks about American Eagle, not Nishiki.

Nishiki American Eagle

So it may not be a good conclusion that the KS69489 is from the last year of the American Eagle brand name.

The frame manufactured in 1987, model year 1988.

I think the first two digits indicate the frame size and the last four digits are the serial number.

Hi,

I have a Nishiki performance equipe Rally. Green 'N' decal on head tube. Shimano Tourney GS RD. 2x6 speed.

serial # SC81204104

Any idea on the year.

ONP Serial numbers


Kawamura made the Order Nishiki Professional (ONP) frames starting in 1976, according to an August 1976 Bicycling magazine article.

At that time Kawamura encoded information into the serial number of all of its regular export bicycles: target geographic market, year and month of frame manufacture.

Is that information encoded in the ONP serial numbers?

From the small sample of serial numbers you can look for patterns for encoded information.
Here is what I have observed about ONP serial numbers.

The ONP BB shell has one of two cutouts: "N" or a four petal "flower". The "flower" cutout is similar to the cutout on the Centurion Professional from the late 1970s.

The serial numbers are stamped on the bottom bracket shell.
The serial number stamping for the "N" cutout is all together in a single line.
The serial number stamping for the "flower" cutout is in three parts, left side, letters on one line, three characters underneath, and right side four characters.

The serial numbers start with one or two alphabetic characters.

The next three characters I shall call the triplet and are the left side lower portion of the "flower" cutout.

In all the serial numbers that I have seen, the first character in this triplet is always the number 7.

The next character after the 7 is sometimes a number and sometimes a letter. The only two unique letters I have seen are X and Y.

The last character in the triplet is always a number: 2, 3, or 4.

The last four characters are always numbers. the first number is always "0", the second "0" or "1", and the last two can be any digit.

Here is my analysis of ONP serial numbers. This is only my analysis and conclusions. There are other possible conclusions and you are free to disagree with mine. I would encourage any valid criticism.

The first alphabetic one or two characters is for the geographic market, NP=USA, M=Asia, or some Asian countries.

The first number in the triplet is the year of frame manufacture, 7 = 1977.

The next character in the triplet is the month of frame manufacture. The letters X and Y each representing a month October, November or December (months 10, 11, and 12).

The last character of the triplet I do not know what it means. Possibly a number for different frame geometries. All of the serial numbers that I have seen with the "N" cutout have the number "2" as the third character of the triplet, the "flower" cutouts have "3" and "4".

The last 4 digits are a sequence number. It looks like the sequence starts at 0 or 1 at the beginning of each month.

That Tourney GS derialleur is a replacement, as it's much older than the frame. Based on the decal style, it's 1989-1990.

Welcome to the forums. It appears to be a 1981 model but based on the colour I think it may be a Royale, which was a couple of models above the Custom Sport. What size (diameter) is the seat post?

Thank you!

If you remove the size post and clean it off, you may find the size stamped on it. It could be anything between 25.4 to 27.2. This is the diameter in millimetres. I was able to see your pictures in your album. I thought it looked grey, which was used on the 1981 Royale.