Great Western Serial Number Letter Code?

[Brian R.]

In older posts, fellow Cabers helped me identify this double top tube bike as being made by Great Western, possibly with a Crown badge (3" vertical badge holes). I also found a Cyrus by Great Western with the same fork crown. It came with a Fauber crank set and the BB has semi-circular cut-outs.

So the reason for this new post comes from having the frame blasted (was just rust, no og paint left) and discovering a letter code L off by itself on the bottom of the BB. The serial number also on the BB is 013781. Assuming it is a GW frame, does anyone know the meaning of the L code? - a year perhaps?? Does the number hold any clue?

 

[Archie Sturmer]

I believe not. I have seen a ladies bike with a letter “O” or number "0" separate from the serial number like yours; also a parallel bar with an “A-21,000, patented in 1915-16; a truss frame with a “B-18,000, and another “3” - patented in 1913; and a motorbike with an “L-24,000 series.
Double bars generally preceded motorbikes of the mid teens, perhaps also the 3” spacing—most are 2+3/4” in later years.
I like to play with the numbers to try to break the code and subtracting 5 from the first two digits kinda sorta works, sometimes; 13–5= 1908?
A member named Richard is a respected authority on the topic.
https://thecabe.com/forum/threads/three-crown-questions-year-badge-and-hubs.88789/