# Red Panther



## Tim s (Sep 8, 2019)

Hey Everybody, I have been detailing this Panther and thought some pics would be good. Enjoy. Tim


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## spitshineschwinn (Sep 8, 2019)

nice! Reminds me of a sweet 62 Deluxe American I used to own. It had a fender light, white grips and reverse screen guard, but pretty much the same bike.


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## Tim s (Sep 8, 2019)

Third time was a charm with this bike. I first saw it at a bike shop and passed on buying it. A few weeks went by and I went back to the bike shop and it was gone. Then it surfaced at the Copake NY swap meet and I bought it from a fellow collector. I love the red along with the white and chrome on this bike and the speedometer works too. Tim


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## GTs58 (Sep 8, 2019)

Super nice condition Tim. Last year (69) for the Panther?


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## rollfaster (Sep 8, 2019)

Beautiful!!


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## Tim s (Sep 9, 2019)

Turns out that a guy on the Schwinn bike forum thought it was his childhood bike. He described several things about the bike and they all checked out including serial number and a small dent on the handlebar. He also included a picture of he and the bike from back in the day. I first saw the bike in PA and that’s where he lives so the bike might return home to its original owner. Tim


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## Phattiremike (Sep 9, 2019)

Tim s said:


> Third time was a charm with this bike. I first saw it at a bike shop and passed on buying it. A few weeks went by and I went back to the bike shop and it was gone. Then it surfaced at the Copake NY swap meet and I bought it from a fellow collector. I love the red along with the white and chrome on this bike and the speedometer works too. Tim




Was meant to be yours!  Very nice bike.

-Mike


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## GTs58 (Sep 9, 2019)

Tim s said:


> Turns out that a guy on the Schwinn bike forum thought it was his childhood bike. He described several things about the bike and they all checked out including serial number and a small dent on the handlebar. He also included a picture of he and the bike from back in the day. I first saw the bike in PA and that’s where he lives so the bike might return home to its original owner. Tim




That would really be cool! Did Jim mention why the Panther left his possession? I've known him for about 10 years and I'm surprised he would have let that bike go. He still has his Corvette 5 speed that he had when he was a kid.


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## Tim s (Sep 10, 2019)

GTs58, Jim said that during the 80s or 90s he sold that bike and another one to Martins bike shop to help make a car  payment when work was slow. That is the bike store where I first saw the bike last spring. Jim said that his dad gave him the bike for Christmas in 1969 and the speedometer was a 1970 Christmas present. We have agreed to trade bike for bike hopefully this weekend. I am glad Jim is getting his childhood bike back, that’s where it belongs. Tim


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## Schwinndemonium (Sep 10, 2019)

I was forced to sell it in 1982 during that short but sharp recession that occurred that year. We were only working 2 or 3 days a week at the plant I was at, back then, and I was falling short in finances to make my car payment. I lost my Green Phantom, and it was a heartbreaking decision I had to make. Either sell the 5 speed Corvette, or my Panther. Then after much gut wrenching thinking, I had to let the Panther go...

Here is another picture from July of 1974 . I'm sitting on my pieced together Green Phantom with aftermarket Wald fenders. Next is a 1960 Radiant Red Mk IV Jaguar I bought to get the tank from it for my Phantom. I painted the tank to match the Phantom using Pactra leaf green rattle can  " 'Namel" paint. Next is my beloved Panther, the subject of discussion, here, and after that is my brand new 1974 Suburban, that I would sell two years later to buy my first car.

Jim.


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## Tim s (Sep 13, 2019)

Great photos Jim! Bike collecting is a great hobby, find, fix, add to your collection, ride them, display them, go to swaps/shows its all good stuff. Enjoy your weekend everyone. Tim


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## Schwinndemonium (Sep 14, 2019)

Thanks to Tim's generous and noble heart, my long lost "friend" has come home!!
Pics later.

Jim.


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## Ernbar (Sep 14, 2019)

Back in the late 90's I came across a 1952 or 54  Panther with a locking fork and even had the keys. It was just the frame, fenders  and  tires with rims. It was spray painted some ugly blue that I stripped off finding the original red and black paint underneath. I remembered using Memory Lane Classics for the missing tank, seat, decals, front light and rear carrier. I did all the paint and pin striping my self and had it for a few years but sold it back in 2008 for a good chunk of $. I wish I still had it.


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## GTs58 (Sep 14, 2019)

Without a doubt this is one unreal chain of events. A big 


 to @Tim s


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## Schwinndemonium (Sep 14, 2019)

Here is a picture that I seldom post, because the bike was not looking its best in this January of 1973 shot. The tires were mismatched. It had a whitewall Westwind on the front and a pinstripe whitewalled Superior on the rear.

