My Childhood Sweetheart REALLY did come back to me!!

[Schwinndemonium]

Thank you Tim S for making this all happen!!

And as this first pic shows, she is looking better each day.
I replaced her missing Cat Eye "pumpkin" amber side marker headlight last week. I had installed one of these in the Spring of 1970 on this bike after the original Delta pumpkin unit broke on me and I was told by the Schwinn dealer proprietor that the non- amber marker lights were no longer available. So basically, with the replacement installation of a new set of non reflector "waffle" block pedals, I have this bike "restored" to the way I had it from 1970 until about 1975 when those pedals finally wore out, and I installed reflectorized bows on it. I believe the Westwinds that are still on the bike, I installed in 1978-'79 when Schwinn did a brief run of them. They have embossed on the sidewalls, "MADE IN USA". They are just now starting to crack, that is even though they still have about 65% of their tread left on them. I also just replaced the seat mast with an NOS one that was supposed to be for a Krate because it will give me extra height for raising the seat higher than a standard middleweight mast would, plus it is nicely chrome plated! I rode this bike hard, back in the day, and I broke my left wrist on it in 1973 when I hit a patch of stones on a curve and I laid it down going about 20 MPH!

 

[GTs58]

What a crazy happening! That Panther sat in a bike shop for 37 years?

 

[BLWNMNY]

Awsome story, and amazing how it made it back to you. Congrats!

 

[spitshineschwinn]

Great story! Your Panther has one of the nicest slimline tanks I've seen - the chrome looks pristine and there are no "rack dents" on it. Did this bike always have the red grips?

 

[Schwinndemonium]

Yes, it does have the typical rack dents, the left side being worse than the right side. I did crude touch up paint work repair to both sides back in the 1970's. It's just the angle of the photo that sort of hides the flaws. And yes, being a 1969 model bike that I got brand new for Christmas that year, it has the red glitter grips it's had from day one.

Jim.

 

[Schwinndemonium]

Just got done installing an NOS front axle set on the bike as the original one had a nasty little bend in it. Also put a set of those repro 2005 "Schwinn Approved" Westwind whitewall tires on the thing. The bike is really starting to pop. Tracked down a reproduction Slimline tank horn for the thing on eBay just now from Bicyclebones, as the old horn, no matter what I did to get it to work was dead. Clean contacts, fresh battery, adjusted the contact points set screw on the horn, which usually works, did not work, this time, so it's getting a new horn.

Jim.

 

[Hammerhead]

Great story . Cool bike. Thank you for sharing.
Hammerhead

 

[Schwinndemonium]

Back safe and sound: After a 37 year absence, my original childhood 1969 Schwinn Panther has made it back "Home" to me!

Where it is sitting in this picture is where I am "displaying"/ storing/ keeping it for the time being as all the work that needed my immediate attention is now done to it. This is where its duplicate was displayed as well from the time I moved here in 2015 until last month, when I became aware that this bike still exists.

Jim.

 

[vincev]

I think you should call the bike a "he" not a "she"

 

[Schwinndemonium]

After playing with the original horn, doing some finagling, and unbolting it from the switch and battery assembly, and giving it a couple of sharp blows on the floor, I got it working again. I also sprayed a shot of WD-40 through the adjustment screw hole before I put the screw back in. I had to bypass the button switch because no matter what I did there, I could not get it to do anything, so I started to suspect the switch was the culprit. It was actually a combination of both problems. After I placed the adjustment screw back in, and a fresh "D" battery in place, I decided to jump the switch by pulling the lead wire out of the switch contact. The wire is held in there with spring clip on the bottom of the copper contact, so I just pulled it out, and stuck the wire directly on the + side battery contact. The horn made an audible click. I tried turning the screw in a bit more, and I got louder crackling noises. I knew I was heading in the right direction. But because of the locknut on the adjustment screw, I ran out of adjustment room to turn it in farther. So I took the screw back out, and took the lock nut off. This allowed me to turn the screw in to the point where it started crackling louder with halting short bursts of beeps mixed in. Kept on turning it in until I got what was sounding like a beep with a lot of phlegm like a person trying to talk with a bad throat cold. Finally after turning it to a certain point, and got a more steady beep, but it still cracked from time to time. I was able to adjust the pitch of the beep to the point as to what it sounded like when I was a kid. When I hooked the wire back up to the switch, nothing. Looking at the thing, the rivet(s) that are holding the red insulating washers that separate the contacts from short circuiting have become loose and will not let the current flow the way it is supposed to work. So now I know the switch assembly does need a bit of work. But at least I know that my original horn is alive, and there is hope for it!!