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Breaking News! The Penton Motorcycles Facebook page has broken the 5,000 members' mark. Penton enthusiasts from the world over are able to gather online to share their memories and help each other out as needed, thanks to the efforts of Penton Motorcycles FB creator Brian Kirby.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/503295773095421



For those looking to buy and sell Penton related items, Brian has created the Penton Motorcycles-Buy and Sell Facebook page.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1074668997462080


Keep in mind that the Penton Owners Group has a website that is chalk filled with information, videos and much, much more that in combination with these Facebook pages help to honor the work of John Penton and keep his efforts alive and well.
Keep spreading the word, as surely there are many, many more folks who would love to join in the fun.


https://www.pentonusa.org/

Thanks Carl, that will be great.  If 50 folks bring 2 machines, we will have one Penton for each of John Penton's 100 years ! AND, one heck of a long row of Penton Sportcycles...

As the Pittsburgh Supercross date is getting ever closer, tonight we uncovered a Steel Tanker and brought it into the little shop to give it some attention, mostly just getting the dust off of it and doing some polishing up as needed. The Steel Tanker is a later one with a serial number in the 6200 range, it is a very original machine with hardly any time on it and will represent the Steel Tanker era in the POG display. When I rolled it through the outer shop it had the feel of a new bike, pretty awesome for a Penton that is over 50 years old.

Dominic has been working away at my 1974 ISDT machine as can be seen in the photo. The little shop is most certainly nothing special, but it is where I worked on my Pentons from day 1 and is where I prepared my 1973 ISDT bike. To be working away at some Pentons with my grandson in this shop is something I never envisioned, but it is pretty neat, and Dom keeps saying how much he enjoys it. Dom and his younger brother Luca hauled the rocks into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum for the 1973 ISDT display, and they will both be at the Pittsburgh Supercross helping out wherever needed.

Enough about all of that, Vintage Motorcycle Days is right around the corner and here is what we are working on. As we have done for many years, Vintage Motorcycle Days will be the kickoff of John Penton's birthday celebration by the POG, but of course this one is very, very special as John will be 100 years old on August 19th. We are working out the details with the folks from the AMA of doing a display of Penton Motorcycles on the Saturday of the event. The exact location at Mid-Ohio of the Penton display has yet to be finalized, but rest assured we will want any and all Pentons to be there for the line-up with the goal of having 100 Pentons on hand. Will be get 100 machines, time will tell, but no matter how many we have on hand you can rest assured this will be a day we will all remember and the attendees at VMD will surely remember as well. More details will be announced as they are finalized, but for now we would ask that if you plan on being at VMD on the Saturday of the event, load up your Penton hardware and help us put on the biggest lineup of Pentons anyone will probably ever see. Running or not, original machines, race bikes and perfect restorations, all are welcome, even Wassells and short trackers too ! Let's make John proud.

Hi Kip, a supply of hats will be taken to Mid-Ohio. If by chance the color you want is sold out when you ask for it, they will still be available online.

This photo brings back so many memories from days gone by. I can still visualize John Penton on a fork truck where the operator was standing, not sitting as he operated it, zooming around in the Penton R & D building moving crates of Penton Steel Tankers. Like everything John does, he was really moving and getting his job done in record time, John didn't need any mirrors on that fork truck as EVERYONE knew to stay the heck out of the way !

As I think back to that time, and knowing what I know now, quite possibly he was organizing the bikes according to what updates they had from the factory. Can you imagine what it was like having bikes in inventory with the cast iron cylinders and also have some of the new ones with the aluminum top-ends that made the others, shall we say, less desirable!
The Penton R & D building may not have been an extremely large building, but what all went on there and happened there was simply amazing. I remember working on our bikes late into the night getting them ready to load into the Cycleliner in the morning and heading to an event. All sorts of folks would be stopping by when they saw the lights on, Jack and Dane seemed to know them all and they played host to ever changing crowd of curious onlookers.

The Penton Owners Group is proud to announce that it will have a display at the upcoming Pittsburgh, PA Supercross on April 26th. The Legends and Heroes folks have graciously invited the POG to join with them in their display area. THANK YOU very much Legends and Heros folks, your hospitality is greatly appreciated.

The plan is to have several models of the Penton Sportcycles in the display along with the KTM 65cc raffle bike. Surely the Pentons will draw the attention of the more mature folks at the event, and the 65cc KTM raffle bike will hopefully draw the youngsters to our display. The theme of our display is THE PENTON KTM CONNECTION. A number of POG members will be on hand to greet the folks who visit our display and answer any questions that might arise, including Jack Penton.

POG Trustee Samantha Vallish will have two of her Penton race machines on display. Her CMF Penton Berkshire and the CMF Penton Jackpiner that she will be campaigning this year in numerous events. We also hope to have a Penton Steel Tanker on display as well. THANK YOU very much Samantha, all of your efforts are greatly appreciated.

