I bought
this Fuji sight unseen a couple years ago. It's been sitting in my son's basement in Portland ever since (still sight unseen by me). Based on the color and the chrome panels, I think it's a Finest. As you can see, it needs a bit of work...
I'm a bit confused about the serial number. I can't quite read some of the key characters. Does it start "G6"? If so, that's facility G, 1971, but I'm not confident in my interpretation. @
T-Mar's Asian serial number guide suggests the third character is the month, so either "1" or "I"? There's no month decoder, but the Wayback Machine's Fuji decoder gives this mapping:
Code:
(B) Month of Bicycle Frame Manufacture
I September Frames built in these months
J October are for the following year's
K November Catalog.
L December
A January Frames built in these months
B February are for the Catalog Year as
C March indicated by the Year of
D April Manufacture (C).
E May
F June
G July Occasionally a frame built in
H August July or August will be for the
following year's catalog.
From the catalog scans I've been able to find from that period, it seems some components might have been substituted (bike boom shortages?). It doesn't have side pull brakes (Dia-Compe center pulls), and instead of a SunTour V or Vx, it has a GT rear derailleur. The crank was probably a Sugino Mighty Compe. The frame appears to be sound from the pix. I guess I can thank the chrome plating for that.
Any guidance on nailing down the year and model would be appreciated.