Morning folks, Marky from Somerset here. For my sins I have been into Mk3 Cortina's for the last 20+ years and still own 2, an estate and a Savage. A couple of years ago the mid-life thingy started to kick in and my eyes were being drawn back to bikes. So last year I plucked up the courage and discussed it with a higher authority, not a problem was the reply "just make sure there is room on the back for me" she said. Now comes the problem what to get. Back in the 70s/80s I had all the big British stuff Bonnie, Commando, R3, Trident ect, then I remembered the Panther. There was an old boy in the village where I lived as a kid who had one of these and we used to take the piss as he plodded about on one as we were blasting about everywhere being a general nuisance. So out with the cheque book and a M120 650 was purchased. It was a beast of a bike and we had a good year of fun on it, however handling wasn't great, i wanted a bit more speed and starting it was doing my hernia no favours. So i sold it in January. Negotiations started again and i got the nod to purchase something a bit newer, so off to Fowlers in Bristol we went. I knew exactly what i wanted having been on the Triumph web site but i still had to play the "pleasing her" game and little did she know that i had already had a test ride on one elsewhere. My first road bike was a BSA B25ss Goldstar and my taste has always been the off-road/flat tracker look which is why this (with the comfort seat for her) will be coming my way hopefully on the 1st March.
MARKYMARKTHREE. great choice of bike. Well you said the good didn't know. Bet she does now. My two boys check out what I am doing via the forum. Only found out a couple of weeks ago when they told me they were spying on me. Regards & Ride Safe JOE
Hi and welcome nice bikes, love the old Panther an old bloke I knew had one with a child/adult sidecar you could hear it firing every lamp post as they used to say.
Hi Marky, welcome to the forum. My old boy used to have a Panther, I love the slanted barrel look. Looks like a proper Motorbike.
Many thanks for the warm welcome folks. I feel like a small child waiting for Christmas at the moment. Its been 2 weeks so far with one more week left to go until I can swing my leg over a Triumph again. Even one of my sons (28) says he soooo excited and is looking forward to a spirited ride out, he has a couple of Jap bikes. Meanwhile have a couple of close ups of the ole Panther engine, it really is a thing of beauty. Starting was fun and people think keyless ignition is a new thing. Pull in clutch lever and give it a couple of kicks to free the clutch plates. Open up both fuel taps. Tickle the carb. Give it half choke. Raise small half compression lever by the gear change. Adjust advance and retard lever by the clutch lever so its a bit retarded. Use the kickstart to get the engine at the point of compression. Pull in the de-compression lever by the clutch lever and use the kick start to ease it over compression (small hiss). Brace yourself and give it a good kick, twisting the throttle at the same time. Be prepared for a kick back and a spit back through the carb, if it does this retard it a tickle and try again. Once she fires up knock off the half compression lever and the choke and give it a touch of advance. Oh yea, and don't try this with daps on.
