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Many guys have had great luck going through Vermont to get titles.

My two favorite Penton shops were in PA. I was 15, it was 1973, and had a TS185 Suzuki and wanted a Penton terribly. I had recently met Craig Good and he rode a Berkshire in Enduros and got me wanting a Penton. I wanted to sell the Suzuki and my dad said if you could sell the Suzuki for what we paid for it I'll help you get the Penton. Well I did, and we bought a Jackpiner from Hermy's Tire and Cycle in Port Clinton, PA. We told Hermy we were coming down after we negotiated a price over the phone. When we got there the bike was still in the crate. Herm was the kind of guy who was never in a hurry to get anything done, especially if he liked hanging out with you in the shop. I forget what time we finally left, but it seemed like we were there for many hours. Today it's a huge BMW and Triumph dealership, still in the original location on RT.61, just a few miles north of Cabelas. The other shop I liked was Bonomo's. It was in the back of their bowling alley! They sold Huskys. I can't recall if they were Penton dealers or not. There was also a shop in Montrose, PA, but I can't recall the name now.

In case any of you are thinking of using Glenn for transporting anything, don't worry.  He's top drawer. I bought a wheel from him and then when taking off the tire noticed it was bent in a couple of spots.  I called him, he asked me to send him a photo, and he refunded my money asap.  He's honest, friendly, a real nice guy.

This maybe old news about Speedy, but there is a great article on him in the new VMX magazine.  There's a neat bit about how when the 1976 Canadian ISDT team landed in Salzburg, Austria most of the riders packed their bikes and gear into vans for the 180mile trip to the event. But since the weather was so beautiful, Speedy rode his bike, a 175-7A Hercules to it !  He did the same thing after the event too !  There's also a cool story about his ride to the event, I guess you'll have to buy the issue for that one.  I never met Speedy, but he sure sounds like one heck of a guy. If someone earlier posted this about the article I apologize.

Jerry, Thank you for your reply.  I ride the trials event each year at Mid Ohio and know the sections and areas they use.  If that's their excuse it's a lousy one.  The trials event also starts at 10 and is over by 2.  Let the trials start at 9, then run the cross country after it.

Sorry about that Paul, I can't believe I missed your earlier post. jay

Matty, My son rides an XR50R Honda, probably similar to the MR50 Honda recommended earlier. Bulletproof bike for kids.  I changed the oil one Sunday about 3 years ago and didn't have the correct oil in the garage so I said I'll get some tomorrow and put in.  When I came home from work, my son was out riding the bike.   I ran screaming over to him to shut it off to tell him there's no oil in it.  He said he was riding it for about 10-15 minutes. I added the oil, and to this day the bike runs as good as when we got it.  He rides all weekend and has never had a bit of trouble except a dirty carb one time.

Brian, I appreciate your perspective, now I can see it a little differently.  I would love to join you, I just wish they weren't so far away.

I just checked the results for the ISDT qualifier.  Nearly every competitor was in a class by themselves. So, if you finished, you received a gold medal.  Now, this may have been discussed and argued here and also with AHRMA, so I don't mean to start a fight or open a can of worms here.  But, this doesn't make any sense to me.  Why not group a bunch of guys in one class only based upon ability and not engine size ?  I for one would want the competition, otherwise it's like a trail ride. I don't mean to be offending anyone and certainly  respect all of the work put in by the Landers and crew, but I just don't get all the zillion different classes with no competitors but only yourself.  I certainly wouldn't care if guys in my class were on much bigger bikes or much smaller bikes than me, as long as I'm with the same ability. Can someone explain the reasoning behind this please ?

Chuck, If you go to the search there was a mile long thread on tire sizes.  I don't want to start the discussion/argument again but I will say that when I took my wheel in for my Six Days to get a tire, my favorite mechanic said to definitely go with a 3.50.  I think the 3.50 fits perfectly and the bike runs great with it.

Ron, No problems at all with the 60T x 13 combo. That's exactly what I have on mine and it works nicely.

It has been suggested that I list a selling price.  I paid $1500 for the bike from Doug Wilford in July, 2006. I have at least $1700 more of parts and work into it, probably more at this point.  I'd like to get $3500 for it, which includes the parts bike and all related stuff I mentioned previously. I want to give a fellow POGGER first shot. If you would rather speak to me instead of email, you can call me up until 10 pm eastern time at 540/837-1673.

My home email address is [email protected]

I found taking off the cover works best.  Just dump a quart in with the bike lying on its side. Another idea I tried  works ok too.  I bought a real tiny diameter clear tubing.  I disconnected the clutch cable at the handlebars, that enabled me to pull the cable away from the side cover and slip the tubing down into the sidecover alongside of the cable.  Using the narrow opening tube of the gearbox oil bottle, it was slow but another idea.

Thanks Dane, I'll give it a try tomorrow.