Raleigh Serial Number Lookup

HOW OLD IS MY BICYCLE?

‘How old is my bicycle?’ is a question I get asked a lot, nearly as much as: ‘I have a bicycle that looks like one of yours; if I send you pictures please can you identify it for me?’

The answer, in short, is that I do not have time to tell you either. I’m not being callous about this. With an estimated 15,000 bicycle manufacturers, the odds are stacked against me recognizing yours; in any case, I do not claim to be an expert, just an assiduous recorder of information. To sift through information to try and find similar pictures to your unidentified bicycle would take me months, and I’m already doing similar research on my own bikes. Not only do I have a full-time job (I run my own business restoring and selling vintage vehicles) and am a hands-on parent of a young child, but I spend a minimum 30 hours every week building, updating and maintaining these free websites to help you do your own research. My hobby usually takes a backseat. Insomnia is my saving grace, otherwise there would be no time for any of this.

  • Anyway, the Sturmey Archer AW hub has a 65 12 hub date, indicating December 1965 build, so I think of the bike as a 1966 model. I looked up Sheldon Brown's Raleigh serial number dating page and checked my bike, but guess what? It doesn't match. For a bike of about 1966 there are several possibilities for what the serial number should look like.
  • A: There are many parts and accessories available for bicycles that can alter your bike so it better suits your specific needs. The best way to ensure your purchases will add to your enjoyment and/or safety is to consult your local Raleigh dealer. Q: Can I get touch-up paint for my Raleigh?

My purpose for creating these databases is simple. In the ‘old days’ (a time which seems to have ended in the past twenty five years or so), a youngster became an apprentice in a chosen field and learned its history from the older employees. Thus, for example, an apprentice mechanic was handed down an invaluable unwritten guide to repairing vehicles that could not be learned at college nor from books, because, as well as specific information about various models, it helped a youngster understand the way they were designed and built.

Mar 6, 2016 - Raleigh Serial Numbers & Charts » FRAME NUMBER BICYCLE DATING GUIDE The Online Bicycle Museum.drew a blank. I saw a list of the Raleigh serial numbers recently and those numbers with the letters certainly ring a bell for that sort of period.

Similarly, to learn about vintage bicycles, we ask questions of our elders in the hobby. The key point here is that the elders who were around while our favourite vintage machines were still on the road are no longer with us, the last of them having passed on in the past thirty years or so. Now we must depend on those who gleaned that first-hand knowledge from them; these chaps were the ‘youngsters’ then, but now they’re getting older themselves, most in their seventies and eighties. They don’t usually use computers, so much of their knowledge is stored in their heads. By the time we learn from them, it’s second-generation information. My contemporaries and I are in a younger age group – forties to sixties – and we’re busy learning and recording what we can before it’s lost forever. We study 100-year-old magazines to see when certain new innovations were first reviewed (it helps us date bicycles with similar features), read correspondence of the time to try to understand contemporary views and opinions, research old catalogues, meet fellow enthusiasts, help each other with restorations, ride our old bikes as much as possible, and work with our elders to pick up tips and wisdom.

If you can help in any way by contributing to this research, please get in touch. My email is embedded in the picture below.

By recording and sharing this knowledge while it’s still as fresh as possible, our fabulous vintage hobbies will continue for centuries to come.

TO FIND OUT HOW OLD YOUR BIKE IS – JOIN THE VETERAN CYCLE CLUB!

Although we are in the so-called ‘Information Age’ and the internet provides a surplus of it – some of it accurate, much of it misleading – there is nowhere near enough information on vintage bicycles. This surprises many people. Sometimes, folks with no experience of the vintage hobby who may have recently unearthed an old bicycle contact me and demand that I immediately tell them what it is, how old it is and what it’s worth. I try to explain as politely as possible that such a service does not exist, and they are often abusive as a result. Usually they want me to identify it so they can sell it on ebay. Luckily, I remembered an old Sufi saying, ‘Only explain things to people in a language they understand.’ So now I answer that such a service, which will obviously increase the value of their unidentified machine, will cost them £50 + VAT. It’s still not a service I actually offer – but at least they are less abusive.

