Up for sale a 1978 MC5 250. Here is what I have done to this bike. New fork seals,new fork oil,new handle bars and grips.New BING CARB, seals,gaskets,bearings,inner tubes,chain,new front ad rear fenders,works remote shocks rebuilt.
The motor was rebuilt be me,S12 tires,New seat cover,frame painted. Will deliever to the POG meeting in Feb, if weather permits. Bike is located in Central ILLinois. Call me with any questions 217 260 0237 THIS BIKE IS FROM RICHARD SANDERS SHOP THIS WAS A PRO'S BIKE (http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo86/rdhott55/DSCN2770-1.jpg) (http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo86/rdhott55/DSCN2772.jpg) (http://i364.photobucket.com/albums/oo86/rdhott55/DSCN2771.jpg)
Gary,
What a beautiful bike. It looks like new. If I didn't have so much on my plate right now I would jump on this bike.
Great job.
Tony
Very nice resto Gary -- very nice indeed!
John Hubbard
Nice work, GE. I want to let everyone know that I have done business with this gentleman, am the proud owner of an 76 MC5 that he located, prepped, and sold to me. Great bike, great guy...
Okay Gary...after that ringing endorsement, how about a great deal on that set of 38mm Zoke forks/clamps ya got in your inventory. ;)
Gary,
What a beautiful bike. It looks like new. If I didn't have so much on my plate right now I would jump on this bike.
Great job.
Tony
Very nice resto Gary -- very nice indeed!
John Hubbard
Nice work, GE. I want to let everyone know that I have done business with this gentleman, am the proud owner of an 76 MC5 that he located, prepped, and sold to me. Great bike, great guy...
Okay Gary...after that ringing endorsement, how about a great deal on that set of 38mm Zoke forks/clamps ya got in your inventory. ;)
very nice bike, but it makes me sad too, I am wanting to sell my 76 mc 5 very soon and I was going to ask at least that much and it is not nearly that nice looking although it is a very strong bike and runs great.. but it is stock and it is still on the stock bore..
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
74'250 hare scrambler (project)
74' 1/2 440 maico
78' 440 maico
72' cr125 Husky (project)
74' TM125 suzuki
93' RMx 250 suzuki
Quotequote:Originally posted by tomale
very nice bike, but it makes me sad too, I am wanting to sell my 76 mc 5 very soon and I was going to ask at least that much and it is not nearly that nice looking although it is a very strong bike and runs great.. but it is stock and it is still on the stock bore..
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
What![:0]
Britt Boyette
76 400 MC5 (project)
77 Husky WR250
76 RM370
83 YZ250
06 KX450f flat tracker
09 Kawasaki Versys
70 Suzuki TS250
Too much of a good thing? I think NOT!
My thought exactly, or Thom...Why, you are the original owner only once? Mike
Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 175-400'S
75 Can Am 175 TNT & 77 250 Black Widow
1976-78 RM & 77-79 PE Suzuki's
74 CR250M 07 CR125R & CR150R
Thom,
Hate to hear you are going to sell your bike but I have had to do the same many times over the years.
On another note, a 1976 MC5 is a easier sell than a 1978 MC5 because the majority of buyers remain racers and not collectors. For the racer the 78 has to race in GP class and it is at a major disadvantage; with equal riders, against 1980-1981 bikes. Gary's bike is beautiful and if it were a 1977 it would be gone already as the 1976 and 1977 bikes race in Historic class and are almost cheater bikes as they are perhaps a year ahead of their time. Now from the collecting standpoint the 78's are cool because it is the first year they were ALL KTM.
Regardless, Gary's work is meticulous and if I had all the money I needed this one would already have a home.
Larry P
Larry,
I disagree. I think the 78 250 can be made competive for the GP type classes. You just have to work on the suspension and motor a little. More travel equals less turning ability. It just depends if you think jumping is more important than turning. In vintage, even in the GP classes I would argue the races are won in the turns and not over the jumps. Just my opinion.
Mike,
Of course this has been debated before but the 1980-1981 GP bikes that are Japanese will; in my opinion, out turn, produce more and better useable reed valve power, and are about 20 pounds lighter than the 78 Katoom stock on stock.
The cornering verses jumping depends on the track. Take the Michigan AHRMA National track with the doubles & tabletops. If I jump each of those and another rider does not it will cut more time off my laps than a better turning bike will cut in corners. All riders being equal of course. My spin on that old debate.
My GP 500 bike is a YZ 465 so I am biased but it would eat up a 78 400 KTM with ease in most every department and its' 250 Counterpart more so against the 78 MC5 250. Granted, mine is set-up well thanks to McNicol Racing with 43mm forks, the wiz bang suspension goodies, double-leading shoe brake plates, Eric Gore porting and head work, and a Pro-Form pipe. I just honestly think that stock on stock that the Technology and the sheer Japanese way of getting there had passed us(KTM Orange Bleeders) by 1980-1981. It would seem especially so if you compare back to a 78. They not only are different they are virtually from 2 bike eras. The 78 KTM is technology wise more a Historic era bike and the last Japanese GP bikes are very close to the handling and power delivery of Ultima class bikes.
Of course rider is the main thing as you could easily blow me away on your Vintage Sportsman class Penton and me on my YZ 465. Unless, I get to pick the track. Even then you would probably jump anyway and eventually break the Penton in half. I guess I will just debate it from the equal rider angle in that perfect world that debate rides in. LOL!
