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Schwinn Serial Number Reference

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Jan. 7 1952 the numbers were moved to the left rear fork.
THANKS FOR THE INFO. I WILL NOW CONSIDER WILLIAM LOVE'S INFO. ON THIS MATTER TO BE INCORRECT. I HAVE A ''DX'' SERIAL NO. B61166 ON BOTTOM BRACKET AND COULDN'T BE SURE IF IT WAS A 1947 OR IF IT WAS MADE IN MARCH OF 1952., BASED ON MR. LOVE'S INFO. I'M GLAD TO KNOW FOR SURE IT IS A '47---- THANKS AGAIN FOR CLEARING UP THE CONFLICTING INFORMATION.
 
THANKS FOR THE INFO. I WILL NOW CONSIDER WILLIAM LOVE'S INFO. ON THIS MATTER TO BE INCORRECT. I HAVE A ''DX'' SERIAL NO. B61166 ON BOTTOM BRACKET AND COULDN'T BE SURE IF IT WAS A 1947 OR IF IT WAS MADE IN MARCH OF 1952., BASED ON MR. LOVE'S INFO. I'M GLAD TO KNOW FOR SURE IT IS A '47---- THANKS AGAIN FOR CLEARING UP THE CONFLICTING INFORMATION.

I wouldn't be so sure unless you have dated other parts on the bike. Schwinn used some serial numbers in three different years and this is when the numbers were stamped on the rear dropout. The numbers also crossed between the bottom bracket and some dropout numbers. When you come across this situation you need to correctly date the bike using all the parts, paint etc.
Schwinn Serial numbers do not tell you when a bike was made. The mechanically stamped numbers were stamped on the BB, dropout or head tube prior to any frame building. I believe that the pre war hand stamped numbers were the only serial numbers that were stamped when the frame was built, so one can only guess when a Schwinn was actually built until 1976 when the actual build date was stamped in the head badge.

My years of research on the 50's and 60's Schwinns have shown that Schwinn started their model year change over around mid November as per the serial number dates, and different models each having a different change over period or date. Using my Corvette 5 Speed Registry as a reference I can also see that the different models were more than likely produced in batches along with verifying the end of the model year production.

If you read the info in post # 3 your SN would possibly be a 1946 number. Maybe start a new thread with some detail pictures and the experts could help in the dating.
 
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I wouldn't be so sure unless you have dated other parts on the bike. Schwinn used some serial numbers in three different years and this is when the numbers were stamped on the rear dropout. The numbers also crossed between the bottom bracket and some dropout numbers. When you come across this situation you need to correctly date the bike using all the parts, paint etc.
Schwinn Serial numbers do not tell you when a bike was made. The mechanically stamped numbers were stamped on the BB, dropout or head tube prior to any frame building. I believe that the pre war hand stamped numbers were the only serial numbers that were stamped when the frame was built, so one can only guess when a Schwinn was actually built until 1976 when the actual build date was stamped in the head badge.

My years of research on the 50's and 60's Schwinns have shown that Schwinn started their model year change over around mid November as per the serial number dates, and different models each having a different change over period or date. Using my Corvette 5 Speed Registry as a reference I can also see that the different models were more than likely produced in batches along with verifying the end of the model year production.

If you read the info in post # 3 your SN would possibly be a 1946 number. Maybe start a new thread with some detail pictures and the experts could help in the dating.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR RESPONSE AND EXCELLENT INFO. MY BIKE CAME WITH DROP CENTER WHEELS, SCHWINN FRONT HUB WITH LOCK NUTS (PRE-WAR STYLE ? ) , 7 INCH DOGLEG CRANK, AND THE EARLY STYLE B. F. GOODRICH HEADBADGE, WHICH SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN PHASED OUT AFTER 1949, ACCORDING TO '' SCHWINN BUILT HEAVYWEIGHTS 1946-1964'' BY GEOFF GREENE. THERE IS NO DATE ON THE CRANK, AND IT DID NOT HAVE A TAPERED KICKSTAND. IT ALSO HAD THE EARLY STYLE''FEATHER CHAINGUARD'' WITH NO FLAT AREA FOR THE MODEL DECAL., AS THE 1952 AND UP VERSIONS DO. IT ALSO CAME WITH THE '' SKINNY'' TRUSS RODS.THE FENDERS WERE MISSING . SADLY, THE ORIGINAL. PAINT WAS GONE. SO IT COULD ALSO BE A 1946 , AS YOU POINTED OUT. I HAVE MADE A NICE RIDER OUT OF IT AND WILL POST A PHOTO WHEN I FIGURE OUT HOW. AGAIN, LET ME SAY ''THANK YOU'' .
 
THANKS FOR THE INFO. I WILL NOW CONSIDER WILLIAM LOVE'S INFO. ON THIS MATTER TO BE INCORRECT. I HAVE A ''DX'' SERIAL NO. B61166 ON BOTTOM BRACKET AND COULDN'T BE SURE IF IT WAS A 1947 OR IF IT WAS MADE IN MARCH OF 1952., BASED ON MR. LOVE'S INFO. I'M GLAD TO KNOW FOR SURE IT IS A '47---- THANKS AGAIN FOR CLEARING UP THE CONFLICTING INFORMATION.


On the far left of you computer keyboard you will see a key marked "caps lock". If you press this key after the first letter of a sentence it will then type lower case letters. Typing in all caps is the computer equivalent of screaming at someone. Hope this helps. V/r Shawn
 
I believe the original source for the Schwinn serial number information listed in the OP is here:

Schwinn Date Codes

From there it links to these pages:

i.d. FACTS
1948 through 1952
1952 through 1969
1970 through 1982

Note on the original pages where it states "Copy and print this info at will, it`s FREE.
BUT If You Steal The HTML And Post It On A Web Page In ANY Format, It Is Illegal"

In that case it appears that the info in the OP's links was reposted without authorization or credit.

I would only trust the information from the original source, as copies (especially unauthorized ones) can introduce errors. For example the ORIGINAL 1970 through 1982 page it states: "NUMBERS ARE NOW LOCATED ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THE HEADTUBE (By The Schwinn Badge On The Front OF The Frame)", whereas on the COPIED 1970 through 1982 page it states "Serial #'s are now on the lower left of the headtube, by the Schinn badge on fromt of the frame". :(

What if a bike doesn't have those numbers? Where (other than Chicago) were Schwinns made? My bike only has letters. It looks like LB or maybe LR
 
Schwinns have been made in a lot of places like Chicago, Japan, Greenville, Taiwan and China. If you want to know where your bike was made post pictures of both the bike, the serial number and the badge.
 
I believe the original source for the Schwinn serial number information listed in the OP is here:

Schwinn Date Codes

From there it links to these pages:

i.d. FACTS
1948 through 1952
1952 through 1969
1970 through 1982

Note on the original pages where it states "Copy and print this info at will, it`s FREE.
BUT If You Steal The HTML And Post It On A Web Page In ANY Format, It Is Illegal"

In that case it appears that the info in the OP's links was reposted without authorization or credit.

I would only trust the information from the original source, as copies (especially unauthorized ones) can introduce errors. For example the ORIGINAL 1970 through 1982 page it states: "NUMBERS ARE NOW LOCATED ON THE LOWER LEFT OF THE HEADTUBE (By The Schwinn Badge On The Front OF The Frame)", whereas on the COPIED 1970 through 1982 page it states "Serial #'s are now on the lower left of the headtube, by the Schinn badge on fromt of the frame". :(
 
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