The question remains: ‘How old is my bicycle?’ Also, ‘I have a bicycle that looks like one of yours; if I send you pictures please can you identify it for me?’

The answer is simple. The Veteran Cycle Club (V-CC) has a system of ‘marque enthusiasts’ – volunteers who compile what information they can about particular manufacturers. By joining the V-CC you can access whatever information is available. If that doesn’t help, if it is interesting enough, you might be able to send pictures of it to the the V-CC magazine, or take it to vintage shows and ask exhibitors, or keep an eye on ebay to see if something similar ever comes up. Identifying an unknown bicycle is hard work. You may be lucky, but more than likely it will remain a mystery.

As I have stated before, the V-CC archives and Ray Miller’s Encyclopaedia are invaluable resources: these ongoing projects are becoming the world’s primary source of information on vintage bicycles. The V-CC’s system of marque specialists is unrivalled throughout the world. I recommend every vintage bicycle enthusiast to join the V-CC to access these (and many other) excellent facilities.

FRAME NUMBER DATING

Bicycles that can be dated with 100% accuracy are the exception. Marque enthusiasts use records of shop ledgers that recorded dates sold and frame numbers, and then calculate the ages of other bicycles by comparing them with known frame numbers. Sometimes the date sold does not reflect when a bicycle was actually manufactured (for example, Dursley Pedersens were very expensive, badly marketed and often took a long time to sell). Only certain manufacturers’ frame number sequencing is known. Many did not use chronoligical sequences.

Many manufacturers used ‘bought-in’ bikes at different times, ie made by a different company. This happened in particular in the 1890s when frame styles changed every few years. Frames made by top companies with the old designs were sold off through the trade, so smaller companies then sold bicycles using the old frames with different parts years after!

The records of the majority of the smaller companies no longer exist: you’d be surprised how fast the entire history of a company disappears once the factory closes. There were also a lot of ‘dodgy practices’ within the bicycle trade, with companies regularly liquidating and starting up again and spurious production claims often made for advertising purposes and to inflate a company’s worth. Few published their true production figures. It’s a nightmare trying to make sense of it a hundred years later.

A catalogue description is a good guide, though we rarely have a manufacturer’s catalogue for every year, so may not know for how many years a model was current. Also, though we now consider a catalogue description to be an accurate guide to a bicycle’s specification, despite the catalogue options listed a customer could choose any option whatsoever, even components sold by a competing company.

It’s possible to date Sturmey-Archer hubs, so if the rear hub is original to the bike that often helps.

Bear in mind that owners often updated their bicycles over the years; though we might like our bike to match its catalogue description, updated parts are also a valid part of its history and provenance.

Details of the following manufacturers have been published, so I hope this page can provide an easy reference point. I’ll add to it as I find more.

RALEIGH FRAME NUMBER DATING

MY NOTES:

1.The Raleigh Heron Head transfer was introduced in 1908. In the same year, mudguards received a forward extension.

2. Raleigh’s ‘R’ lamp bracket was superseded in September 1927 by the heron lamp bracket (see below). The company had been taking steps to make it harder for makers of cheap bicycles to copy Raleigh parts. The ‘R’ bracket was easy to copy, so they introduced this more complex lamp bracket instead.

Consult the list below to help remember when these companies were still ‘original’ before being taken over by Raleigh:

Humber 1932

Triumph 1932

Rudge-Whitworth 1943

Three Spires 1954

BSA , New Hudson, Sunbeam 1957

Phillips 1960

Hercules 1960

Norman 1960

Sun 1960

Carlton 1960

RUDGE-WHITWORTH FRAME NUMBER DATING

Production has been attributed as follows, with frame numbers as at 31 July each year:

1898, 70,000;

1900, 118,200;

1901, 140,754;

1902, 169,739;

1903, 210,950;

1904, 223,672;

1905, 272,991;

1906, 350,235;

1907, 427,114;

1908, 488,139;

1909, 538,390;

1910, 585,010;

1911, 626,400;

1912, 663,066;

1913, 697,524;

1914, 726,731;

1915, 740,862;

1916, 745,621;

1917, 749,192;

1918, 751,213;

1919, 755,622.

