# Old Giant Yukon "MTB" - How to tell the year?



## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

I purchased an old (guessing early 90's) Giant Yukon to use as a neighborhood bike and ride around with the kids.

I'm curious what year it is. I can't find it on bikepedia and my google image searches don't turn up anything with the same decals.

It's a chromoly frame with MTB desgination on it. Forks and frame have several braze-on connections. Has Shimano 200GS shifters and cantilever brakes.

This thing has had a rich past. It still has a rental company sticker on it as well as a couple of bicycle license stickers. The seat is even secured (with a coated wire) to the frame so a renter couldn't easily swipe the seat.  I'm not going to do much to it other than wipe it down, put on tires and a chain and ride it. Oh, and do something about the shifters...

I think the rear shifter is broken. Working it results in no clicking just free movement. I'll take it apart to see if it is anything obvious. If I can't revive it I will need to decide if I should just get friction shifters to replace these or actually try my hand at a single speed conversion. Any input on this would be appreciated, also.

Here are some photos if it helps:


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## mitzikatzi (Sep 9, 2008)

Often seat posts, handle bars (under the grips) and the bottom of seats have manufacturing dates on them. Thats how I dated one of my bikes. My bike model was a "year" after the seat post was made.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Ah, I got all excited and pulled the grips and seatpost. 

No printed date that I could find.

The only stamps are:

Seatpost: minimum height (duh)

Serial number on bottom bracket: GZ1L9926

Under right grip: MTB-110 P6*580W


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## Flynnster (Aug 19, 2009)

Shifter wise, maybe they aren't indexed? Just friction shifting?


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## mitzikatzi (Sep 9, 2008)

marpilli said:


> Under right grip: MTB-110 P6**580W*


Sorry about the that. It helped me.

Wow 580mm bars I remember having bars that wide and fitting 560mm bars.

Do any of the other components have serial numbers on them that might indicate a made date?

Maybe a date on the bottom of the stem?

I had to go and double check but my Giant's seat post does have a date. I don't like giving wrong advice.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

When I push the shifter, the rear derailleur doesn't move. Not a good sign.  When I push the front shifter the front derailleur does move.

Regarding the year. I found a guy giving some information on Giant serial number decodes here.

Snippet:


> If memory serves me correctly the number before the letter is the year of manufacture. (The letter represents the month)
> 
> Currently they use the first number for the year, the second is the letter for month. (note i is not used because it looks too much like a 1 they skip it and go to J for September)


More googling turned up someone who had a Yukon with a SN starting with GZ2L. If this is true, then his was a 1992 model and mine is a 1991. The L would be for November (see below).

A search for other Giant bikes from 1991 turned up a 1991 Rincon that looked very similar.

November, 1991.

A - Jan
B - Feb
C - Mar
D - Apr
E - May
F - June
G - July
H - Aug
J - Sep ("I" is skipped according to the source)
K - Oct
L - Nov
M - Dec


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Wifey says it's time for bed. I'm not gonna argue. I'll search it over in daylight to see if I can find anything else. 

Otherwise, as I tear it down and clean it up I'll keep an eye out for any identifying details. Maybe I'll look up the bike rental shop on the sticker or the bike license numbers? Almost as much fun as working on the bikes.


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## richieb (Oct 21, 2004)

200gs is about 90-92 - I think your bike is about a 92


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

mitzikatzi said:


> I had to go and double check but my Giant's seat post does have a date. I don't like giving wrong advice.


Huh, I'll go look again. Is your bike a '99 or an '02?


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## MendonCycleSmith (Feb 10, 2005)

Are you from the Rochester NY area? Cause RV+E is right down the road from me. 

Always fun to see where bikes end up, they do travel around for sure!

No help on dating the bike. 

Spray penetrating lube into the shifter body that isn't working. The grease gets hard and prevents all the mechanisms form working properly. I see it all the time. A Tri Flow ******, a bit of soak time, a bit of working it, and you'll likely have a functional shifter,


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

OK, this is neat. A website that shows all of the Shimano groupsets from 1990 to 1999.
http://www.fa-technik.adfc.de/Hersteller/Shimano/Gruppen.html

Richieb, this site pretty much says the same thing you did. The 200GS was only produced in 1991/1992.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Mendon, I'm in the north Dallas area.  Far cry from NY. It is neat to see how far a bike can travel. I'm actually suprised there isn't any rust on it if it really came from the NE (road salt and all). It has been cared for.

EDIT: Tell RV&E I said 'Hi' and I have one of their former bikes. Hope it wasn't stolen.  Hopefully someone bought it used from the store and just left the stickers on the frame. If they ask you can provide the SN in the earlier post.

Like I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm goign to leave all of the stickers on the bike. Even the little 'security' wire holding on the seat. I'll use black gorilla tape to fix the tears in the gel seat. I'll be able to leave this bike in the open and nobody will want to take it. Ha!

I'll take the shifters apart sometime this week and give them a lubricant bath to see if I revive them.


