- Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers Lookup
- Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers Identification
- Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers For Sale
- Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers List
- Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers
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Note that the serial number information below is fragmentary and incomplete, and many bikes have proven to be much newer than the serial numbers would suggest. It appears that Raleigh recycled many of the older serial numbers in later years, so there are lots of bikes from the 60s and 70s that have serial numbers that would suggest much greater.
Huffy bicycle serial number chart' Keyword Found Websites. Keyword-suggest-tool.com DA: 28 PA: 42 MOZ Rank: 78. Huffy bicycle serial number chart; Chemax.gob.mx DA: 13 PA: 50 MOZ Rank: 75; Huffy Bicycle Company, of Springboro; Huffy Bike Serial Number Chart 5,0/5 9763 reviews; Vintage Huffy Bike Serial Number. You can only upload a photo (png, jpg, jpeg) or a video (3gp, 3gpp, mp4, mov. The rear wheel has been changed a few years after she bought the bike. I've been trawling the net and found that Humber was bought out by Raleigh in 1932, so I thought I would check Raleigh serial numbers. Sadly the Raleigh numbering system is nothing like the Humber numbers so I can rule that line of enquiries out. The numbers I have are. Ramirorodriguez4: Found a Humber bike it has a serial number of 88925 and underneath it has the letters BS. It also has a metal placard that reads 'By Appointment To The Late King George VI." It also has a brooks with Gerts B66 model leather seat. Hello, I'm trying to find a list of serial numbers for the first generation of Humber bikes, i.e. From before Raleigh took them over in 1932. I can find a list up until 1900 and then the Raleigh one, but nothing in between. I am trying to date a frame, so any info would be appreciated, thanks.
Convention #1
Serial location: Serial convention: Convention #1 (1947-1955): NOTE: This numbering system apparently ran until 1955, possibly longer, and concurrently with the newer serial system that debuted in 1948 (shown below). Raleighs of any model may be seen with either serial number type during this era. Convention #2 (1948-195?): Convention #3 (1954-?): NOTE: The entirety of the second serial chart is of our own research and are estimates - as accurate we can practically make them - of the serial numbers from the year and serial in question. | Convention #1 (1947-1955):
Convention #2 (1948-1955):
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In addition to the two serial types above, a third system appears to have been established in 1955, or at the earliest, 1954; terminating in the early-mid '60s - the most recent example I have on hand is from 1962, though I suspect the official cutoff may date to 1963 or '64.
This system follows a similar pattern to Convention #2 above, and uses a prefix or suffic of 'RA' or 'RB,' followed by 4 or 5 digits, but never exceeding 5. Location is on the side of the seat lug, as with the earlier serials above.
By 1961/62, an additional-single letter suffix was added, presumably as an identifier of the factory the frame was produced, for every single example I've seen is represented by the letter 'N,' which is not unreasonable to assume stands for Nottingham. Neither it is not out of the question that other letters may exist, representing Raleigh's other factories.
Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers Lookup
One may assume that 'RA' serial numbers began with 'RA00001' (or RA1000), and continue until 'RA 99999 N,' at which point the system was reset to 'RB 00001 N' (or RB 10000 N). This seems to have happened around 1962, and it is reasonable to assume that all 'RB' symbols represent bikes produced post-1961.
