Odd Raleigh Serial

[joeshaw92]

Hi everyone,

I've recently got hold of a Raleigh Randonneur. However, upon looking at the serial, it is unlike any other Raleigh serial I can find online; CO 5283. Now I'm pretty certain it's a genuine Randonneur, but have no idea about its age or where it was made.

Can anyone here shed some light on it?

For more info on my bike, here is a link to my other thread: http://www.retrobike.co.uk/forum/viewto ... p;t=263126

Cheers

 

[roadking]

Thought I already gave you a clue?

Roadking.

 

[S1m0nR]

Thought I already gave you a clue?

Well if only for my benefit, could you be a little more specific?!

I'd like to know if I come across a serial like this in the future on a classic Raleigh.

Cheers...

PS nice bike by the way, a pretty rare frame in 531ST - don't see many Raleighs in that tubing. It's screaming out for some different forks though.

 

[joeshaw92]

Hi, from the research I've carried out, there is no single resource regarding Raleigh serials after around 1982 (besides American serials).

After reading on different forums, I spotted a few people had posted their serials of later Raleighs;

One guy had a 1991 with a serial starting with B
Another had a 1992 with a serial starting with C
Another had a 1997 with a serial starting with H.

I can only infer from this that the later Raleigh serials are as follows:

Axxxx = 1990
Bxxxx = 1991
Cxxxx = 1992
Dxxxx = 1993
Exxxx = 1994
Fxxxx = 1995
Gxxxx = 1996
Hxxxx = 1997

I have no evidence of what happens after 1997, they may indeed follow the same pattern or change altogether.

The digits following the letter (there are 4 on mine, may be more/less on others) I can only guess are the individual unit number. The second letter may indicate the builder of the bike (especially bikes that were built by the Special Products Division) or any number of other things.

I hope this will be helpful; I'm not 100% on it but I know of 3 other bikes that follow this pattern

Joe