# Help Identifying these bikes…



## 512 (Jul 19, 2022)

I bought these two bikes maybe 20 years ago at a garage sale.  They were perfect for what I needed, nice but not so nice someone would make a big effort to steal them.  The decals are worn off but I always assumed they were LeTours.  Recently, I thought about selling them versus keeping them so I started looking more into what they are:  they are serial numbers SD000020 and SL092720.  The serial numbers and Every component marking I can find on the bikes tells me they are Chicago built LeTours but the catalog pages online don’t show that they were available in silver during those years and the paint is original.  I’m probably missing something in my reasearch, please point me in the right direction.  
thanks


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## GTs58 (Jul 19, 2022)

They are imported, not built in Chicago. The S designates a Japan build. The S means nothing other than they were not built by Schwinn. The letter is the month and first digit is the year. Zero is 1980, the D is April and the L is November. On the head badge there should be a four-digit stamp that's the actual build date and the hubs along with many other parts are also dated. 

Looks like a 1980 Le Tour, but I can't see the crank set. Here's the spec page. 



			Schwinn catalogs, 1971 - 1980 (517 of 579)


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## GTs58 (Jul 19, 2022)

Forgot to mention that Schwinn outsourced the Le Tour for quite a few years and later they were said to be made in Chicago for a short time, and shortly after that they were made in the Greenville plant. They may or may not have used the S in the serial numbers as per the Japan serial format.


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## 512 (Jul 19, 2022)

Thanks for the responses.  There are no stamped numbers on either head tube. I found information on this page indicating that the 1979 Chicago built bikes had a serial number starting with S and had them stamped on the rear axle hanger so that’s where I got the info.  http://schwinnbikeforum.com/SLDB/serial.htm 
I’ll add photos of some other bits and pieces.  Every other component matches the list for a LeTour but again, no silver in the catalog pages for those years so it just seemed odd somehere.  I’ve had Schwinn’s going back to a Corvette paper bike and countless Sting Rays but these aren’t anything I know much about. They were Schwinns and that was hood enough for me.  Thanks again.


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## GTs58 (Jul 19, 2022)

Your picture shows the head badge with the actual build date stamped on it. 0430 is the 43rd day of 1980. 

The colors for the 1980 Le Tour includes Frosty Silver. 

Something doesn't add up. Is that picture of the head badge on the bike you say the serial is SL092720? Is that serial actually SL992720? Then that badge would line up with that serial number that was stamped in November 1979. The head badge build date could not be on a frame with a serial that was stamped later than the build date.


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## 512 (Jul 19, 2022)

Thanks.  For some reason I thought the numbers were stamped below the head badge on the frame just above the junction with the fork rather than on the badge itself.  My photos are jumbled up so I can’t clarify which s/n goes with the head badge in the photo but I’ll do that after work tomorrow if I get home in time.  These bikes had interesting lives…one still has a bike shop label from somewhere in Kansas (I’m in Ohio) and both originally had stickers that looked like they were transported on an airplane like luggage.  A little sad that they aren’t Chicago made but they’ve been good bikes for us.


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## Schwinny (Jul 20, 2022)

512 said:


> Thanks.  For some reason I thought the numbers were stamped below the head badge on the frame just above the junction with the fork rather than on the badge itself.  My photos are jumbled up so I can’t clarify which s/n goes with the head badge in the photo but I’ll do that after work tomorrow if I get home in time.  These bikes had interesting lives…one still has a bike shop label from somewhere in Kansas (I’m in Ohio) and both originally had stickers that looked like they were transported on an airplane like luggage.  A little sad that they aren’t Chicago made but they’ve been good bikes for us.



I think your issue is that you are using Chicago Schwinn serial number knowledge and trying to apply it to a Japanese bike.
Japanese Schwinns don't use the same placement or coding..
For those, about as good as you can get is the Julian date stamped into the headbadge.
That and matching it to that stamped numbers years catalogs.
LeTours are good bikes but they made tens of thousands of them..the only "special" ones I can imagine are the all chrome ones. They're kinda neat, but not rare.


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## 512 (Jul 21, 2022)

Schwinny said:


> I think your issue is that you are using Chicago Schwinn serial number knowledge and trying to apply it to a Japanese bike.
> Japanese Schwinns don't use the same placement or coding..
> For those, about as good as you can get is the Julian date stamped into the headbadge.
> That and matching it to that stamped numbers years catalogs.
> LeTours are good bikes but they made tens of thousands of them..the only "special" ones I can imagine are the all chrome ones. They're kinda neat, but not rare.



Yes, my knowledge is pretty dated. I had one of most versions of the usual 10 speeds back in the day (Continental etc) but never had a LeTour, paper route money didn’t go THAT far. Thanks for the input.  Since they aren’t anything special, I’ll probably let them go.  I appreciate the input.


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