1963-1969 BB serial Serial convention: This serial system replaced the 'RA' series that preceeded it and was the first major system to use numerals exclusively. The system consists of a seven-digit serial - beginning with #1000000 in 1963 - running up to the #4600000-#4800000 range by 1969, at which point, it was discontinued. EXCEPTION: This system is NOT to be confused with the seat-tube system which replaced it in 1970; which ran until 1973. Numbers will be duplicated between each system. Serial location: These serials will be located on the bottom bracket on both ladies' and men's Superbes, Sprites, and Sports. The extent of this system's use on other models is unknown. BB photo courtesy 'w1gfh' - Bikeforums.net | 1963-1969 BB serial:
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Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers Identification
Serial convention: At present, I have insufficent information about the serial numbers from this era to construct a definite chart of every example used during this time period. At least 4 or 5 different systems were used. I have uncovered two of them to a reasonable extent; both of which ran concurrently to each other during this time period: 'System 1970:' EXCEPTIONS: Evidence indicates that a handful of '70-'71 frames - or their lugs, depending on when the stamping was done - may not have been released from the factory until 1973, and were consequently decaled as 1973 models. This is the only explanation I can suggest regarding this issue. 'System 1972:' This system INCLUDES the Grand Prix and Super Course, despite the seven-digit serials (as mentioned in the next system, below) running concurrently on these models. Serial location: The serials from this era, specifically for general production machines (Sports, Superbe, Sprite), will be located on the seat lug. Twenty/Folders will have the serial marked on the outside of the left dropout, and some Grand Prix models have it in this location as well. Unknown where they are located on DL-1s. Keep in mind that the serials used for Raleigh Choppers - while apparently a nearly identical 7-digit system - do not corrispond well with those of the larger bicycles. For now, it should be assumed that the Choppers' serial system is separate (until proven otherwise). Men's models will have the stamping on the top of the lug, ladies' frames will have the serial stamped to the front of the lug. Addendums and warnings: Both of these systems are often covered deep in paint - do not be surprised if you only find 5 or 6 digits! Given the obvious duplication of serials with bikes produced prior to 1970, we suggest that you use the frame's decals as a supplimentary era guide - please visit our Raleigh Sports Visual ID page for this purpose. Please understand that this particular chart is a rough draft. Use in conjunction with Sturmey-Archer rear hubs and frameset decals as additional guides. All of the serial cutoffs are approximated. Please allow for overlap. | System '1970':
System '1972':
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Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers For Sale
Serial convention: An additional 7-digit serial system was used in 1973, appearing only on the Grand Prix (including Gazelle production), Super Course, and Grand Sports. These serials are instantly recognizable, as the first digit is always zero, and low-number serials (i.e., '9181') will have a prefix of as many zeros required to make the serial seven digits - in other words, '0009181' - such as the example Grand Sports shown above. Keep in mind that this serial system - though used on these three models in 1973 - are not unique to them during this year. Some examples may use one of the two systems listed above, or the later 1973+ variant. Serial location: Outside of left dropout. Grand Prix dropout photo courtesy 'ianbrettcooper' - Bikeforums.net | Serial system:
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Serial location: | Serial convention: Two letters, followed by a series of six digits:
Example: A cycle manufactured in Nottingham, in the month of March of the year 1975, would feature the serial 'ND5------.' For instance, the photo shown above, to the left, bears the serial 'NL9------,' indicating a machine made in August 1979, at the Nottingham factory. The example to the left is 'WR0------,' which would indicate Worksop manufacture in November of 1980 (and most likely a 1981 model due to the late month). |
Used only on Japanese and Taiwanese frames, plus the Nottingham Team Pro '555'. Serial location: | Serial convention: First digit of serial = year (e.g.: '4'=1984) Second digit (letter) of serial = ? (e.g.: '?'=?) Third digit of serial = ? (e.g.: '?'=?) Note: Detailed identification pages for steel Raleigh USA racing-series models are planned. |
SBDU serials are sequential, and do not indicate year or date of manufacture. Use the decals and components of the frame as your guide. All SBDU frames were built in Raleigh's Ilkeston factory. Alternately, a photo registry of SBDU Team Professionals can be found at the TI Raleigh Team Professional Yahoo! Group, which may help to narrow down a given frame's era: Serial Location: SBDU serial photo courtesy Hilary Stone | Serial convention: 'SB' followed by four numbers, sequential to production order. |
When I begin work on a new bike one of the first things I do is investigate the bike itself. I’m interested in the history of the maker. With a little research I can often tease out details from a variety of sources and compile them together to create a meaningful biography. Sometimes information is easily had and other times I have to get creative with the search for enlightenment. Serial numbers, for instance, would seem to have a great deal more meaning than they often do. To take just one example, a Rosetta Stone for Peugeot serial numbers before the 1980’s has yet to be uncovered; there are some who believe their serial numbers are purely random in nature! (I believe there was some sort of system involved, but whether or not one can interpret models or dates or anything else from those digits has yet to be determined.)
Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers List
The thing is, serial numbers and other such minutiae don’t seem to have occupied the minds of many bicycle builders. I sort of understand that thinking. Bike companies came and went, merged, got purchased, and dissolved. Who on earth would maintain a library of details, especially in those pre-internet days? As individuals close to operations passed away, so too did their personal recollections. Day-to-day operational records were kept at the time to maintain orders and sales, perhaps archived for a while in decidedly non-archival boxes and file drawers – but no one ever imagined that these purely functional transportation devices would turn into collectable objects d’art. Who would have ever imagined that sales brochures, catalogs, build sheets, and other ephemera would have any historical importance? I’m sure the furthest thing from their minds was that anyone would ever be interested in tracking down the history or lineage. I just imagine their incredulity at such an idea: It’s a bicycle, for Pete’s sake!
