Info On Mongoose:
http://www.vintagemongoose.com/
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1975 to late 1977 the frames have no brake bridge, and had the coaster brake mount welded on. back then the serials were sometimes only 4 numbers, so looking at the frame was the only way to id the year.
Late 1977 to mid 1979 they added the brake bridge but lost the coaster mount.
Mid 1981 to early 1982 they started using the stepdown dropout with the 2 holes machined in it, thus, the birth of the 'super' dropout.
So here is the serial breakdown.
If it starts with: TC, this means its a team or supergoose. supergoose came in chrome only, the teams were nickel plated with either a blue or red coating. here is an example: TCA0****
UPDATE: it seems that some time around 79-80 and later, some supergooses were made, but not in chatsworth. They must be overseas frames but came in chrome so are supergooses.
That would be a team (or super) january (a) first month, '0' for 1980 mongoose.
Another hint is the supergooses had three (3) holes in the brake bridge after october 1981.
To help make sense of the lettering is simple: if yours starts with CH9****
the 'C' stands for chatsworth', which is where the original goose shop was in cali. If you had the 'T' in front, it meant it was a higher model, (team or super) if you have no 'T' its a motomag or standard version. the 'H' in that serial is the 8th month, which is sept. And the '9' is the last digit of the year..1979. Sept of 1979 mongoose.
Some early serials start like this: CE9 or CD9...these 2 are May of 1979 & April of 1979.
CC1 412709 = March of 1981
Now to the 80's, this is the rough part.
1983: the first looptails come out. *update* the serials this year only give you the year, month, and build number, not the model.
M3-K8634 would be mongoose/1983/K november/ 8634 (build number)
M3-I6885
In 1983 you are on your own figuring out the difference between a cali,or expert, the only other frams were the mitigoose, and supergoose, which are easy to figure out. Other than the cruisers which are easy to i.d. as well.
1984: the serials change again. Like this:
M4CF****
M4JI****
84 is another mystery.frames match but we need more serial entries like these.
1985: gets easier (after emailing numerous owners all over numerous sites)
Here is the clarification i hope:
M5EK**** 1985 expert made in November
M5CE**** 1985 cali made in May
M5CF**** 1985 cali made in June
M5CD**** 1985 cali made in April
This is from a lonnnngg list of 85 goose serials i have been storing and a few hints from a few that claim to know the secret.
1986: gets wierd again, remember this is when the freestyle thing came in, and some companies started selling out or going overseas. I only have one clear example here due to lack of serial posts.
M6EH**** 1986 expert built in april.
I have one goose decade serial, the owner said the decals didnt look like a 1987, heres the serial
M7L*****...1987 right, but made in december 87...so would be considered an 88. but the cali and expert style frames carried the same serial (this is when it got wierd with the sellout)
here is an expert serial from the same year:
M7H*****
We need more serial posts and any info, the mid to late 80's got confusing, this is the rough draft, but i busted my grass figuring out how to tell whats what, at least the most popular 85 goose owners know what they have.
This help with the blue max owners, but the serials are close, so once again, posting pics helps. this is the first draft, maybe we can add some pics to this. thanks avery (LAMBOHAHA),michael (MCATER)and jim (HUTCHHEAVEN) for some great info. this should get more detailed, i will keep working on it over time, email me if something needs to be added...
Here are a couple exsamples how to Read early 90s to Mid 90s SN's:
M90073096
Solution Pro
'90' = 1990
HBBG01007
Expert
2nd 'B' = Year = 1992
'G' = Month = July
HCCE06454
Menace
2nd 'C' = Year = 1993
'E' = Month = May
FEH00319
Villain
E = Year = 1995
H = Month = August
FEH04685
Villain
E = Year = 1995
H = Month = August
HCCG05057
Expert
2nd 'C' = Year = 1993
'G' = Month = July
HBEB005411
Expert
'E' = Year = 1995
'B' = Month = Feb.
HFFF00125
Expert Pro
'F' = Year = 1996
'F' = Month = June
HFFG07292
Expert Pro
'F' = Year = 1996
'G' = Month = July
HFFI05146
Expert Pro
'F' = 1996
'I' = Sept.
ACL600343
Menace
'6' = Year = 1996
HFGB00168
Expert Pro
B = Month = February
G = Year = 1997
HQIH00585L
Menace Pro 25th Ann.
