Universal VIN Decoder. Decipher VIN number. Specifications, equipment, analysis of the correctness of the VIN number. How to Decode Motorcycle VIN Numbers. The motorcycle’s serial number takes up the last eight places in the VIN number. These are assigned sequentially as the.

Date of Manufacture for Bicycle Components [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] The date of manufacture of a bicycle's components can often be used to determine the date of manufacture of the bike itself. Samoprezentaciya uchitelya informatiki. Some bike parts have a date code cast or stamped into the piece. This clearly is when the component was made and not when the bike was made, but unless the component or bike manufacturer had lots of stock lying around in inventory, the date should be a fairly good indication of the year of the bike. At least it would be the earliest date that the bike could have been made. Of course, all this assumes the bike has the original component.

The most likely components to be original are the stem, handlebars, seatpost, and brakes. The rear derailleur freewheel/cassette and chainwheels are probably the first to be changed on a bike. On a vintage bike in excellent condition (that apparently had a lonely existence in a garage) all of the components likely are original. As the wear on a vintage bike increases, the greater the likelihood components are not original, either through replacement of worn parts or through component swaps. Swaps can take place early in the life of a bike as the proud new owner upgrades to new or used components of higher quality. Swaps also can be made as the bike falls out of favor, or is being sold, where the higher quality components are traded for lower quality ones that the owner had onhand.

(Don't all cyclists have boxes and boxes of old components in their garage?) Most early Treks (1976 through about 1980) were sold as framesets. The components were added by the local bike shop or by the buyer. New components often were used. Components also could be swapped from an existing ride to the new frameset.

This makes dating the components an interesting archeological investigation, but one not necessarily related to the date of the bike. A date code is marked on most or all SR seatposts.

Trek owner Larry Osborn made this observation, and suggested this as a supplementary way of dating a Trek (and other bikes as well). Fueled by this first realization, and with the help of other bike folks, Larry and I have sorted out other codes (a project still ongoing). Especially useful, and challenging to sort out and verify, was the Shimano code. Also gathered on this page are date codes decoded and generously provided by others. For Treks, the SR date markings are especially important.