Had an early 80's Nishiki Royale - sidepull brakes, no rack braze ons, 27" Araya rims. Chromoly main triangle, carbon stays and forks, as I recall. It was a really, really good touring bike. It had bar end shifters, but no braze ons to support them, as I recall.

I sold it and bought an 84 Trek 620 which on paper was much better. On the road, it may have been somewhat better, but it had some limitations too. I'd be really hard pressed to say it was better than the Royale. A little more convenient in some ways, but not better in a meaningful way, and I used them both to tour through steep hills/mountains.

I've attempted to attach a vintage pic of the 620 parked next to a friend's Nishiki Cresta (not mine - the pictured bike was an 84 or 85) - these two bikes are at most a year apart. The pic was taken in early 86, I think. The water bottles froze, so it got a snapshot.

Kind of funny, note the Duopar on the Trek and the 3 pulley derailleur on the Nishiki.
Second picture is the 81 or 82 Nishiki without braze ons. It was better than it should have been.

Had friends do some fairly serious touring (1k miles and up) on things like a Ross Gran Tour, a Nishiki Olympic 12, a Fuji Espree (?) and Monterey, a Cannondale ST 400, and a variety of Concorde's and Schwinns. Really, anything that would take a triple crank, had alloy rims and eyelets for at least a rear rack worked fine. A 40" wheelbase in a 23" frame was kind of a dividing line too. Anything more was finesse, really. I just picked up a Miyata 112, and with a slight gearing change, it'd be just fine.