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I have an 86 Voyageur that's marked "Made in Japan for Schwinn" (or something to that effect) at the bottom of the seat tube. Its badge says "Schwinn Voyageur."

I just picked up an 87 Voyageur from Craigslist, and I noticed it doesn't say "Made in Japan..." on the seat tube. And its badge says "Schwinn Chicago." So I'm curious now. From what I've read I thought all the 80s Voyageurs were made in Japan. Did they make any 87's in the US? Or did they switch to more deceptive labeling in 87?

Lascauxcaveman 

Here's a link to an article on the '86 Schwinn models; discussing which ones were made in America (Greenville, MS; not Chicago) Voyageur is not listed among them, so my guess is Japan. There's probably someone here who knows for sure.

icepick_trotsky 

I'm pretty sure there was no Chicago plant by that time, so the "Schwinn Chicago" was just the generic headbadge. It doesn't solve the mystery one way or the other.

The Golden Boy 

Check with @badger_biker.

He knows the 87 Voyageur.


My guess is they're all Panasonic in Japan.

wrk101

Every Panasonic Schwinn I have has a Panasonic serial number on it.

The Chicago head badge is typical marketing nonsense, as the plant closed in 1982.

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There's a number on the frame underneath the BB: K605369. There's also a number on the badge: 3496.

I don't know how to interpret either of them

Steve Whitlatch 

It was made in the Mississippi. I have one. The Chicago badge only went on bikes made in the USA. Both of my Schwinn Circuits also have Chicago head badge.

Scooper

The Chicago head badge means only that Schwinn's headquarters was located there; it doesn't mean that a Schwinn with that head badge was made in the U.S.

The serial number on the OP's frame, K605369 is a Japanese serial number.

The frame was made by Panasonic in October, 1986, as a 1987 model year Voyageur. The assembly date code, 3496, indicates the bike was assembled on the 349th day of 1986 (mid-December, 1986).

Steve Whitlatch 

From Sheldon Brown website.

[h=1]The Flight to Taiwan...late '80s...[/h]Around 1987, the bottom fell out of the dollar, and it became worth less than half what it had been against the Yen. Japanese bikes became un-affordable for most Americans.Ten years previously, the Japanese industry, under American guidance, made the transition from shoddy bikes, unsuited to the U.S. market, to a position of dominance in the U.S. market. This cycle was repeated as the Taiwanese bicycle industry, under Japanese guidance, learned to build bicycles with the design and quality needed to succeed in the U.S. market.

Scooper

Schwinn continued to import bicycles made in Japan by Panasonic into the early nineties, including the Prologue and PDG Series 5 and Series 7 Paramounts in spite of the Yen to Dollar exchange rate.

Steve Whitlatch 

I would be shocked to learn that Schwinn broke a very important trade law by selling a bike made in Japan without clearly marking the bike as made in Japan. Every Imported bike was clearly marked.

The Golden Boy 

Back in the day, that law was a little more... open to interpretation.

Schwinn's Chicago badge was on everything (that didn't have specialty headbadges)- the stickers even had the Chicago zip code on them- it wasn't saying that it was made there- it just carried an inference. I'm sure that's why the Schwinn Quality badge came about.

My old 84 Trek 420 was entirely made in Japan, and may have even been assembled there as well- it is CLEARLY marked with the Waterloo WI tags like this one:




My 85 Trek 620 has a rear end that was brazed in Japan, but assembled in Waterloo, but still carries the USA on the seat tube.

Steve Whitlatch 

Well I must say I am disappointed by this. Not that a Japan built frame is bad, I just was excited to have a USA made bike. I may have to take the Chicago badge off and replace it with Schwinn Quality. My day has been ruined.

icepick_trotsky 

Who cares? It's not like the Greenville models are anything to write home about. I have an '86 Le Tour that was Mississippi made. It's an ok rider, but nothing special and the components are pretty middling -- Sachs Huret Rival derailleurs, etc. The Japanese Schwinns from the same period are much nicer.

himespau 

And my guess is that a previous owner was disappointed riding a bike labeled made in Japan, so he peeled the label off and, voila, a chicago-made bike.

Steve Whitlatch 

Both of my Circuits have the Chicago badge. My old Prelude had the Chicago badge. I assumed that the Voyageur was also made in Ms. Because it did not have the Voyageur badge. I will check my serial numbers tonight. The Circuit is a great bike.

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I'm happy to have a Japanese 87 Voyageur. (I really like the clearly marked Japanese 86 Voyageur I've been commuting on for several years now.) I just thought it was strange that the two bikes were marked differently. It's quite possible that someone removed a sticker from the 87 bike some time in the last 25 years. But even just the fact that the two bikes have different badges...it makes me wonder about their decisions about how to market the bikes. Was there some point when somebody said: 86 bikes didn't sell as well as we'd hoped, so lets make the 87s less obviously Japanese... It would be interesting to know.

rhenning

Legally the badges only had to say where the company head quarters and offices were. In the case of Schwinn that was Chicago and Trek was Waterford WI. The law didn't say you had to say where the bikes were built but only where the company was. Roger

dddd

Why fret over where a particular bicycle was made? The bike companies aren't much to blame for moving production overseas when market competition dictates that profitability, year-to-year, must be maintained. How else would a bike company pay suppliers for the next year's components?

Some import market forces are due to the arrival of technological abilities and capital to larger, less-developed societies, but markets also shift due to hidden forces of currency manipulation and other geo-political pressures which can be difficult to see, much less understand. Where huge trade deficits persist and debt is seen to accrue, I look more to the domestic market (including the broader used-products market) for my own purchases.

It's nice though to buy a used Schwinn from the days before various market and union pressures forced a more-economized production line that reflected poorly in the finish and build quality of the bikes. To the extent that at least some of the newer models (both imported and domestic) continued to show high quality, that is very fortunate for us vintage bike enthusiasts!

Scooper

Roger, I think Trek is headquartered in Waterloo, WI?

Steve Whitlatch 

I agree it is strange. My bike has all its decals in great condition but is missing the Schwinn approved decal as well? Every Schwinn that has crossed my door that was imported had a Schwinn Approved or Schwinn Quality head badge. They were always straight up. Every Schwinn I have seen from Ms. has had the Chicago head badge. I was hoping USA made. Bikes made in Japan from that time are a dime a dozen. I just think its cool to have USA made bikes. They are harder to find.

embankmentlb

Have you ever been to Greenville? Greenville for the most part seceded from the USA a very long time ago.

wrk101

Personally, I would prefer a Panasonic built in Japan frame over a Greenville, MS frame, assuming similar tubing.

Of course, I have quite a few Panasonic built Schwinns in my "collection". The fit and finish of my 1987 Prologue compares favorably to any other Schwinn I have owned.

Steve Whitlatch 

I love my Circuit. I would love to find a Prologue as well. Have you tried a Circuit?

badger_biker 

My 87 Voyageur S/N is A604467. I did a sand down and repaint and I can't remember if it had anything at the bottom of the seat tube other than the Columbus Tenax label. I took some pics of it before the repaint so maybe I can try to find them.

I used to have a 1984 Le Tour Luxe that I was pretty sure was a Mississippi bike but can't remember exactly what I based that on. I always just assumed my V'ger was built by Panasonic because I think the Miss. plant was pretty short lived and figured by 87 they were no longer producing there. The details on the lugs and seat stays were pretty much identical on both however.

Sorry I can't offer anything more definitive.