PROJECT PANTHER REANIMATION
PAST THE LAST
My Model 10 became a 10e as it moved solely using electricity, an EV indeed, albeit with limited performance. Isn't it amazing how a project can be started with the intention to ‘just get it working’ and then stop, but once you do get it working the project expands to become about getting it working better. That's why I started investigating potential upgrades.
However, if the motor was going to get an upgrade then the aesthetics also merited a (small) upgrade. An upgraded motor was going to need a more powerful battery, which would need some shelter from the weather. Putting the battery in the no-longer-needed petrol tank seemed a good idea – tucked away from the elements while retaining the motorcycle's silhouette. Great idea but… I just could not bring myself to start cutting up an original petrol tank, particularly given there were so few original bits left of the Panther.
I also started looking at lithium battery packs which hold ‘denser’ energy than a lead-acid battery. I realised that the shape of the original tank would be wrong; it was simply too rounded and I needed something more brick-like. After a couple of days searching, that well-known online auction house provided a Yamaha tank of a suitable size, shape and cost. It was also quite battered so I had no qualms about setting-to with the angle grinder, but that would be a job to tackle once a motor, battery pack and controller had been sourced. Even so, I was unable to
