Yesterday morning when I came home to Chino Hills from Barstow I saw the Nov Issue of Motorcyclist waiting for me. I was thumbing through it, and the Article on Page 45 "The Way We Were" caught my eye. Its about Famous Motocyclists recalling their 1st motorcycles. Anyways, the 1st Famous Person was Lyle Lovett and his 1971 Penton 6-Day. I showed my wife the article and picures of my 72 6-Day up in Barstow and she was shocked at how good the Barstow bike looked. She couldn't beleive that this was the same bike sitting in the tin shed for all these years and she wanted me to take to the dump a few months ago. Plus, I've been riding it around Barstow!! She was speechless. I mentioned to her that I needed a set of back shocks and showed her page 88 the set of "Works Performance" shocks I wanted for around $500. She said NO!!! Thats OK, When I started this project, I set up a seperate little "Penton" account, in which work direct deposits $50 a week into. I figure by Christmas I'll have those shocks. If she only knew how many parts I've had sent to the Barstow house she would flip.
Ha Ha, what we go through to get our bikes running.
Note to self. Don't use E-Bay and Pay Pal. She caught on to that real quick.
G
72 six-day
Note to self ..... Thank the EX wife for letting me go .
Blissfully single for 14 years ,
Mike
Since the bike is SoCal and you are riding it around Barstow in the desert, treat the bike to a pair of Curnutt shocks. Not only are they original for the era, they are rebuildable at home and really do work well. I have them on mine and as I did in the day, love them. Keep an eye out locally and you might find a pair.
Garrett, I may have an old set of Curnutts in the garage. I do not know for sure, but will look when I get home. I am not sure what they came off of, and do not know the eye-to-eye distance. Please let me know the eye-to-eye distance. If they fit your bike, they are yours for free, so long as bring it out to ARX and give Victor a go for his money.;)
Lloyd
I figure a eye to eye distanc of 13 1/4 is what its suppose to be, but at this point I'll take just about anything. I currently have on a pair of 12 inch eye to eye off of a the front of a quad. They are way to stiff, but alot better than the stock ones which were so bad I could remove the springs by hand.
G
72 six-day
Lloyd my goal is to go to the Nov race with the bike. I don't care if its not perfect. I just want to ride it around the track. I'm sure i'm gonna break something. So long as its not me, thats ok.
g
72 six-day
Garrett.
I have experienced, each time I build a fresh Penton for the track, to be patient. There is alway carb tuning, shock adjustments and a few nuts and bolts I forgot to tighten up.
Enjoy your time building and expect, a few times, to push it back to the pits. It helps you get in shape !
Hope to see you at the next race.....I have lots of misc. goodies if you ever need anything.
Victor
PS. Post your pictures from Competetive Edge out for us to see.
Garrett
I will also put in a good word for the Curnutts. They are relativley cheap and they did and do a great job for cross country rideing. Try to find a pair of the 4.7" travel models. They will be a bit longer than what you have (12 3/4 0r so) , but the way the Curnutts work when you sit on the bike they will relax to the same height as the original shocks. I just put a vary nice pair on my Jackpiner and I can't wait to take it for a spin.
I have spent some time in and around Barstow back in the day. I grew up in Ridgecrest. Have you ever been there?
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
Victor thanks for the input. I agree that there will be some unexpected suprises. Every Tuesday, When I drive back up to Barstow I do a little more work on it and ride it around the house. It seems to work pretty good, but I haven't jumped on it yet. Trying to let the crank seals get use to working. I've tried to post pics, but don't know how to do it.
72 six-day
Doug
I just was up there on my BMW GS. Kennedy Meadow's, Lake Isabella, great ride. As a mater of fact there was (2) 250 pentons on craigs list from around that area a couple of months ago. Yea, back in the day the Currnets were the hot setup for District 37 races.
G
72 six-day
I second the "Penton" account ;) I've financed many projects this way. It's a little harder to do now that my workplace forces salaried personnel to use direct deposit. At one time I had many spares to trade and sell and would keep the cash from those sales hidden in my toolbox. At one point I had over 5 grand stuck in there, before I started my last project.
Doug, Red Mountain and Charlie's Place are still riding areas for me. District 37 still holds races out there which I attend. This is of course on a modern bike, the desert is a bit different than when I rode my DKW 100 (with Curnutts) there. The Curnutts were designed to follow the wheel down into a rut vs. other shocks just absorbing impact. The theory was that you continued to get traction that way. There are rebuild instructions on the web (do a search) and seals, etc. are available from a bearing/seal supply shop.
