Originally Posted by
Chicago Al
A belated welcome back, T-Mar, and a thank you for the pic as well--a good reminder that we should all be on guard against chafing.
One more data point: We had a Niko 'Mystere' mixte in the family for a while, a late 70s entry level bike, SN
J8A0002. Niko were pretty certainly rebadged Centurions, and this fits the numbering system of Centurion supplier Miki: MyFxxxx, making it 1978 production.
Thxs for the welcome back and Niko contribution. While the Niko's serial number convention is the same as Miki, the prefix is incorrect. Miki serial numbers start with an 'M'. While there is a possibility that Miki coded the serial numbers to the brand, this seems unlikely given that we've seen M-prefix serial numbers for numerous brands (Centurion, Norco, Sakai, Sanwa, Sekae, SR).
Given the format and your assessment, it was built in 1978. What we don't know is whether the 1st or 3rd characters represent the manufacturer. We, also don't know if the 2nd level age stratifier is for a month or a fortnight, though given that th sequential frame number is only four characters long, it is
probably a fortnight indicator. Hopefully, some more Niko serial numbers will turn up, so that we can determine the exact nature of the format.