If you are looking to find out how to tell the age of your old Hoffman Bikes BMX, here's a quick how-to guide. This guide covers most, but not all mid-school and new school Hoffman BMX bikes. I also have guides for Mongoose, GT and Redline and Haro BMX serial numbers.
Finding out what year your Hoffman BMX was made, is the first step in any restoration. The date will help you find the correct decals for your bike and also help to figure out what your Hoffman BMX is worth if you are going to sell.
This post is intended to be used as a guide to help you read the Hoffman BMX serial numbers and find out what year your BMX was built and sold. The serial number guide will help date Hoffman BMX bikes made between approximately 1992 and 2010. This guide may not work for all Hoffman Bikes BMX's built between this time. I spent quite a bit of time looking into the Hoffman serial numbers on a few of my bikes as well as checking against other Hoffman BMX owners to see if my serial number crack was right. As with all my other cracks, this one holds up too.
The first frame was the Condor. The first prototypes were made by Kastan Engineering toward the end of 1991. However in 1992 actual production was switched to SE Bikes. 300 fames including 50 completes were made.
The first production Big Daddy was made in 1993, again by SE Bikes with no serial number.
Ramp Room made Hoffman bikes began in mid 1994. These bikes had a B40000 serial number right through until mid 1995. Mid 1995 serial numbers were stopped being stamped on the newer Big Daddy frames.
By mid 1996 Ramp Room production ceases and is moved to Taiwan. The first Taiwan made Hoffman Bikes had a serial of HKF and featured a HB stamped gusset. There was also a fourth digit added HKFB, HKFC this used as month indicator.
Bikes made late 1996 and into mid 1997 had the H dropped in the serial number to KF and the fourth digit remained.
The example below is a 1996, Taiwan made Hoffman Big Daddy.
Mid to late 90's Hoffman BMX Serial Numbers
Late 1996 and early 1997 also saw the introduction of many new models. Serial number structure changed again. Bikes featured a CICXY00000 or CIXY0000 serial number. The X representing the year the frame was welded. The Y would be a letter that corresponds to month welded. See below.
A B C D E F G H I J K L
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec
As with all Taiwan bike production there was a lead time from weld to getting a bike finished and into bike shops worldwide. This was around 6-8 months. Frames welded in early 1997 were stickered and sold in late 1997 as 1997 models. Frames welded in late 1997 were stickered and sold in early 1998 as 1998 models.
The example below is a 1997 Hoffman Flash. Made in Taiwan in January 1997.
The example below CI8I080199 is a 1999 model Hoffman Deebo. Made in Taiwan in September 1998.
2000's Hoffman BMX Serial Numbers
In 2000 the Hoffman BMX serial number system changed again. The CIC structure has a 2 added to it. It is now CIC2XY0000.
The example below CIC22I0000 is a 2003 model Hoffman Instrument. Made in Taiwan in September 2002.
The example below CIC23G0000 is a 2004 model Hoffman Rhythm. Made in Taiwan in July 2003.
Build date vs official model date
The Hoffman BMX serial number will give you the build date of your BMX. As stated above, with all Taiwan bike production there was a lead time from weld to getting a bike finished and into bike shops worldwide. This was around 6-8 months. Frames welded in early 1997 were stickered and sold in late 1997 as 1997 models. Frames welded in late 1997 were stickered and sold in early 1998 as 1998 models.
If you want to know more about your Hoffman BMX visit BMX Catalogue - you'll find all the original catalogue info you need including original parts lists, specs, colours and high resolution photos perfect for rebuild reference.
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