I was thumbing through an old issue of Dirt Rider this weekend and I came across an article entitled "Living with a Dalesman". This bike was a Sachs powered 125 trials bike that was a dead ringer for a Penton Trials. In fact the article claimed that the Dalesman was a "second cousin" to the Wassel and the Mudlark. Does anyone in the POG know anything more about this bike? The author stated that he had #19 of the production run. The article was in the May 1976 issue and gave a detailed account of the performance good and bad of the machine, but no details about the manufacturer, history, etc. of the bike.
Jim Lee was the frame designer/builder for both Dalesman and Wassell and Peter Edmondson was development chief as well as rider for both companies, that is why there are so many similarities.
If you can get your hands on a copy of Classic British Two-Stroke Trials Bikes by Don Morely there is a wealth of knowledge contained between the covers about many of the British companies that built motorcycles, the above information if from that book in the stories about the Dalesman and Wassell machines.
It is interesting to note that originally the Wassell Trials was built using the BSA Bantam engine, but the limited supply of those engines turned Wassell to the more plentiful Sachs engines. I know of a few of the Bantam powered machines here in the US, but they are quite rare.
Hope this helps.
Paul
To add to Paul's comments, the first Dalesman trials bikes had 125 Puch motors and were built before the Wassell bikes.
Dennis Jones
Joel Robert helped develope the Puch engined 125 MX Lynx and was the importer for Belgium. About 1500 Dalesmans were imported by Jeckel Industries to the US. The enduro was the most popular and most were sold in New England. I have 3 Dalesman Scouts(Enduros)with the Sachs motors and 1 Dalesman MX 125 with the Puch 125 motor.
I have a chance to pick up a Wassell/Penton this spring. Are they as bad as originally made out to be (what did Dirt Bike call it? John Penton's folly?)
I currently use a TY 175 for trials and it is a great little machine that I love to ride. Are the Wassells OK to ride or are you constantly dealing with motor and handling shortcomings that make it more of a pain than it is worth? Any input would be appreciated, thanks.
Mike
Mike, Gary Ellis bought and rebuilt one recently and it seems to run pretty good and get around OK. It may have been a "folly" back in the day when everything was about competition, but today it's all about "fun on old wheels". I say buy the bike and keep another Penton in the family! Just my two cents,
Mick
Mike, The Penton/Wassell trials bike is more than OK, with proper set up it works very good.
Just like any bike it needs to be prepped well, GOOD trials tires,cables,levers, grips, brakes, trials throttle, ect. I like to use Amal levers and throttle on tall Renthall bars. Unless you have a size 12 or bigger foot you will need to shorten the rear brake lever or it will surely put you on your head, I know this for a fact!
Also get rid of the stock pegs as they will do the same thing, I know this for a fact also.
It will not out turn your TY 175 but it will out turn most of the other bikes in the modern classic class. It is very nimble, has good ground clearance, and the front end sticks like glue. The front end will not be as easy to loft as your TY due to the pegs being 3" in front of the rear tire instead of at the leading edge of the tire.
Now for the motor. All these bikes left England with 6B motors. A lot of the bikes had the motors swapped out for 5A motors at Penton Central, not to improve the trials bike but to rob the newer style motors for other bikes. Larry Miers (sp) says that was his job for a while. You want to have the 5A motor. If you can get your hands on a 152 kit it will give you a lot of extra grunt but the stock iron barrel 125 will do a good job. I like the Bing carb fine just make sure it is in good shape and use normal trials tuning - lean.
You can get by with a 6B but they don't have a lot of bottom end so it takes a riding style with a lot of throttle. I rode one of these to an AHRMA title riding the 2 line but I now use a 152 5A and it is much easier to ride.
If you can get one go for it. It will make a nice addition to your trials stable.
Dennis Jones
Mike,
Dennis won a National Championship with a Mudlark and he does know a lot about these bikes and how to set them up. Good to see you yesterday Dennis.
Ron Carbaugh
It was good to see you too Uncle Ronnie. We checked out an old motorcycle salvage yard Phil had heard of just south of Poplar Bluff but were a little late. Most everything had been hauled off for scrap but the guy said we could buy anything we found for 1 dollar each. We did find a few things, an aluminum 500 yamaha xt tank is not a bad buy for a dollar :D
Dennis Jones
Mike,
Dennis offers great advice because he is a voice of experience. Some put their fate in the quality of the machine, while others show it is the rider that makes the difference. When it comes to trials competition, the skill and success that Dennis Jones and Lew Mayer exhibit make us all proud to see them riding their Penton Mudlarks! :D Never mind what Dirt Bike once called the Mudlark :( because time has a way of changing things.;)
I wouldn't let the opportunity pass by if for no other reason than adding it to the collection. Consider these: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained" and "your loss is someonelses gain." If you are not interested in the Mudlark and it is located in Canada, just remember we will grant amnesty to allow it's return...to the US not the UK. Although, I have yet to see an Antelope or Gazellle running through the fields here in the UK.
Pat
i'm not sure think it was the isle of mann 72 or 73 the dealer i rodeout of chuck bolher of jamestown ,ny along with the importer rode dalesmans with puch motors at the six days ,chuck won a silver . i recall chuck saying the motor was fine but everything else on the bike broke during the event. he finished with one shock broken
dennis l.brown
Just saw this on http://www.superhunky.com/worstbikes.html Checkout the article if you haven't already. The Mudlark was placed 3rd behind any 3 wheeler and the #1 spot went to 1971 SUZUKI TM-400R CYCLONE! I have included below what he stated about the Mudlark. However, I suspect that Rick Sieman wrote this before he ever saw Dennis or Lew compete with their Mudlark! ;)
Pat
Ten Worst Dirt Bikes of All Time
by: Rick Sieman
"3. PENTON 125 MUD LARK. In 1973, John Penton was selling some great race and enduro bikes that were being produced by KTM in Austria. However, he was forced to buy a whole load of the Sachs 125B engines in order to get a supply of the "good" engines. So, to get rid of the B engines, John contracted with Wassel, an English fabricator, and they threw together a frame, a set of wretched Betor forks, ginky shocks and a layout that made you feel like you were sitting on the edge of a pinball machine.
John called it the Penton Trials, but not even Batman could have ridden it in a trials event. There was no power at all, the gearbox was spaced oddly and it wouldn't turn without plowing the front end. So, in desperation, John renamed it the Mud Lark, a sort of all-purpose play machine. In fact, it was a no-purchase dirt bike, and will go down in history as one of the few bad business decisions ever made by savvy John Penton."
PJM