corkscrew

I picked this up of Craigslist a few days ago - finally found some time to snap some photos. Hoping to make this into a commuter/light tourer, but the more I find out about this bike the more I want to shine 'er up a bit.

What do you guys think? Any advice on how to clean it up? There seems to be a fair amount of surface corrosion - haven't noticed any deep spots though.

illwafer

yeaaaa! sweet!

take some steel wool/green scotchbrite and some wd40 to those spokes, and some fine steel wool/blue scotchbrite to your rims. polish the chrome with some chrome polisher...then hands off!

Oregon Southpaw

Awesome find.

Kool Orange FTW! I keep hoping to find one of these. What a bike.

EDIT: Of course after seeing this I had to do a quick search to see if any of these have been on CL around here lately. No, of course, but I did find this article where Bicycling magazine reviewed the bike back in the day: https://www.velo-pages.com/main.php?g...geViewsIndex=1 It was $275 then, which is about $1300 in today's cash. Seems like it was a good value then. I don't know of any good touring bikes with top-shelf components for that price now.

old and new

It about sizes it up.
If you fail to get desired results; try Aluminun Jelly on the rims and Al. parts & Naval Jelly on other metals. Both of which need only to remain on the surface for a few minutes to be safe but I've yet to have problems. Marine type places, others too may have bronze wool.
The man states it best, you ought to try less invasive (potentially) measures first. Name brand ScotchBrite pads work better than cheap. A bit of patina's perfectly acceptable.
Haven't checked but it seems you've posted about this bike. Great find, great bike. One of the very first and among the better Japan sourced Schwinns. It already looks good. A great color too.

pastorbobnlnh 

Great find! That's a very desirable model, one of the first imports.

The spokes might be toast. I'd hate to be in a 40mph descent, hit a small bump, and find out the hard way. Check with a competent wheel builder at the LBS.

wrk101

+1 That bike is worth either respoking the wheels (I would use stainless, but I am not a purist), or replacement wheelset.

Great find.

akcapbikeforums

One of Schwinn's first Japanese imports, that is. The World Voyageur was a one year only model, 1973.

West Coast Cycle first started bringing in their Kawamura-built (i.e., Japanese-built) American Eagles in 1965 -- having sold tens of thousands by the time they renamed the brand Nishiki circa 1971.

The World Voyager, Voyager II and Volare are impressive bikes -- can 't wait to see what you do with it!


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pastorbobnlnh 

I did mean, a "Schwinn" import. Thanks for clarifying my muddled post!

corkscrew

Thanks for all the info guys. When I get some more time I'll try and scrub down everything. Hoping the spokes are still intact under there.

I have a spare wheelset from a 1986 Technium - it has a six speed freewheel on it with a narrower 14-28 range vs the wide range 5 speed. The SR hubs aren't as attractive either. Would these work until I can get the stock wheels refurbished?

Building a parts list right now to get this where I want it. Will need some racks, a longer stem (25.4 handlebar clamp?), new brake pads, and maybe some honjos. Not sure I like the white fenders. New cables/housings and an overhaul seem due also.

The only other thing I find odd is for a touring bike, there are next to no brazons.

High Fist Shin

I would re-lace the wheels with stainless spokes, repack all the bearings, re-cable the bike with new lined housings, give the rusty parts a soak in oxalic acid and polish up the dull parts with Mother's. It'll be a fantastic ride when finished.

-Shin

leftthread

Nice catch-they're neat bikes. There's actually a couple riding around town here.
I would be inclined to remove the kickstand and the lights,fwiw.
I wish this one hadn't been "improved":
https://cgi.ebay.com/schwinn-world-vo...item439beb9610

EjustE

The front wheel will work but not the rear. Your bike has 120mm spacing and the 6sp freewheel hub needs 128mm

corkscrew

The odd thing is that the 1986 rear wheel fits with rather minimal effort, although the shifting is off. The article linked above states that "The forged drop-out is unique in that it is forged with an offset for for the additional chain clearance of a six-cog freewheel, in case you should want the extra two ratios of 12-speed for Alpine touring." Does that mean I could install a wide range six-speed freewheel?

I've never re-spoked a wheel, so I'll look into having it done. Also thinking a order from velo-orange needs some consideration.

pastorbobnlnh 

A 6 speed Suntour Ultra freewheel will work. I use them on all my classic Schwinns. The "Perfect" model is the most affordable and all the cogs are easily removed for cleaning or to build your own custom gearing. An ebay search using "Suntour Ultra" generates almost 50 hits.

Having wheels relaced at the LBS will generally cost $1 per spoke plus a labor charge per wheel. You will need to remove the old spokes first. You might consider replacing the rims. The Sun CR18 is a very strong and reliable rim.

Best of luck.

A Sun CR18 laced to a Campy Tipo and a Suntour Ultra 6, 13-32, freewheel.

cycleheimer

Common Araya rims. Catch a cheap donor bike for a similar, fresh looking wheel set. You can hold onto the old wheel set for posterity. Otherwise, an oxylic acid bath a possibillity? Might add some weight, but that sure is a nice looking generator light set!

Rabid Koala

As to the Araya rims....if you want to keep them, first check and see if the have a small bead at the tire seating area. If not, you are stuck with running low pressures, less than 65 lbs or so. My Nishiki had those rims, I found a pair of identical newer ones with the bead on ebay for about 20 bucks. Now I can run 100 lbs with no problems. It makes the bike much more pleasant to ride. I redid my own rims, I would not have paid the LBS to do this.

jacksbike

Oh, that is a real beauty !! Nice find!

Oregon Southpaw

Fugly. I messaged him to see if he kept the old-school Dura Ace and if it would be offered with the sale. Though, that this bike is in Fort Wayne Indiana gives me hope I'll find a "rehab" W.V. when I go back there for XMas. Bikesnob would so make fun of that conversion, particularly the "Guinness" bar-caps.

corkscrew

I'll probably end up placing the original hubs/rims on the back burner - budget is pretty tight right now. Using the replacements Araya's from the Raleigh currently - either need to swap the freewheels or get a new one to keep the touring ratios going. Figure I'll take my time on the old wheelset - I need to practice my wheelbuilding anyway, so might as well practice on something that's pretty much shot anyway.

Currently I've taken the fenders off - need to order some replacement hardware for them. Kickstand has also been removed. I like the lights however, despite the generator bracket marring the hell out of the left seatstay's paint.

Time will tell if this one sticks around or not - the more I wrench on it the more I think its to small for me. Seatpost measures roughly @ 44cm, where I prefer a 58-60. I'm sure a nitto technomic stem would work, I'd just be running a LOT of seatpost/stem. Not sure I want a smaller frame for hauling loads back and forth to work. Bike is still worth my time to wrench on though. Until I sort things out, the bike is sitting pretty in my room.

larrylikes

Nice,

I've still got my frame from 1973, but sadly, I've replaced the components over the years. Both my son and I still ride it. A beautiful frame. Can't beat chrome for looks.