H = 8 = August
I = 9 = 1999
HAMKI02922
Sniper Pro
I = 9 = September
K = 11 = 2001
Last edited by lovethegoose (2007-02-02 8:20pm)
Interpreting the Serial numbers and features
Okay, fine, so maybe there are a few bikes without serial numbers, but this is rare and typical only on hand made bikes or really old bicycles. ↩ In this picture 200910427-2A is a manufacturer number and not a serial number. However, to make bikes as easy as possible to find, feel free to enter all numbers you encounter. Re: Mongoose Serial Number Info oh, i must have misread your question, i was saying that serial number indicates a 82 goose. But if the company says its an 78 repro, then thats what it is, i think that all the repro's were based off the 1978 model. Mongoose Bmx Serial Number Decoder There is some inconsistency in Mongoose serial numbers, due to how the bikes were assembled. Welders were supposed to use the bracket tubes, where the serial numbers are stamped, in sequence, but sometimes they grabbed whatever tubes were handy.
on BMX Products, Inc. Frames
Identifying the serial numbers on the early Mongoose frames is actually quite easy and intuitive. For the most part the early Mongoose frames from 1975 and into early 1976 were done with hand stamped 5 digit numbers starting from 10000. For example, a frame from 1975 will have the numbers like 11994.
A feature of an early 1975 frame is the brake tab. The brake tab on these frames is rectangular in shape. Some time late 1975 and onwards it became a single layer of steel, more oval and thinner in shape.
The early 75 coaster brake tab is also thicker and is comprised of two layers of steel welded together
Another feature of an early 1975 frame was the chainstay brace where it connected the seat tube. Note the flared shape of the 75 frame vs the later style (which carried on through all the later years of this frame style) and the extended seat tube.
A further feature was the headtube was offset to extend more to the bottom than it was to the top. It is our guess that it was done this way to allow clearance for the squarer shoulder on Ashtabula forks. This feature carried over for the first few years till the ashtabula forks were replaced with the more rounder style Tange made forks.
In early 1976, the letter C was added to denote Cromo ' During the early production of the Mongoose frames they were made using 1010 steel tubing,when we found problems with the heat from welding and breakage at the weld points they were changed to Chrome Molly tubing. Both frames looked the same but we need some way of determined the difference due to the frames being nickel plated or powder coated paint ,it was impossible to tell the difference in the material for warranty reasons. The letter C was used for chrome molly.' so the serial numbers would look like C17834.
Another feature of an early frame built in 1975 - 1977 was the extra single gusset above the bottom bracket.
In May 1976 the serial number process changed again with the addition of a month code. From here frames were stamped with the letter C for Cromo, a letter for the month, and a number for the year of production. It was around feb/march 77 that the extra single gusset was dropped from the frame.
Of course these are general guidelines in identifying Mongoose frames and there are the anomalies to this process of serial number identification.
The serial numbers were hand stamped on the bottom bracket tubes then packed in (empty beer) boxes waiting to be welded to frame tubes.
The frame components were manufactured in different stages and or departments and some of the parts were exhausted quicker than others, it this process that lead to some of the frames “crossing over” to different years, especially during the end of the year.
RECO (Racer Engineering Company) manufactured frames for BMX Products, Inc. for the first 3 years of production, after that the frames were made “in house” by BMX Products, Inc. RECO was a frame welding company that BMX Products, Inc. used to make their early frames. BMX Products Inc. in the early years moved into the unit next door to RECO and eventually bought them out.
So serial numbers that ran from May 1976 through to March 1981 will have three digits in sequence overtop the serial number of that frame. Let’s look at some serial number examples below to get a better understand how the process worked.
This guideline also applies to Team Mongoose, Supergoose, Jag, Blue Max, Roger DeCoster, Super-X, and Moto-Trac frames.
Each frame had a combination of three key numbers or letters. For example:
Mongoose Bike Serial Decoder Free
CH8 123456
Again, the C stands for Cromoly to make note of which frames were updated with Cromoly. The very early frames were mild steel.
The next letter in the sequence is the month code.
A = January
B = February
C = March
The next number is the last number of the year the frame was produced.
6 = 1976
7 = 1977
8 = 1978
9 = 1979
0 = 1980
1 = 1981
The rest of the serial numbers are sequential and are the number of frames produced in that series.
NB: Super X has an “X” instead of a “C” in the serial number.
