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I scanned the local free-ads paper and yes there was one for sale, not too far away and the price was good, however it had been sold. I decided to try the 'Bike Trader' web site, sure enough a search turned up 5 Pantheons - 4 of these were out of my budget at just under £2000 but there was one for sale privately at £1595. On checking the phone number it was somewhere around the Newcastle area - approximately 130 miles away!

Well I gave the ad a ring on the Tuesday and asked the usual questions - why is it for sale, how long have you had the scooter, what condition is it in, what needs doing to it, is there outstanding finance on it, etc. The guy selling the bike (Paul) seemed honest and everything seemed kosher. Arrangements were duly made and the seller said he'd hold on to the scooter until I'd been to see it. I knew that if I wanted it I'd have to ride it back home and so decided now would be a good time to join the AA (no not the alcoholics anonymous, not just yet anyhow), this set me back £80 which I didn't think was bad for repair and roadside recovery . 

I booked tickets with Virgin Trains, this was good value at £7.50 return. On the following Saturday I arrived at Durham at around 12.45pm and Paul met me at the station and gave me a lift (I told you he seemed nice!). Unfortunately it had snowed on the previous day or so, where I lived there was none but above York there was some still around.  The Pantheon was exactly what he said it was right down to the little scratch on the front mudguard. After a test ride I was smitten and the deal was done. I was now the proud owner of a T reg Pantheon with just 1,400 miles on the clock, the scooter looked just like new and still had the original dealers pack with it, tool roll, etc. So at around 1.50pm after filling up the bike, which cost just under £8, I set off back home. The train had taken around 21/4 hours to do the journey and I was expecting my return trip on the Pantheon to take around 3 to 31/2 hours.

The Pantheon was great on the A1, cruising at about 65-70 mph the ride was nice, stable and smooth despite the gusts of wind. The saddle is lovely, nice and firm without being hard and the step that rises up to pillions perch makes a good support for the small of your back. I was very happy with the performance of the engine with enough power to overtake wagons and not just uphill either. The only criticisms I can level at the Pantheon is that the screen could do with couple of inches of extra height  and that the handle grips aren't covered by the fairing and so your hands quickly become numb in cold weather. I arrived back in Sheffield at 4.25pm, which meant my journey had only taken 2 hours 40 minutes including a stop of 20 minutes just above Doncaster to thaw out and grab some lunch. Remarkably I arrived home without any aches, pains or even a numb bum. After refilling the bike - though it wasn't empty, it seems to have done somewhere in the region of 75-80 mpg. which I don't think is too bad for a 2 stroke at those speeds.  

Would I recommend a Pantheon? You betcha!