Shelby Serial Number

[Boris]

A friend of mine was wondering about the date of this Shelby Western Flyer. Serial number is P341973

 

[CrazyDave]

Its older than the paint and pizza, but newer than the bayonet.

 

[Boris]

A little help here?

 

[izee2]

Dave,
Shelbys serial numbers really don't help with figuring out the year of mfg. No real Rhyme or reason to them.
I would take a guess that this bike is prewar maybe 39 40. Shockeze fork fenders frame yadda yadda would make me believe that would be the time frame. I'm probably way off but that's what I would think.
Tom


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[spoker]

if it has a morrow rear hub it will be date coded with a number and a letter

 

[dougfisk]

Dave,
Shelbys serial numbers really don't help with figuring out the year of mfg. No real Rhyme or reason to them.
I would take a guess that this bike is prewar maybe 39 40. Shockeze fork fenders frame yadda yadda would make me believe that would be the time frame.

A few people over the years, including myself, have tried to gat a database of Shelby serial numbers started (Slick recently). It doesn't seem to catch fire. As izee says, my semi-casual observation of Shelby serials reveals no obvious dating code. Shelbys are dated by the analysis of the componentry. And they don't make it easy because their combinations of componentry are nearly infinite it seems. And much of what is found in the real world is not represented in commonly available catalogs. I see prewar as well. What is the consensus on first year for shockeze?

 

[cds2323]

I would put the bike Dave posted sometime in 1940. Maybe into 41.

I have a similarily equipped Western Flyer Shelby with a P serial number.

I believe this bike to also be 1940.

I too have kept track of Shelby serial numbers for a long time. Very hard to make sense of the pattern. I've also used Morrow hubs to help date them. Odd thing is I've seen V serial numbers with late 39-early 40 Morrow hubs and a P serial number with a late 40 Morrow hub.
Not sure of the cause of that. It may be because Shelby was using two assembly plants at the time, one in Ohio and the other in Los Angeles. The P serial numbers I've seen were found on the west coast and the V's were in the Midwest or east coast. Maybe out of sync due to shipping and assembling frames out West. I've also noted this in other years, letters out of order. Maybe they were just that way, it doesn't help that Shelby mix and matched so many parts making dating even harder.

 

[Boris]

Thanks boys! I'll pass this info along. And my friend asked me to make sure I thank you.

 

[izee2]

What is the consensus on first year for shockeze?

I thought the first year for the Shockease fork was 39' but I did see a bike in John Polizzi's book that is listed as a 37' and is described with the Shockease fork. Although the pic doesn't clearly show the fork. It does appear to have it.


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[dougfisk]

I thought the first year for the Shockease fork was 39' but I did see a bike in John Polizzi's book that is listed as a 37' and is described with the Shockease fork. Although the pic doesn't clearly show the fork. It does appear to have it....

I would be skeptical about '37 and inclined to think '39. That is why I am asking. Just for the record - there are what I think to be a few errors in the polizzi book. He identifies some bikes in the book to be 1937, whereas nothing I have seen leads me to believe it. Maybe someday I'll start a thread to that effect.