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## mitzikatzi (Sep 9, 2008)

marpilli said:


> Huh, I'll go look again. Is your bike a '99 or an '02?


Feburary 1999. Some of the other parts are dated later in 99.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Double checked. Only printed numbers are the minimum insertion height. 

At this point, I'm not too worried. I have fairly high confidence it's a 91/92 model.


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## kingsting (Sep 18, 2007)

Without checking my old catalogs, I would be almost certain that this is a 1992 model. There was no Yukon in 91 (It was still the Butte) and by 1993 200 GS was gone from just about everything.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

kingsting, thank you. It would make sense if the serial number decode was correct and the frame was produced in November 1991 that it was a 1992 model.

And, it adds some additional 'coolness' factor that this could be a "1st Year" Yukon.


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## mechagouki (Nov 30, 2007)

Here's how to tell:

1. Pour gasoline over the bike.
2. Set it on fire.
3.Ghost jump it.
4.Measure the distance it travels.
5.Multiply your value from 4. by the sq. root of the bike's weight rounded to the nearest pound.

Close enough for government work.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Does anyone know if an early 90's Giant MTB would have had bar ends (bullhorns)?

I'm in process of the overhaul and ran across a pair of black/white bar ends in my parts bin. Thought about mounting them on there for kicks.


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## girlonbike (Apr 24, 2008)

mechagouki said:


> to the nearest pound.


I thought you were Canadian. Isn't it...a kg or something?


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

proto2000 said:


> You'll go down in the anales of MTBR history of "one of those guys".


lol. I don't know the history behind this; but, the warning sounds ominous enough.


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## proto2000 (Jan 27, 2007)

Don't do it. You'll go down in the anales of MTBR history of "one of those guys".


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

*c. 1990's Yukon*

Son purchased a c. 1990's Giant Yukon. Trying to date this model. Frame is slightly different from the one shown by marpilli in May, 2011. His frame isn't quite as angular - it has a gentle curve in the frame starting slightly above the rear wheel rim to where it joins the seat post. I've posted a pic on the Vintage, Retro, Classic Gallery. Any help dating this bike would be appreciated!


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## wookalar (Jan 30, 2004)

musiccal said:


> Son purchased a c. 1990's Giant Yukon. Trying to date this model. Frame is slightly different from the one shown by marpilli in May, 2011. His frame isn't quite as angular - it has a gentle curve in the frame starting slightly above the rear wheel rim to where it joins the seat post. I've posted a pic on the Vintage, Retro, Classic Gallery. Any help dating this bike would be appreciated!


From what I can see in the picture it looks like the same year as the OP: 1992.
I know by 1995 Giant made bikes with women's specific geometry that had the curved seat stays like in the picture you posted but they might have also done this with their small frames. I think Giant's smallest at one time was listed as 13.5".


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

Thanks, that makes sense!


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

musiccal, sorry I missed the thread updates. Would you mind sharing the serial number from the bottom bracket of that frame? I'd like to see the first four characters if possible (to see if they match my previous deciphering).

I also agree with wookalar. The paint schema on your frame is identical to mine.

Here's a better photo of it put back together.


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

Marpilli,
Wow yours really looks great! I don't have the bike here my son has it at college in Iowa. Where exactly is he going to find the info you need? I will try to get him to figure it out for you - it may take a few days!!


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## StanleyButterfly (Nov 4, 2009)

Perfect bike for a kickstand.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

musiccal said:


> Marpilli,
> Wow yours really looks great! I don't have the bike here my son has it at college in Iowa. Where exactly is he going to find the info you need? I will try to get him to figure it out for you - it may take a few days!!


Thank you! I consider it my "pavement" bike and I'm still enamored of it. 

Here's a small pic to help identify the bottom bracket (I believe it's officially called the "bottom bracket shell"):









If he flips the bike over and looks on the bottom of the bottom bracket, he should see some sort of serial number (should be alpha & numeric characters).

From what I read, the first four characters of this model serial number can be deciphered to determine the year and month the frame was manufactured.

With a data sample of one (mine), it's kind of tough to verify.


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

marpilli,

I am on it - the pic should really help him find what you need!

Son came back with GO21 or GO2i wasn't sure if it was a one or an i! Hope this helps - if you get it figured out, please get back to me! Thanks.

musiccal


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

*SN Pic*

Here is a photo of the SN on son's Yukon.


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## marpilli (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks, I couldn't read every character from the photo.

Looks like: G?2?9800

Could you ask him (no hurry) to verify and fill in the question marks?


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## musiccal (Aug 19, 2012)

*Sn*

Son came back with GO21 or GO2i wasn't sure if it was a one or an i or an L without the foot! He didn't think there was enough space between the 2 and the 9 for an uppercase L. Hope this helps - if you get it figured out, please get back to me! Thanks.


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## rockbasher (May 30, 2012)

I worked at a shop that sold those,heavy cheap clunker is all I remember,early 90's sounds right. They sold tons of them. They had the Rincon,Acapulco,Yukon. I had the carbon/alu Cadex which was sorta light for it's day. Rigid as a board.


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