Old Panasonic Kalkhoffs

[tillson]

Is anyone still using an old Panasonic powered Kalkhoff bike?
I still have one that is 15 years old. I stopped counting the mileage when it went past 30,000 a few years ago.

I’ve not used it for over a year, but I do keep an eye on things and maintain it/occasionally put a small charge in the battery. I took it out for the first time in over a year yesterday, and did a 35 mile ride with about 1300 foot of climbing. Remarkably, the battery was just over 50% charge at the end! The bike rides beautifully, seems to have lots of pulling power and is generally a pleasure to ride.

It’s a bit on the heavy side, but that doesn’t really bother me. I just wondered if anyone else is still riding one now they are around 15 years old and what they think?

I should probably say, that I bought an aftermarket 18 Amp / hour battery about 10 years ago.

 

[flecc]

Age and heart problems mean I am no longer cycling, not even assisted. But I still consider the first two series of Panasonic motor units to be the best mid units ever made after my years with the first (Giant Lafree) and North Downs rides with someone else on their second series bikes (Kalkhoff Agattu, the family owned three of them!)
.

 

[robert44]

I purchased a Kalkhoff Agattu for my wife to use for her local shopping trips in Dec 2007 and it is still being used for shopping two or three times a week.

Has done about 10,000 miles and the current battery (13Ah) is now 7yrs old and still looking good.
Never had any problems, changed the chain once, tyres once or twice.

Purchased this bike because of Flecc's original excellent review - so many thanks Tony!

 

[simonbarnett]

Age and heart problems mean I am no longer cycling, not even assisted. But I still consider the first two series of Panasonic motor units to be the best mid units ever made after my years with the first (Giant Lafree) and North Downs rides with someone else on their second series bikes (Kalkhoff Agattu, the family owned three of them!)
.

I spoke to a guy on Finchley Road as he was unlocking an old ProConnect S wth the old style battery behind the seat post. Paintwork had a lot of wear and tear but he said it was still fast and (of course) unrestricted.

Great bike that was; mine was nicked in 2011. He thought his was 20 years old but I got one of the first in 2009 (upgrade from my Agattu) so more like 14?

It was Flecc‘s reviews who got me into Kalkhoff in their Panasonic heyday before the Impulse motor debacle.

 

[flecc]

I spoke to a guy on Finchley Road as he was unlocking an old ProConnect S wth the old style battery behind the seat post. Paintwork had a lot of wear and tear but he said it was still fast and (of course) unrestricted.

Great bike that was; mine was nicked in 2011. He thought his was 20 years old but I got one of the first in 2009 (upgrade from my Agattu) so more like 14?

The Panasonic motored Agattu was first released here near the end of 2007, November I believe, with the ProConnect hard on its heels in 2008. I don't know when the S version was first released here but it was probably during 2009.
.

 

[SHA222]

Is anyone still using an old Panasonic powered Kalkhoff bike?
I still have one that is 15 years old. I stopped counting the mileage when it went past 30,000 a few years ago.

I’ve not used it for over a year, but I do keep an eye on things and maintain it/occasionally put a small charge in the battery. I took it out for the first time in over a year yesterday, and did a 35 mile ride with about 1300 foot of climbing. Remarkably, the battery was just over 50% charge at the end! The bike rides beautifully, seems to have lots of pulling power and is generally a pleasure to ride.

It’s a bit on the heavy side, but that doesn’t really bother me. I just wondered if anyone else is still riding one now they are around 15 years old and what they think?

I should probably say, that I bought an aftermarket 18 Amp / hour battery about 10 years ago.

We have 2 of these in daily use and still working perfectly. Only major item we changed were the batteries which are still available for around £250 on ebay. We have worn out a few sprockets and chains along the way.
Only problem now is that some of the spares such as chain tensioner is only available in Germany and these specialist suppliers no longer ship to UK since Brexit. They ship to all countries in the world except UK due to draconian VAT rules imposed by this government.