Classic & Vintage - 1963 schwinn world traveler

I have acquired a what I believe to be '63 Schwinn World Traveler.
It has been repainted. The original color was yellow, with chrome forks.
The decals were not at all evident so I don't have a clue as to what the bike really is. It is 23+inches on the seat tube. It did have a round emblem on the fork tube. I don't know what it looked like though.
The serial # is B321876. That is all I have.
The owner said it was from '65 but I believe it is '63, Even though the handlebars are offset in the center. Any help with further identity is appreciated.
BTW I am stripping and re-painting to the yellow.
Thanks Dan

I have acquired a what I believe to be '63 Schwinn World Traveler.
It has been repainted. The original color was yellow, with chrome forks...
There was no "World" Traveler in 1963, however there was a Traveler that year but it was not available in Yellow, nor did it have chrome forks or a round headbadge: http://waterfordbikes.com/SchwinnCat/flschwinn_1961_1970/1963dlr_Traveler.html

There was a World Traveler in 1973 that was available in yellow with a chrome/painted fork and a round headbadge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_treasure_chest/4849487373/in/photostream

Post some pictures and I'm sure somebody will be able to figure out what you have.

Ok that looks about right, but the serial # doesn't make sense . The serial #looks like it works with 1963. Hey I don't understand it.

The 1973 World Traveler (http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Details/dtail_7074.htm#1973worldtraveler) and World Voyageur (http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Dealer/1973/73dlsbv1.htm) were Schwinn's first imported bikes, made for Schwinn by Panasonic in Japan. They carried the "World" (and not Schwinn) designation because at the time Schwinn was unsure how dealers and customers would react to imports under the Schwinn name. In the product lineup the World Voyageur was a notch above the Sports Tourer and the World Traveler was a notch above the Varsity, which left a big gap between them. They needed something to fill the gap between the Continental and the Super Sport.

The "World" bikes were a one-year only experiment in 1973. In 1974 they were replaced by the "Schwinn Approved" Le Tour (http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1974/Catalog/Le_Tour.html) and Voyageur II (http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1974/Catalog/FULL/1974__ins1.jpg). The "Schwinn Approved" Voyageur II was a World Voyageur with no changes except a new name, new colors and a higher price. By comparison the '74 "Schwinn Approved" Le Tour was an upgraded World Traveler. Both the World Traveler and Le Tour used the same basic single-butted 1020 carbon steel lugged Panasonic-made frames, with the only difference being that the Le Tour was upgraded with a standard bottom bracket to support 3-piece cranks. The only other difference were the brakes, center-pull for the Le Tour and side-pull for the World Traveler.

The World Traveler reappeared in its original configuration (one-piece crank and side-pull brakes) in '75 as the "Schwinn Approved" Traveler, at which time you had the Voyageur II (http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1975/Catalog/Paramount_P13-9_Voyageur_II.html), Le Tour (http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1975/Catalog/Sports_Tourer_Le_Tour.html), and Traveler (http://bikecatalogs.org/SCHWINN/1975/Catalog/Varsity_Sport_Traveler.html) as three different levels of Panasonic made bikes under the "Schwinn Approved" designation, nicely filling some gaps in the Schwinn bicycle lineup.

Note that Japanese built models used a different serial number designation than US built Schwinns (http://www.re-cycle.com/History/Schwinn/SwnB_Serial.aspx). Yours is B3xxxxx, which indicates a Feb. 1973 frame production date.

Ok I guess now I can look for decals and emblem. Thanks for the info.

So should the Head Badge say Schwinn World on it?
BTW I looked through every page at the Waterford Site ('73)and didn't find any World Traveler's!
I am not saying that your wrong but I am trying to find out as much as possible and get the right decals. Also the frame size is 23". Thanks Dan

See if you can get a pic to post.

Also you didn't see the World Traveller on the waterford site because they only have catalogs up to 1970. As already mentioned, that model did not exist until 1973.

Waterford has Schwinn catalogs from 1895 through 2000 (http://waterfordbikes.com/now/news.php?newsid=244)(!), however you won't see the '73 World Traveler or World Voyageur there since they did not appear in the Schwinn catalogs (technically they were "World" bikes not Schwinns). There was a dealer brochure/spec. sheet for the '73 World Voyageur (http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Dealer/1973/73dlsbv1.htm), but I've never seen anything like that on the '73 World Traveler. In fact the only printed material I've ever seen even acknowledging the existance of the '73 World Traveler is the '73 World Traveler/World Voyageur owner's manual (http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Owners/1973/73wowners1.htm).

Here's a picture of the headbadge used on the '73 "World" bikes:

http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Images/Gallery/Traveler/1972/72WorldTrv8s.jpg (http://www.schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/Images/Gallery/Traveler/1972/72WorldTrv8.jpg)

Those headbadges do turn up on eBay from time to time, or you may have luck finding them at a bike show/swap meet. You can get the "World" seat tube decal on eBay (http://www.ebay.com/itm/110565786891). I've never seen a set of World Traveler downtube decals available anywhere, but you should be able to have a set made up by somebody like Velocals (http://www.velocals.com).

For reference here is the headbadge used on the '74 and later Japanese bikes (LeTour, Voyageur II, Traveler, etc.), which dropped the "World" designation and became "Schwinn Approved" instead:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/NOS-Schwinn-Approved-road-bicycle-bike-head-badge-Japan-vtg-/00/$(KGrHqUOKi0E4tUSeIU)BONeNsM2r!~~0_35.JPG (http://i.ebayimg.com/t/NOS-Schwinn-Approved-road-bicycle-bike-head-badge-Japan-vtg-/00/$(KGrHqUOKi0E4tUSeIU)BONeNsM2r!~~0_3.JPG)

I have 3 Worlds. Two Voyagers and one Traveler. The Traveler is much rarer buy not very valuable. Think of it as a lugged frame Continental. The Traveler is the front bike in the picture. The other two are the Voyagers which are much better bikes. Roger

I should of posted this with the last post but forgot I had the pictures. This my either 1962/63 Traveler. I forget which year it is but they are the same bike. They were Schwinn's very deluxe 3 speed. Roger

Thank you all for the pictures and links. I will be in search of my decals and emblems now with this info. I have powder coat plans for the Traveler as well.I would post when it's complete but where would be the interest? Dan

I'd be very interested, post it here.

In my three bike picture above both the Voyagers are powder coated. The yellow in 2009 and the orange in 1994. Roger