SUNBEAM FRAME NUMBER DATING

1909 = 96,739 (declared)

1910 = 101,700 (calculated)

1911 = 106,700 (calculated)

1912 = 111,642 (declared)

PREMIER FRAME NUMBER DATING


BEESTON HUMBER FRAME NUMBER DATING

ELSWICK HOPPER FRAME NUMBER DATING

SINGER

The following dated bicycle frame numbers from the Singer Car Club (not guaranteed):

1903 – 142069

1903 – 172676

1905 – 184483

1908 – 225451

1909 – 232178

TRIUMPH

I started to collate frame numbers from 1890s-1920 Triumph bicycles, and will update it as I go along. You can see it at the new Triumph Bicycle Museum

GERMAN NSU BICYCLES

(translated from German)

There’s no definite official information about part numbers and corresponding registration years. This data is approximate. With an accuracy of + / – one years, but they are assumed to be relatively safe.

1900 ~ 7000
1910 ~ 18,000
1925 ~ 550,000
1929 ~ 675,000
1930 ~ 685,000
1931 ~ 692,000
1932 ~ 700,000
1933 ~ 720,000
1934 ~ 770,000
1935 ~ 920,000
1936 ~ 1,000,000

1937 ~ 1.200.000

1938 ~ 1,300,000

1939 ~ 1,450,000
1940 ~ 1,550,000
1941 ~ 1,650,000
1942 ~ 1,700,000
1943 ~ 1,750,000
1944 ~ 1,800,000

1945 ~ 1,806,000

1946 Renumbered: Prewar numbers re-used. For example, 800,000 might be 1935 or 1956.
1947 ~ 55,000
1948 ~ 100,000
1949 ~ 175,000
1950 ~ 320,000
1951 ~ 420,000
1952 ~ 570,000
1953 ~ 650,000
1954 ~ 700,000
1955 ~ 750,000
1956 ~ 800,000
1957 ~ 900.000 to about 990.000

From 1957 / 990,000 Onwards: NSU used the same numbers as prewar again, so it’s confusing.

DATING FROM TORPEDO REAR HUBS

The best bet on post-1957 machines is to check the Torpedo rear wheel hubs. Since around 1920 they used a production stamp, with which they can be dated:

“36”, therefore stands for example for the production date in 1936; later, there were also some 1-digit numbers:
“5” or “55”, built in 1955
“6” or “56”, Built in 1956
“7”, built 1957
In 1958 there were also letters:
“A”, built in 1958
“B”, built in 1959
“C”, built in 1960
“D”, built in 1961

“E”, built in 1962

(Front hubs do not have date indicators)

COLUMBIA (USA) SERIAL NUMBERS 1936 – 1972

STURMEY ARCHER DATING GUIDE

If you want further details of Sturmey Archer hubs, buy the superb book The Sturmey Archer Story by Tony Hadland, available through the V-CC.

THE INTRODUCTION OF CHROME: 1930

The cycle industry was an early adopter of the new chrome process, and chrome was first used on bicycles in 1928.

How To Read Raleigh Serial Numbers

Maurice Selbach is believed to have been the first British manufacturer to have used it in 1928 (see extract from his 1929 catalogue, below)

Shelby was one of the first US manufacturers to use chrome; their 1928 ‘Lindy’ model had a mixture of chrome and nickel.

It was offered as an option in 1930 by various British manufacturers (see extract from 1930 Raleigh catalogue, below) and by BSA in 1931 (I don’t have a copy of the BSA 1930 catalogue to check). Catalogues were generally printed the year before the season indicated in a catalogue. By 1933 it had become widely used.

If you want to date a vintage bicycle and it has chrome parts, it is generally accepted that it would have been made from 1930 onwards, or updated if made earlier.