I’m always amused when television shows make research look so simple. Great detectives type something into Google – let’s say it’s the name of a bike company – and immediately get a list of everything there is to know about it. They generally project this information up onto a large screen so that everyone on the team can see the incredibly detailed history, complete with photographs of the founders and biographical details of everyone involved in the fabrication. But of course, television and real life tend to deviate pretty dramatically and when I begin to research a bike there is seldom a single source of information. In fact, because the internet is so democratic, information must almost always be first viewed as somewhat suspect. Unlike books and journals of the past where details were generally meticulously (if not always accurately) researched, any well meaning person can publish memories, opinions, and hogwash, and represent it all as “pure fact.” Such has been the case with my ongoing research into the builder of the Freschi, for instance, and I still haven’t been able to reasonably make any sort of conclusions, relying as I have upon anecdotal and often erroneously repeated story.
Humber Bicycle Serial Numbers
Rough grinding the frame before bonderizing, Elswick plant, Barton-Up0n-Humber, 1937.
So now I begin to examine a British roadster built by Elswick and the foundation of my understanding began with a misunderstanding. I believed that Elswick, as such, had not survived the second World War, and that the company was acquired to become Elswick-Hopper sometime in the late forties. A friend and fellow enthusiast also believed this story. I have, however, begun to reach different conclusions. One source that I came across indicated that the motorized branch of Elswick (they produced both motorized and pedal-powered two-wheelers) was not profitable enough to continue. The decision was made to focus entirely on bicycles, and perhaps this event helped to precipitate my own imprecise understanding.
I began my journey through Elswick history with the facts as I know them. First, the frame has a serial number located near the top of the seat tube, on the drive side. The number, 38519, has a capital letter “G” engraved above it. I have located a chart purporting to identify Elswick bicycle manufacture by year and if it is accurate, the “G” indicates a build year of 1925 or 1949. I am fairly confident that it is not a 1925 model, so I have a general starting point of 1949.
The rear wheel has a Sturmey-Archer three-speed hub and mounted to the bars is a Sturmey-Archer three/four speed trigger shifter, model GC2, patent number 498820. The hub can be conclusively dated to 1948 and the GC2 trigger shifter was introduced in 1948-49. Presuming that these are original items, they support a 1949 date for the bike.
The end of the forties and the start of the fifties are a sort of transitional period for Elswick Cycles, Ltd, and as it turns out this is a fortuitous date that helps to inform my research. On Wednesday, July 16, 1952, trademark registration was filed for The Elswick Cycles Limited Barton on Humber Fortiter, Defendit Triumphans . This appellation, which appears on my head badge, was first used September 6, 1928, and first used commercially March 20, 1946.Bartun-upon-Humber was, and is, a small township in north Lincolnshire, pleasantly situated in the late thirties amidst a quiet qgricultural countryside in which time must have seemed to be standing still. Within the town itself flourished one of the largest cycle manufacturing concerns in Britain – Mssrs. Elswick-Hopper, or as these two well known names were at the time still preserved as separate entities: F. Hopper and Co., Ltd., and Elswick Cycles, Ltd.
Very briefly, the history of Elswick and Elswick-Hopper begins in 1880, when Fred Hopper hung out a shingle. In 1896, Hopper sold out to an investment company, A.B.C. Cycle Fittings Company, Ltd. and set up a new factory called Hull and Barton Cycle Manufacturing Company the following year. In 1898, Hopper and his partners purchased back the original business and in 1910 purchased the patents, trademarks and goodwill of the bankrupt Elswick Cycle Company of Newcastle. Much as Chevrolet did with their GMC product line, Hopper planned to market two separate brands of Hopper and Elswick. Fred Hopper Jr. took over as managing director in 1925 when his father passed away and the firm struggled through the thirties. In 1958, new management took control and brought in an Italian design company to develop new models. For much of this time, the firm built most of their own components, but by the 60’s these items were being brought in from overseas for assembly at Barton. The 70’s brought Coventry Eagle, eventually changing their name to Falcon. Along with the change came a move from Barton to a modern facility in Brigg. The London Gazette filed a short paragraph announcing the dissolution of the company on 8 September 1999, but all production had long since ceased by this point.
Next: More about Elswick and I begin the restoration