hello. i've never really done a forum before. my motive is as follows: I have a passing knowledge of bikes and how they work...i've helped rehab a few though I can't say i could do it alone...and I just came into possession of an old (circa 1980s) Panasonic Sport 1000. I'm trying to fix it up so that it can be my primary bike and i need some advice on how i'd go about doing that (what should I do first...what needs replacing etc). As far as I can tell everything is original, center-pull brakes, steel rims (OLD brake pads, i know those have got to go...SCREEEECHHHH). I just put a straight bar on to replace the one that was on it, but i'm holding off on switching out components because i don't want to pour a bunch of money into it if the need is not there. thanks!

I'm confused. You put on a straight bar? What did you do with the brake levers?

We can help you much better with pictures.

The bike was previously modified (before i owned it) so that the shifters were on the handlebars (townie bars), I simply switched the bars and replaced the shifters and brakes.

Panasonic Sport 1000's I have seen came with alloy rims, not steel, but maybe that is a model year thing. They should be constructed of Tange 900 frames, main tubes anyway. Good luck!

Need to see some pics.