Quotequote:Originally posted by Doug Bridges
Garrett
I will also put in a good word for the Curnutts. They are relativley cheap and they did and do a great job for cross country rideing. Try to find a pair of the 4.7" travel models. They will be a bit longer than what you have (12 3/4 0r so) , but the way the Curnutts work when you sit on the bike they will relax to the same height as the original shocks. I just put a vary nice pair on my Jackpiner and I can't wait to take it for a spin.
I have spent some time in and around Barstow back in the day. I grew up in Ridgecrest. Have you ever been there?
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
Garrett,
You mentioning Kennedy Meadows and Lake Isabella brought back many memories from the late 60's to the early 70's when I lived in S. Cal.
Kennedy Meadows is a beautiful place to ride and camp. The last time I saw the Milky Way was about 1973 at Kennedy Meadows. Gorgeous.
Tony
Ahhh, The web we weave.
Another trick way to fund your Penton project is take the most expensive, hardest project your wife has on her/your "honey doo" list.
Go to Home Depot, buy out half the store on your debit card.
Of course she will want to see the receipt,,, aaannndd,,, since its all greek to her, she'll just say "This is a bigger project than I thought" This is when you nod your head in agreement and say "Yep it's a tough one"
Of course you will have to go back to Home Depot to pick up that 1/4 20 nut you forgot to get and then you return the $100.00 worth of stuff you really didn't need. Home Depot will give you your returns in cash. Thank you very much.
The up side is, the project is done, your wife thinks you are a miracle worker and you have new parts for the bike
The down side is you have to finish the project which cuts into your time of working on, and installing all the new parts you have for the bike.
G
72 six-day
SoCalMX
You mentioned you rode a DKW 100. I always wondered what happened to Tom and Cordis Brooks. I think Cordis rode a Harley Baja 100 and Tom Rode a DKW 125. In the early 70's those guys were winning District 37 races over all and I beleive they almost won Barstow to Vegas overall, but Rich Thornswalden (?) niped them at the finish line on a suzook 400.
G
72 six-day
Charlies Place is I beleive, what we used to call Wagon Wheel. I use to start out of my driveway and ride WFO to the Wagon Wheel in about 20 minutes. I did this ride on a 71 SL100, Harley Davidson Baja 100, Puch 125, 74 Elsinore 125, 73 CZ 250 side piper, 76 Ossa Phantom 250, and am probably leaving somthing out, but always had fun. I remember the Brooks brothers. Cordis with the stocking cap in the trail bike (100cc) class on a DKW and Tom with his amazing overall victorys on a 125 DKW. I always wanted a Penton, but never had one until recently. It is lots of fun. Kennedy meadows and Lake Isabella. That is where I used to fish. That is my other hobby. If any one wants a copy of the original Curnutt set up literature I can make copys of the one I have. Later,
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
I would love to have a copy.
Thanks,
Dwight
Dwight
Just email your address to me and I will be glad to send it off to you. There is also directions from Curnutt on how to rebuild the shocks included with this. There is nothing fancy about this literature, but this is what came with the shocks. It is just type written and has some good info. Warrenty and address, prices, set up, performance tips, preventive maintnance and rebuilding Curnutt shocks.
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
Actually I do know. Tom Brooks quit racing a long time ago and now does a lot of saltwater fishing. He has no desire to ride a bike any longer. Cordis on the other hand has had an interesting life. He murdered his wife about 15 years ago and dumped the body somewhere in the desert. There was not enough evidence to convict him at that time so he did not get charged. Years later when he sold his house, the police came in after he had moved and removed the carpets, etc. and found evidence. It was enough to convict him of a manslaughter (I think) charge and he spent around 7 years in jail. He has been out for a couple of years and races in the Magnum (50+) class in the desert on a Yamaha 125. His son Cordis Jr. also races and is becoming a pretty good rider. My younger brother who is into DKWs had been in contact with Tom Brooks Sr. about the bikes. When they cleaned out the shed, they gave him Tom Sr's DKW which Tommy had raced and won on in a race or two. Overall the bike was pretty bad off but my brother salvaged some parts and built a DKW set up like they use to ride with the 19 inch front wheel, etc. He took it to a D37 race (we both still race) and Cordis saw it and got to ride it.
