PROJECT PANTHER REANIMATION
PAST THE FIRST
It seemed pretty much dead. There were obviously parts missing, such as a front wheel, and what there was did not look healthy. In short, this was going be challenging / interesting (delete as appropriate to your level of optimism), if only because it was the first time I had attempted this much work on an old British motorcycle.
My experience of working (frequently!) on my Tiger 750 back in the early 1970s does not make me any kind of engineer or skilled mechanic, but I knew enough to realise the Panther was a challenge; possibly one that was too much. Remembering all those magazine warnings about unrealistic optimism – from thinking with your heart rather than your head – caused me to spend a few months considering. I had to choose between a) selling what bits that I could or b) starting the project but being prepared to shut it down if I began to feel uncomfortable. I went for Option B.
Choosing Option B (I decided to avoid the term ‘rebuild’ because it brought too much pressure to complete!) was helped by the fact that I had one of the simplest Panthers – a Model 10. No complex valve trains, arcane oil pumps, or necromancer magdyno creations to deal with. Just a (seemingly) nice, simple
