MF (6x4.5,6x6,6x7,6x9,6x12) B&W film images sharing

[John Olsen]

What a beauty! When I was a lad (16years old) I started work for British Steel, one of the old guys rode a Panther to and from work. He also sometimes towed a trailer with it. Myself and a handfull of other motorbike mad apprentices used to watch the old guy kick up his bike whilst waiting in the queue to clock out. The man used to tickle the carb, wind the kickstart onto compression and then take a mighty swing with his steel toe capped foundry boot. The bike always started first kick, we loved the sound of the engine it fired about the distance of every street light as he rode away into the distance. Thank you for triggering a memory.

Thanks for the story. These 650 cc singles were generally attached to sidecars or trailers. Funny you should mention "firing at every street light" - that's a common saying associated with these machines.

[GoodOldNorm]

Thanks for the story. These 650 cc singles were generally attached to sidecars or trailers. Funny you should mention "firing at every street light" - that's a common saying associated with these machines.

In my minds eye I can still see the old guy riding off, he wore a WW2 naval gunners overcoat, flat cap and pilots goggles. He always lit a Woodbine cigarette and stuck it in the corner of his mouth before he set off. I can only assume that he did not go very fast if he was able to smoke whilst riding. You don't see many Panthers here in the UK now, when I was young they were quite common, as you say they were a favourite side car hack.

[austin granger]

Prosser, Washington by Austin Granger, on Flickr

[Old_Dick]

Thanks Austin.

[John Olsen]

My collection of motorcycle images totally lacked Laverdas, so I did this beautiful 1978 "Zeta" 500. (Actually, doing it was the price for getting access to the really tasty Ariel that was next to it.)

80mm lens, TriX w. yellow filter, scanned from print.

[IMG]Laverda Flkr by John Olsen, on Flickr[/IMG]

[Martin Aislabie]

My collection of motorcycle images totally lacked Laverdas, so I did this beautiful 1978 "Zeta" 500. (Actually, doing it was the price for getting access to the really tasty Ariel that was next to it.)

80mm lens, TriX w. yellow filter, scanned from print.

[IMG]Laverda Flkr by John Olsen, on Flickr[/IMG]

Nice picture
You know some people with some pretty cool bikes.
Martin

[John Olsen]

Nice picture
You know some people with some pretty cool bikes.
Martin

Martin: Thanks, I've been working with people in the Washington Vintage Motorcycle club recently, as well as previous collections in Germany, Japan and Canada. Your location reminds me of the Nat'l Motorcycle Museum near Birmingham. Oh, oh, dangerous ideas for a trip to the UK are starting to swirl around!

[lassethomas]

Winter abstraction
Älta bog, Stockholm, Sweden

Pentax 645N, 75mm f/2.8, Fomapan 400 @ 3 sec, f/22

[Dugan]

Very nice, lassethomas!
Quite reminiscent of Jackson Pollock!

[lassethomas]

Very nice, lassethomas!
Quite reminiscent of Jackson Pollock!

Thanks