Quotequote:Originally posted by garrettccovington
SoCalMX
You mentioned you rode a DKW 100. I always wondered what happened to Tom and Cordis Brooks. I think Cordis rode a Harley Baja 100 and Tom Rode a DKW 125. In the early 70's those guys were winning District 37 races over all and I beleive they almost won Barstow to Vegas overall, but Rich Thornswalden (?) niped them at the finish line on a suzook 400.
G
72 six-day
Boy, this brings back memories. Charlies Place is my favorite desert place to ride. Did anyone ride there when the actual "Charlies Place" was still there? I once saw a picture of it, a little hamberger place out in the middle of the desert with a bunch of dirt bike, circa 1975-6. The only thing left are the old concrete pads. It is now called "Wagon Wheel" off of Trona Road.
I think it was 1973, I had Curnutt shocks, and Charlie himself came out to a race at Indian Dunes and help set up and tune up the shocks. For some reason they were binding on my CZ. I can't remember what we finally did, but once we got them working right, they were very good. Of course it helps to have the designer actually come work on your bike.
Yes I went to that little spot quite often. It was part of a days ride to stop in and get a soda and a snack there. I spent many hours rideing in that area and in between there and Ridgecrest. Also raced plenty of D37 races that started in the valley south of Wagon Wheel/ Charlies place. It was quite common for those races to draw between 500 and 1000 riders in the early 70's. I wonder how many show up to these races these days. I havn't been in that area in over 20 years.
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
Doug,I saw one on my patient's this afternoon that belongs to a desert club, and they are puttin on an endura this weekend that actually starts at Charlie's Place. He indicated that they anticipate about 400 riders.
I rode in a Shamrock Hair'n Hound event out there about 3-4 years ago. It started at Tiegle Wash(sp) (a couple of miles south of Charlie's place). There had to be 400-600 riders. One 45 mile loop for the old guys, a 45 mile loop and a 55 mile loop for the kids and fast guys. (One loop is enough, but it was fun. More than that wouldn't be fun.)
Gentlemen:
I was just in Weldon, CA on Friday and met a great guy who does the best restorations I have seen in a while.
He had the neatest place. I could see Lake Isabella from his shop, cattle grazing in the distance with a background view of the Sierras...God's Country :)
One of the nicest guys and the coolest place to retire and ride, ride, ride.
Oh, and I got to save another Six Day to bring back to life.[:p]
Victor
all the talk of riding in the hills of california and the fact that it raining like crazy outside is making just abit home sick. I talk to my younger brother yesterday about doing some riding at holister if we come down for christmas....
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)74'
250 hare scrambler (project bike)
I wish I could find a set of Curnutts about 13.5 inch. Everytime I see them on Ebay I get sniped.
Terry
All the 70's races out there that I can remember all started down by the railroad tracks. I don't remember Charlie's place from back then but do go out to Wagon Wheel area to race/ride once in a while. District 37 does hold races out there from time to time. There is an enduro set for this weekend and usually 3 or 4 regular races scheduled there during the year. I still race and use the one-loop option. Even with a nice WR250F with an autoclutch, electric start, and sweet Factory Connection suspension, a single loop is enough for my old body.
Quotequote:Originally posted by Doug Bridges
Yes I went to that little spot quite often. It was part of a days ride to stop in and get a soda and a snack there. I spent many hours rideing in that area and in between there and Ridgecrest. Also raced plenty of D37 races that started in the valley south of Wagon Wheel/ Charlies place. It was quite common for those races to draw between 500 and 1000 riders in the early 70's. I wonder how many show up to these races these days. I havn't been in that area in over 20 years.
Doug Bridges
73 Jackpiner
Wow!!! that was interesting about the Brooks Brothers. I wish they still had the MX Chronicles on TV.
G
72 six-day
There was a lot of controversy in District 37 about him starting to come around after he got out of jail. A lot of people wanted him shunned because he was a convicted murderer. Eventually it all died down and he is not getting harassed. I've talked with him a couple of times and sure don't want to be his friend thats for sure. I do know that if I have a carb problem, I will go to him. He just has to be the best "throttle and choke" person around (LOL).
Quotequote:Originally posted by garrettccovington
Wow!!! that was interesting about the Brooks Brothers. I wish they still had the MX Chronicles on TV.
G
72 six-day