The Team Mongoose and Supergoose frames are a little different. The same coding applies to the first part of the serial numbers as we discussed above, however, if a capital T is in front of or above the CXX it indicates that it is a 100% Chromoly frame. The Team Mongoose, Team Minigoose and Supergoose, all should have a T in this area. (Moosegoose, Two/Four, Two/Six, and the Kos Krusier also have 100 % Chromoly tubing).
Another feature of a Team / Supergoose frame is the flattened seat stay where the chain passes it. This was done to give better clearance for the chain. Very early team frames had a 'T' but without the flattened seat stay, but these are very few and were in 1977 mainly. NB: a Supergoose is just a full cromo team frame that has nickel (79/80) or chrome plating (81 onwards) as its final finish. As opposed to a candy coated full cromo frame = team frame. NBB: In 1982 and onwards, a Team frame was also offered in 'Show Chrome' as well as red or blue candy coat. (there are a couple of known Supergoose frames without the flat seat stay.
Serial numbers from 1981
Mongoose Bike Serial Decoder Tool
In April 1981 and onwards the frames were coded differently. The 'C' was dropped and they started out with a single letter followed by a sequence of numbers. (nb: The frames were still made in Chatsworth up until 1984 when they moved to Moorpark. This applies to all frames made, EXCEPT those starting with the letter 'M' as these frames were made in the Merida factory in Taiwan.) As before, the letter indicates the month and the first number or the second digit in the sequence indicates the last number for that year. Also of note is the 'T' (for team), was also dropped. When they dropped the 'C', it was realised that there was no need for it, as there were other ways to ID a Team/Supergoose (full cromo) frame. There was a few 'crazy' months around April, May and June in 1981, when there was mix of old and new dropouts being used. So there is actually a month or more where there was a 'Team/Supergoose' frame that had no 'T' in serial but still had 'old style' dropouts....
The easiest way is to check the brake bridge for the extra two slotted holes that were added. These extra holes were only on the full cromo frames that had the 'step down' type dropouts. (If your frame has holes in the dropouts, BUT does not have 3 holes in the brake bridge, its NOT a supergoose, even if its chrome) See dropouts page here.
J2009981: according to this serial number the frame was manufactured in October of 1982.
Sometime in 1982 the bottom bracket brace was replaced with an open design (see picture below). USA made frames from post gusset era, still had the month first, then the year but they were stamped not on the bottom bracket but on the brace behind the bottom bracket. All USA made frames after they dropped the “C” were month, then year, then serial number.
As a general rule anything with a Gusset behind the head tube was manufactured in the USA.
There are a few key components to look for on a BMX Products, Inc. frame.
Mongoose Bike Serial Decoder Chart
- Gusset at the front behind the headtube.
- A round hole below the upper seat mast.
- Unique Heliarc weld pattern ('heli arc' is another name for TIG. It's proper name is GTAW, or Gas Tungsten Arc Welding. The 'heli' in heli arc comes from the shielding gas helium that was used. )
NON GUSSETT FRAMES (POST 1982 FRAMES)
To start with, any frame with a serial number starting with 'M' was made in Tiawan in the Merida factory. In 1982, BMX Products started to manufacture a new range of non-gussett frame starting with the Pro Class 20' frames. Then next came the first Californian and Expert frames and were USA made, while they were getting setup for Tiawan production. The top of the range frames were USA made, (ie: Pro class, Rupe, Supergoose). USA made frames continued the standard USA numbering. After the company was sold to Service Cycle, it seems all frame production was moved to Tiawan. We have been told that when the company was sold the new owners only wanted complete boxed bikes and the rest of the stock of frames were destroyed.
How Do I Identify My Mongoose Bike
So to start the decoding of these serial numbers.
Identify Mongoose Bike By Serial Number
- First Letter = 'M' (Merida factory in Tiawan)
- First Number = (year of manufacture)
- Second Letter = (Month of Manufacture) up to feb 1985
- Second Letter = (Model) only after march 1985 (only for C=cali or E=Expert)
- Third Letter = (Month of Manufacture) only after march 1985
- Remaining numbers = serial number of production (NB: these numbers started again from 0 every month)
Mongoose Bike Serial Decoder Diagram
Here is a typical example.
Mongoose Bike Serial Decoder Download
- M = Merida (Tiawan Made)
- 3 = 1983
- E = May
- 3533 = production serial number
NB: There are a few anomailes to this, that do show up from time to time. if you are unsure, then email us your pics and serial number.