Originally Posted by
Chicago Al
Motobecane did move to Japanese components in the late 70s, but it is quite likely that things have been changed on your bike, panther. 'Le Champion' was (sold as) a racing bike so bar end shifters are really unlikely to have been original equipment.
Based on the jpg images found within the link provided by 1 Lugnut, and knowing how manufacturers change colors, it appears that the highest probabilities would be either a 1980 or 1981. I did take a closer look at my frame, as well as the handlebar wraps, and from what I'm able to tell, it does appear that the bar-end shifters are original, and not swapped in. On the frame, there is nothing to indicate that there is, or ever was, mounts for shifters located on the downtube, unless the previous owner shaved them off, filled in where they used to be, completely smoothed it to perfectly match the rest of the downtube, and then perfectly matched the metallic titanium colored paint, which probably hadn't been manufactured in almost 30 years. The other tell-tale sign that the bar-end shifters appear to be original is that the hand-sewn leather bar wraps, which are Motobecane (they are both stamped "BREV. MOTOBECANE FAB. HUTCHINSON"), and have teardrop-shaped holes appearing to be original, and not cut out, in the proper locations for bar-end levers. Again, I'm an extreme novice when it comes to vintage bikes, so I can only go on what I observe. As for the photos, I'm hoping people can now see them, although, if you know how I can make them appear larger (they should be able to be larger, considering their original 1600x1200 resolution), it would be greatly appreciated.