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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 1979 mongoose.

some early serials start like this: CE9 or CD9...these 2 are may 1979 and april 1979. got it,
were just starting.

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)

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

M3CD**** 1985 cali made in april

and so on, 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.

and 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 doesnt 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...

Edit by Hobbes12 as of 7-11-2011

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

Edit by Hobbes12 as of 7-11-2011

Last edited by lovethegoose (2007-02-02 8:20pm)