WHEEL RIM DIMENSIONS

Here’s a handy 1911 reference guide for the rim dimensions on 26″ and 28″ wheels, both wired-edge and beaded-edge.

I’ve also reproduced the following wheel and tyre guides on the tyre page, but it may be useful to have all this reference stuff on one page.

MODERN TYRE SIZES

Bicycle tyre sizes are so confusing! Vintage motorcycle tyres are logical, those for cycles are not. Here’s a chart to help…

Some time ago, I asked John and Sue Middleton why they sold their wonderful bicycle museum in Camelford, Cornwall. They explained they’d always been upset that they received little support from fellow enthusiasts or vintage cycle clubs. But the turning point was apparently an incident when a visitor parked his car right in front of the entrance, and a big argument ensued when John tried to get him to move it. The driver insisted he had the right to park wherever he liked. I suppose ‘the great British public’ is an animal best avoided if you don’t have a thick skin, because statistically you’re eventually going to meet every sort of person in such circumstances.

I belong to many vintage clubs, but I refuse to have anything to do with their politics. Hobbyists, by definition, are eccentric (myself included): put more than one in a room together and the outcome is unpredictable. I support clubs because they help our hobby. I have wonderful friends within the hobby. I keep the two separate. I actually do spend an inordinate amount of time answering emails and phonecalls regarding obscure anomalies of our cycling and motorcycle history (I’m also a Veteran Motorcycle Club marque specialist). The questions I respond to are generally tricky ones that can’t be easily answered by the V-CC, those from fellow enthusiasts who have a similar machine to one of my own, and folks who need help with stuff left to them from enthusiast dads who have passed away. But, like other volunteers, there’s only so much time in the day to dedicate to our hobbies, and as much as I love vintage vehicles, I also have a fabulous life outside the hobby that takes priority. Good luck researching your bicycle …and I hope you continue to enjoy these websites 🙂

NSU DATING thanks to – http://www.fahrrad.nsu24.de

Click below to skip to a section:
Year range:Serial:
1947-1955, Nottingham
1955-1964(?), 'RA..., RB....'No photo
1963-1969, bottom bracket
1970-1972/3, seat lug + dropout on SC/GP
Year range:Serial:
1973 - Grand Prix, Super Course, Grand Sports only
1973-1982+ Standardized
1983-1986+ Raleigh USA (Japan/Taiwan)
SBDU Team Professional (Ilkeston)

Raleigh Bike Serial Number Lookup

1947-1955, Nottingham:

Convention #1

Convention #2

Convention #2

Serial location:
Serials stamped on side of seat lug (men's), front of seat lug (ladies', not shown), or bottom bracket (men's and ladies,' not shown), positioning of serial has no relation to serial system - there does not appear to be rhyme or reason relating to positioning. Samples shown above.

Serial convention:
Three serial conventions are used during this period:

Convention #1 (1947-1955):
6 digits followed by the letter 'P' or 'T.' 'P' serials used until and during 1950. 'T' serials replaced 'P' serials sometime mid-year 1950. Digits or letters in serial do NOT relate to month/year/day codes; only the serial in whole determines the year.

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?):
4-5 digits followed by two letters (or, for the 28'-wheel models, two letters followed by 4-5 digits). e.g.: '12345AB,' or 'AB12345.' Serial 'rolls over' when numerals are used up - without rhyme or reason relating to month or year - in the same fashion as an odometer. This convention might have been used in 1947 as well, however, we have not found any Raleigh examples from 1947 so far that exhibit this serial system.

Convention #3 (1954-?):
This convention remains still largely unidentified, though it appears to follow an identical format to convention #2; e.g., '12345RA.' However, the first letter in the serial, 'R,' appears to remain for the entire run of this system. The exact specifics of this system remain a mystery.

NOTE:
Some of the following information regarding Serial Convention #1 is derived from the Nottinghamshire Archive papers, and may therefore be approximated.

