Kona Ku Serial Number List - update 07/02/25

[Jammin]

Not sure if you can help but I've got a second hand Kona which is marked as a KU and trying to find out more about it. Serial numbers nothing like those listed here though. I messaged Kona and they said:

"97-98 vintage with that cable routing. It was a really nice custom alloy frame. You want to make sure it’s running a 80mm travel fork."

Have attached pic of bottom bracket. Serial seems to be BI - 1252 and bit under cable routing is 7H - 25 although the H looks like lying on long edge side. Frame is brushed aluminium finish with thumbs up stamps on rear wheel stays and Easton Elite stamp at head tube.
Does this make any sense to anyone??

Thanks

J

 

[d8mok]

Do you have pics of the full bike?

The frame number doesn’t follow the same format at other Ku,s.

 

[Jammin]

Yeah - has me wondering. Pic attached

 

[murphy79]

Certainly not a Ku with that serial number, and the Ku's did not have a chainstay bridge (except for a few of the last Hodaka built ones). The serial number doesn't really match what would be expected for a Kona at that time, but the thumbs up stamps would only be on a Kona and the Easton mark means it's a good quality frame. So a bit of a mystery and a full bike pic would certainly be useful.

 

[d8mok]

Yeah - has me wondering. Pic attached

Yes definitely not a Ku.

 

[murphy79]

Based on that pic I would say a stripped '97 AA or Kula. I've looked at my AA frame and it has almost identical numbers but has the actual serial number on the opposite side of the BB. Is there any indication that the S/N has been removed on the other side (maybe when the paint was stripped)?

 

[Jammin]

Thanks for speedy responses. The plot thickens. No sign of numbers on other side unfortunately.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is an AA?

 

[murphy79]

The Kula was the top non-custom / non-us made alloy bike offered at the time, the AA was one step down but had essentially the same frame, only the components were slightly lower. You can see them both in the catalogue here.

 

[d8mok]

Thanks for speedy responses. The plot thickens. No sign of numbers on other side unfortunately.

Excuse my ignorance, but what is an AA?

 

[al-onestare]

To confirm 100% not a Ku with that SN and it has a chain-stay bridge which, for most instances, is another tell-tell sign that it's isn't a Ku.

Judging by the pic's, with that cable routing, it's a 1997 model, likely a paint stripped Kula, Muni-mula or AA.