There were some very nice reasonably priced touring bikes sold by both Schwinn and by Raleigh USA right around the end of the CR On Topic period. Raleigh USA (owned by Huffy) sold four different touring bikes, three of them, the Portage, Kodiak, and Alyeska, with Reynolds 555 Chrome-Moly DB frames, vertical DO's, cantilever brakes, and randonneur bars. The Portage had 650B wheels and came with alloy racks front and rear included.
Most of the Schwinn touring bikes of the era were made in Japan. Perhaps the Raleigh USA models were as well - not sure about that. These early to mid 80's touring bikes can often be bought cheap when you can find them. They don't get near the notice here they deserve.
Here is a Raleigh (USA) Kodiak on the website of Acorn bags, a Southern California husband-and-wife self-described "cottage industry" that hand-makes bags which IMHO are every bit as good as Berthoud and Carradice:
http://www.acornbags.com/
This looks like a very nice touring bike to me, and it was only the second best Raleigh USA touring model.
By the way, Acorn bags are certainly worth considering. The only problem is availability. Because the husband and wife owners make all the bags themselves, they offer the inventory for sale on the first of each month on their website. They completely sell out in a few days, and the most popular models are sold out in half an hour. Look for a review of a couple of their bags in an upcoming issue of Bicycle Quarterly.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
Big Spring, Texas, USA
> From: Mike Larsen <mnbikeresto@yahoo.com>
\r?\n> Subject: [CR] Touring bikes
\r?\n> To: classicrendezvous@bikelist.org
\r?\n> Date: Sunday, November 8, 2009, 9:13 AM
\r?\n> Listmembers;
\r?\n> Thank You for all the responses to my touring questions.
\r?\n> Pictures were very good also. With the responses I will add
\r?\n> a third frame to my build schedule this winter and next
\r?\n> summer. I realized my twenty dollar find at Goodwill of a 83
\r?\n> Fuji touring series four in mint condition is very valuable.
\r?\n> The Schwinn Super Sport 83 at the paint shop is also a very
\r?\n> good bike too. There is one frame made for touring that I
\r?\n> have yet to get and will get many different parts to update,
\r?\n> more to come on that. Some of the responses assured me I am
\r?\n> right on finding this frame. One was available at my local
\r?\n> bike shop but since the guys new I wanted it they were going
\r?\n> to gouge me, this upset me since I spend a lot of money
\r?\n> there, greed has no boundaries. I have one frame that is
\r?\n> very crude but has very good geometry and good kahrma still
\r?\n> wondering about that one but it could be a good back up.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> There are to very top of the line frame builders right
\r?\n> here in the Twin Cities, your replies proved that in all
\r?\n> your specs and it is nice to know that if you use these
\r?\n> people you will only need one bike.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> It was very nice to spend a Sunday mourning sharing all of
\r?\n> your bikes and stories.
\r?\n>
\r?\n> Mike Larsen
\r?\n> St. Paul, MN
\r?\n> USA