Larry P
Gary,
Sorry for hijacking the thread. At least it keeps the bike up there so someone will buy it. Beautiful bike and worth more than that. Maybe you could make it into a 77 with that stout motor for me.[8D]
Larry P
I know it is a shock, and it has taken me several years to come to this but the reality is that I need to significantly thin the heard. It has been cool to own a bike for as long as I have but the truth of the matter is that, I have not raced this bike in 4 years. They do not race AHRMA PV races up in this area and I would have to travel 5-6 hundred miles to do it.. So the only PV racing that does happen is our local club stuff and it puts this bikes with the 81 maico's, like right, thats a good idea, As a novice I can do that but not with the boys I run with now. Bikes are not the only thing going away and if I am to ride at all it must be done..
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
74'250 hare scrambler (project)
74' 1/2 440 maico
78' 440 maico
72' cr125 Husky (project)
74' TM125 suzuki
93' RMx 250 suzuki
Larry, Larry, Larry,
Im starting to wonder if you ever got the pleasure ro ride a properly set up KTM 420? My best racer friend back in the day raced Yams, we battled alot from 78 to 82, and we rode each others bikes at least once a year. I admit in 78 he had a power atvantage with his 400 verses my 360, but not handling. In 79 the power picture reversed big time with my all new 420. I think the atvantage went back and forth year by year. I have an 81 KTM with a 420 engine for GP class racing. Even though in stock form the 81 KTM 495 was pretty horrible (too powerful, too high and too small forks), it can be made into the best KTM open class GP racer. I can hoenestly say, ecxept in 81 I never liked his Yams better than my KTM's although I remember they got pretty good by 80. However, I also have to say comming from a purely Jap background he could never shift my KTM's. One other thing, I had him on a KTM by 85!!
I agree it really does depend on the track. At Red Bud, yea I want my KTM 420. But at Greenwood Mo, a track we both have been to I would pick my 77 mc-5 400 over my 420, even for the GP class. Its shorter, lower and it turns better (faster). The GP era bikes got so long I have never ridden any one of them that I thought turned very well. Most of them have longer wheelbases than modern bikes! Weight has never been an issue with me...as you can tell by looking at me!
On the 250's, to make them GP class competive in the engine department you can simply add a 80 or 81 cylinder (porting is the same), or even an 82 reed cylinder, although I think that cylinder is slower. Or you can port the 77 and 78 cylinder to match the 80/81. But I take an 80 or 81 and port those a little. They can be made to fly and with the 78 and on pipe still have good low end.
If someone wants to buy Gary's bike and race Larry on it I will help you get it set up to be a jap/Larry beater...for the right tracks!
Take that Larry, you jap bike lover!
All in fun you know.
Mike
my, my I sure started something, a good discussion is always a good thing..
Thom Green,Still crazy after all these years!
76' 250 MC5 (orginal owner)
74'250 hare scrambler (project)
74' 1/2 440 maico
78' 440 maico
72' cr125 Husky (project)
74' TM125 suzuki
93' RMx 250 suzuki
The heck with all race this stuff, ride what makes you happy. I would be more than thrilled to ride this bike.:D
Britt Boyette
76 400 MC5 (project)
77 Husky WR250
76 RM370
83 YZ250
06 KX450f flat tracker
09 Kawasaki Versys
70 Suzuki TS250
Too much of a good thing? I think NOT!
I agree with Britt about riding what makes you happy. I know someone who bought for a few hundred dollars an old, very-much raced 1968 Penton Six-Days (with the green side covers). At the time, the old Penton was about 4 years old, and he called it his "puddle-jumper". That same old bike is still sitting in the barn, waiting to be ridden for fun! Joe
A true rider will never quite understand the racer's motivation and a true racer will never quite understand the rider's motivation. It is that very motivation that makes for a different outlook on this whole Vintage thing. Many of you guys love to ride them and that gives you pleasure in reliving old memories. I race them because I love to compete and it has extended my racing career. In Modern MX I can no longer WIN at the level I would like to compete at and I see no point to racing if there is No possibility of winning. That is a total racer mentality. At Vintage the winning can still happen on occasion. As a racer with limited natural skills I always want to have all the possible advantages in what I feel is the best equipment for the task. With that in mind Best becomes more important than Favorite.
Regardless, never doubt what my favorite is. When the Elsinores came out I beat my head against the wall a whole season continuing to try and win with the Sachs motored Penton. I was also the Nutty one that took the Berkshire to the Astrodome against the Much better sleeved down YZ's and Elsies. In the 80's I raced MX with the white tanked long wheel based slow turning KTM bikes and was often the only KTM at the track, all the while knowing the Japanese bikes were better mounts. I bleed Orange but love to race and win with a minimal of disadvantages.
Regardless of all this, I still maintain without emotional involvement that a 80 or 81 MX bike is far superior to a 1978 model and that with equal riders in a perfect world where no one makes mistakes the race is over before it begins.
Larry P
(http://i52.photobucket.com/albums/g8/BobWardlow/DSCN2770-1.jpg)
She's a beauty Gary. Ya'know I'm looking for a sponsored ride. :D
Bob
Ok Bob, I can sponsor you on this bike for 2500.00.If no one wants it I think I will race it. Maybe Mike will help me. Later Gary
Anytime!
Gag me Forever! There is nothing that lasts forever, like a Podium finish on a Penton ;)...........there is something "lurking" about it.
Tom Brosius
Hey Gary, what color did you use on the frame? Thanks!
1976 MC 5 Original Owner
1982 Suzuki PE 175
1976 Husqvarna 175GP
2002 KTM 200 EXC
2007 KTM 250 XCF
1979 KTM 250 GS (Project)
1981 KTM 250 (Project)
Allis chalmers orange.I can buy it at the local farm store.
Hope someone here would like this bike. If not it will go up on Ebay. Will help with delievery. Free delievery to Mid Ohio. Later Gary