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):

1947437689P to 556893P (unconfirmed)
1948556894P to 695050P (unconfirmed)
1949Serials 695051P and approximately up to and past 730807P (a serial known to exist on a '49 Clubman)
1950'P' serials past (and perhaps somewhat earlier then) '800000P' AND 'T' serials '000001T' (?) to '151178T.' Last year for 'P' serials.
1951151179T to 367368T (unconfirmed)
1952367369T - termination unknown
1953No data
1954No data
1955Serials in the '591---T' range and up to an unknown terminus.

Convention #2 (1948-1955):

1948.....AJ through .....AP (?)
1949.....AP through .....A?
1950.....A? through .....AX

Serials '...AV,' '...AW,' and '...AX' may stand for both a late 1950 model, or early '51s built with frames built the previous year

1951.....AV through .....BG
1952.....BG through .....BI
1953.....BI through .....B?
1954No data
1955No data

1955-1964(?) Serial System:
Raleigh

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.

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 Bottom Bracket Serial System (excluding Carlton/Worksop):

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:

1967?
19684?00000-4200000
19684200000-4400000
19694400000-4600000+

1970-1972/3 Seat Lug and Dropout Serial Systems (excluding Carlton/Worksop):

Seat lug serial number, mens'

Seat lug serial number, ladies'

Dropout serial number, Super Course and Grand Prix

(Alternate serial system shown)

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:'
The first system consists of 7 digits, beginning with 1000000. This system showed its face in 1970 (I have named it accordingly), and was phased out in mid-1973.

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:'
A second 5-6 digit serial system was introduced in 1972, overlapped onto some early 1973 models with NO rhyme or reason, and died a quick death before 1973 was out. This system never exeeded 6 digits, and the reason for its introduction remains a mystery. Regardless, it is here, and it will stay.

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':

19701000000-1999999
19712000000-2700000
19722800001-3800000
Early 19733800001-?

System '1972':

1972 and early 1973-decal frames:67***(?)-900000

Raleigh Serial Number

1973 Serial System - Grand Prix, Super Course, and Grand Sports:

Left rear dropout serial, Grand Prix

Left rear dropout serial, Grand Sports

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
Grand Sports dropout photo courtesy 'thumpic' - Bikeforums.net

Serial system:

19730000001 through 0999999 (?)
(End cutoff not known)

1973-1982+ 'Standardized' Serial System

Raleigh Serial Number Lookup


Seat-tube serial

BB-shell serial

Serial location:
Serials stamped on rear of seatpost (both men's and ladies' models) near top on most models; sample shown at left. Some examples may be stamped on the bottom bracket as on the right.

Serial convention:

Two letters, followed by a series of six digits:

First letter - production factory:
N=Nottingham
W=Worksop (1967-1980), Nottingham after 1981, following closure of Worksop factory. Discontinued in 1990.
E=Enid (USA)
G=Gazelle
M=Malaysia
R=Canada
D=Ireland
H=Handsworth (U.K.)
S=Unknown, but in existence
B=Unknown, but reported
Second letter - approximate month of frame manufacture:
Jan=A
Feb=B/C
Mar=D
Apr=E/F
May=G
Jun=H/I/J
Jul=K
Aug=L
Sep=M
Oct=N/O
Nov=P/Q/R
Dec=S
First numeral (third digit in sequence):
Year of manufacture;
'3' = 1973, '4' = 1974, '5' = 1975, '6' = 1976, etc.

All following digits:
Unit # in production run

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).

1983-1986+ Raleigh USA Serial System

Raleigh Bike Serial Number Lookup


Raleigh USA BB serial location

Used only on Japanese and Taiwanese frames, plus the Nottingham Team Pro '555'.

Serial location:
Serial stamped on bottom bracket (both men's and ladies' models); sample shown above.

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:
Due to advance production for next-year models, some serials may indicate a production year backdated one year prior to the actual model year of the bike in question.

Detailed identification pages for steel Raleigh USA racing-series models are planned.


SBDU Ilkeston serial

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:
Stamped on bottom bracket.

SBDU serial photo courtesy Hilary Stone

Serial convention:

'SB' followed by four numbers, sequential to production order.