Notice it still has its original Union non-reflectorized block pedals on it, here.

Jim.


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## Tim s (Sep 15, 2019)

I was glad to be able to get Jim’s original bike back to him that he received as a Christmas gift from his dad back in 1969. I could tell that this was a very special bike to Jim. Both my wife and I enjoyed meeting Jim and hope he enjoys his bike. Tim


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## Ernbar (Sep 15, 2019)

That is incredible! The bike is back home!


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## Hammerhead (Sep 16, 2019)

Great story, just shows that a bike will always find it’s home.
Hammerhead


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## unregistered (Sep 16, 2019)

Feel good story of the year! I recently chatted/sold a part to Tim s for his King Size, excellent guy!


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## Schwinndemonium (Sep 16, 2019)

Spring '72.


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## Nashman (Oct 31, 2019)

Schwinndemonium said:


> Spring '72.
> 
> View attachment 1064544




Great story!  Nice bike. Cool Pontiac in the background. Jim, you really haven't changed that much!!  Clean living no doubt!  Right on!! I had a pair of pants like that too in the late 60's. Mine were more yellow with a BIG square buckle. Mine were quite "flared" and we called them "flairs". Groovy man.


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## T1Callahan (Nov 20, 2019)

This is a great story that I will be sharing with my family tonight. Tim looks like you made out ok in the end as well, you are a fantastic human being for making sure Jim got his bike back. I am asking myself if I would have been that good of a person; that is such a gorgeous bike.   I wonder how it ended up staying at that same bike shop for the 25-30 years? Maybe the bike shop owner had it in his possession and decided to put it up for sale last spring?


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## rollfaster (Nov 21, 2019)

Love this story for sure, everything about it!!


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## my560sec (Nov 29, 2019)

Hi Jim, Your Child hood bike never left the Martin Bike Shop after you sold it to them back in the 80's or 90's... 
In October of 2018 the Martins need to make room in there warehouse for newer inventory...
I purchase that bike along with 60 other bikes... At Copake April 2019 Spring swap this bike did get some attention due it's awesome overall condition...
received many offer's which where lower than I valued bike... And here comes Tim a Middleweight Collector as well as a great Guy I have known for many years...
All along I knew Tim was the guy for this bike... His bikes are always so Immaculate... Also knew he would detail and have it looking Immaculate as always... Sold it to Tim..  

Jim Your Green B6 bike your sitting on as well as the Corvette was apart of that group of 60 bikes I purchase... I do know where the Green B6 bike is located...  Ed


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## Schwinndemonium (Nov 29, 2019)

Hey, Ed, It's nice to finally meet the man who found my bike!

Actually, the bike you are calling a B-6 is actually an early 1950's Green Phantom with wrong parts on it that I painted up to match the frame of the Phantom, instead of chrome plated fenders. The fenders that are on that bike I installed on it in around late 1974 hame from a girl's Hornet ballooon tire bike that I bought from Harvey Williams Schwinn for $15.00 for those fenders. If I am correct, the front fender should still have an original delta script fender mounted torpedo style headlight on it with an offwhite paint on it. One of the things I marveled about that light is that it never had batteries in it until I got it in '74, and the original instruction card for  working the light was still inside the unit. The rear rack I put on the bike, I believe came from a mid 1950's JC Higgins that I painted with Pactra Leaf Green to also match the green frame of the Phantom.Here is the best picture I have of that bike. It was taken in 1976, 6 years before I sold it to Martins' Schwinn (That is what the business was called when I sold it and my Panther to them in 1982), now Martin's Bike Shop. If this is the bike you have or know its whereabouts, and it still looks like this, I might be interested in getting this back, as well.

Edit; just one other observation to what you said, here, I still own my 5 speed Corvette, as I never sold that bike to Martins. As of the upcoming year 2020, I will have owned this Corvette 45 years , come this May.

Jim.


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## my560sec (Nov 29, 2019)

Jim, Sorry Bike in question did have original Paint as well as front fender having a early B6 / Phantom fender light with white cover... 
This bike also had heave rust through out as well as missing parts such as Tank, Rack Pedals etc .. Ed


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## HARPO (Apr 15, 2021)

@Tim s  is the type of guy that makes this Hobby what it is!


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## Schwinndemonium (Sep 15, 2021)

It's 2 years ago, today, that a day I will never forget happened. Thanks again, Tim! A camel can go thru the eye of a needle!!

Jim.


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