Time for a 1973 Schwinn (Panasonic) World Voyageur Registry!
 

OK, I have seen World Voyageurs scattered all over this forum, a lot of members have them. I have two, an orange one and a yellow one.

The yellow one appears to be very original, so I thought I would post it here. The orange one was pretty close to original, but not in this condition.

The tires of course are not original, and the bar tape might have been changed (did the bike come with yellow originally, as my orange bike came with orange)? Anyway, this bike cleaned up really well.

If it stays, those tires will be replaced with Paselas.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8180/7...b01b03b6_b.jpg

Drivetrain is really clean, and I am thinking those are the original pedals (I am not sure):

i love these bikes....and those are the orgional pedals....But. for the reord, that milage device is called a "cyclometer".

I had this one, but alas, it was way too small.

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...3Orange014.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...3Orange021.jpg

http://i254.photobucket.com/albums/h...3Orange012.jpg

The bike looks great, and everything there looks original including the saddle, which is rare to see on these. The Kool Orange bikes did get Kool Orange tape, however the Kool Lemon and Opaque Blue bikes both came with black handlebar tape as standard equipment.

I have three 1973 Worlds. An orange and a yellow World Voyager and a yellow 1973 (rarer poor cousin) World Traveler. Roger

We need to see a blue one, then we will have all the colors (I think).

This is probably the most bastardized '73 World Voyageur you'll see. I yanked as many parts as I could from my '86 Voyageur.

http://i48.tinypic.com/jqnpxd.jpg
http://i47.tinypic.com/r10ku0.jpg

And now all the colors are accounted for:http://imageshack.us/a/img19/8325/ftyw.jpg

I modernized mine with a seven-speed freewheel, Superbe levers, and rebuilt the wheels as 700c, but tried to retain as much of the original look as possible. When I picked this bike up it was missing the post and saddle, went with a Laprade/Avocet combo from my parts bin and they look appropriate enough to me that I didn't go in search of the originals.

I have the same question as WRK - would this bike have had matching blue tape originally? This one came to me with pool noodle foam and I finished my bars with black cloth tape and shellac, but there aren't many examples of the Blue Voyageur online at all (I have only seen two others) to indicate for sure.

More pictures:
http://imageshack.us/a/img594/5388/g5kn.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img821/1061/nxwb.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img855/9130/4vap.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img585/2200/0xpr.jpg

Thanks for sharing the blue one!

Mine has no serial number. I have all the original parts not shown in a box aside from the wheels. It's now wearing a modern, but vintage looking high flange, silver 700c wheelset. I've been using it lately to tow my daughter in her trailer.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8295/7...1fc1ff32_b.jpg
Untitled by ColonelJLloyd, on Flickr

I answered that earlier in the thread:

Relevant:
http://fairfield.ebayclassifieds.com...e/?ad=29144890

Sorry for the bump, guys.... but I have a question.

Like many of you, I have put 126mm spaced 700c wheels on the world voyageur. I desperately want to put some STI shifters on the bike, and was wondering if the 7 speed Shimano Tourney would work out. I know that 126mm usually works with 5,6,7 speeds, but wasn't sure if this could be a go. Any suggestions? Thanks!

I have a 7-sp Sunrace freewheel on mine, works great, I see no reason why you couldn't run one of those (or a Shimano 7-sp freehub or cassette) and use it with those Tourney shifters.

Oh good, a chance to post my World Voyageur again! It's mostly original, other than the shifters and saddle, and of course bar tape, tires etc:

http://i895.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps4b22273a.jpg

Very nice, turky.

Well, I think I may start cobbling together parts to do a 7 speed STI build. Thank goodness Tourney stuff is cheap as chips!

Added a World Voyageur to my collection yesterday. Pretty excited. Appears that the cranks may have been replaced and the seat upgraded...but am thinking that everything else looks pretty original. Have some tape residue to remove and a little polishing to do...but it's already been out for a couple short rides.http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=396765http://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=396767[ATTACH=CONFIG]

Those are very nice bikes. It would have originally come with a 1st gen. Dura-Ace crank, a Fujita Seamless Super YFC saddle and KKT toe clips and straps on those pedals. Everything else does seem to be original. The Fujita YFC saddles are very hard to find and were much lighter than what is on there now. By virtue of the dual-coil springs on the Dia-Compe brake calipers that appears to be an earlier '72-built model.

Wow! Nice one Alexander!

I seriously wish I wouldn't have looked at this thread. Lol. I love these bikes! It's sad that I've already been to eBay and cl just to look. :crash::)

Thanks for the information - especially about the originality of the bike. I appreciate it. Given your comments about the brakes and the dating..I assume this bike is still considered a 1973? Isn't that the only year the World Voyageur was offered by that name?

In searching the web for serial number information for these bikes, I am wondering if this bike would be the 585th one built in March, 1972 since the serial number is 2C0585. Does that sound reasonable, or are there other explanations?

Thanks again for this useful information.

The World Voyageur was offered in both 1972 and '73. They were replaced by the virtually identical (except for size offerings and paint colors) Voyageur II in late '74.

Your assessment is correct, that is a March '72 frame no. 585. I've researched and documented many of these bikes over the last few years, and March '72 (2Cxxxx) frame numbers are the earliest I've recorded. If anybody has an earlier one please let me know.

Thanks again for all of the information.

Just out of curiosity, what is the lowest number you've seen/recorded that starts with 2Cxxxx.

The earliest I've recorded so far was 2C0053, which was a Kool Orange frame/fork listed for $280 BIN on eBay around 5/2013.

Thanks. Very interesting...