It will be very interesting to watch the modern KTM enthusiasts and the Penton Sportcycle enthusiasts mingling together, just wait till they realize that they are all sort of cousins !

The text and photo below were "borrowed" from Ted Guthrie, Thanks Ted, I owe you one!  If I may add some info, after the 1974 ISDT in Camerino, Italy, Dane traded his USA helmet to an Italian rider for his ISDT helmet. Last fall at the Vintage ISDT event in Camerino, Italy,  Dane's helmet was given to some of the Team USA folks with instructions to see that it made its way back to Dane's family. At the POG meeting on Thursday evening, Dane's cousin Jack Penton completed that mission by handing Dane's 1974 ISDT helmet over to his granddaughter Riley, who happens to also work at KTM. It was most assuredly a very, very special moment !
    Below is Ted's commentary he provided with the photo.
The Penton Owners Group, at last night's monthly meeting, was honored to have present, Riley Bland, who is the granddaughter of the late Dane Leimbach.
Dane, nephew of John Penton, was a key figure in operations of the original Penton Imports company, working in R&D, plus was one of the top Penton team riders. 
While I am a bit short on the exact details, following one of the International Six-Days Trials in which Dane competed, he traded his team helmet with that of an Italian rider.  Many years later, the helmet found its way back to the U.S. and into the hands of Jack Penton. 
Here, Jack has handed over the helmet back to Riley.  A very fitting way for Dane's property to come back to the family.

The red and blue John Penton signature series hats are now available, as are the green and gray ones. The first batch of the red and blue hats sold out before we could list them here. Just click on the link to be transported to the POG SHOP page to place your order. Be sure to buy a few raffle tickets for the 65cc KTM while you are there. All purchases help to support the Penton Owners Group in its mission and are greatly appreciated.
https://www.pentonusa.org/shop/

A big Penton Owners Group "thank you" to Point View Cycle for setting up a signboard advertising the POG raffle bike in their dealership, Jason Pahanish is shown with the sign.  POG Treasurer Jim said pretty much as soon as the signboard was set up ticket sales started to come in. By scanning the QR code on the signboard, folks can buy raffle tickets without the dealership having to be involved.  https://www.pointviewcycle.com/
The POG is hoping a few more dealerships might step up and allow one of these signboards to be placed in their shop. If you have an interest, please reach out to us. Thanks  Paul

Carl and Rob, the engine was wired to the frame as well, look for a little hole in one of the fins in the engine case. I have seen a few NOS cylinder heads still in the box that were drilled. Do your bikes have centerstands and dual coil mounts?

                     
                               Way-back Wednesday.    A glimpse in the rear-view mirror to see just how we got to where we are today.

Before there was a Penton Owners Group, there was a gathering of Penton enthusiasts at Alan Buehner's Penton Parts booth at the Mid-Ohio Vintage Motorcycle Days, if I am not mistaken, the year was 1997. Just as the earth rotates around the sun, Penton enthusiasts from far and wide traveled to that event to gather around John Penton, who had graciously accepted Alan Buehner's invitation to be his special guest at the event. As much as John was the main attraction, having the likes of Dane Leimbach and Jack Penton also attending surely made for a proverbial three ring circus.

The excitement and enthusiasm built up from that gathering provided the spark that most certainly lit the fire of determination to form the Penton Owners Group. Prior to the gathering at VMD, Alan traveled to the homes of several Penton ISDT riders to offer to frame their ISDT medals to make them more easily displayed, Alan's sister was the talented person who actually did the framing. I was one of the riders that Alan visited. Till Alan came along, my medals simply sat in a drawer, as did the medals that others had earned as well. In the photo the framed medals can be seen in the background.

The gentleman in the photo with Dane is Dave Hougton whose wonderful wife, Debbie I do believe, took this photo. The young looking fellow to the right looks to be the gent that my wife married.

At the time this photo was taken, no one would have guessed that just three years later the Penton Sportcycle would be the Featured Marque at VMD, and John Penton would be the Grand Marshall. In the year 2000 when that occurred, there was a VMD west as well at the then Sears Point Raceway. Joh Penton, Al Born and I drove to that event pulling a Hi-Point trailer loaded down with the POG display items, but that is a story for another time.
If I remember correctly, Jack brought along one of the Commemorative Penton / KTM Jackpiners and could be seen popping wheelies all over the Mid-Ohio grounds. Not to be out done by Jack's antics on the Jackpiner, John brought along the x-rays from his recent back surgery which he proudly displayed, as that experimental surgery allowed John to once again be able to dig ditches and do whatever was needed to keep the Penton homestead in good working order.

Hi Rob. I don't think by vin # you can ID it as an ISDT machine, as to the best of my knowledge no such records exist.   See if it has dual coils or at least dual coil mounts. How about a center stand. The build date could rule it out as an ISDT machine as the ones I have known to be ISDT machines were built just before the event, maybe a month or 2 before. Hope this helps. Paul

The Penton Owners Group is pleased to announce that the newly created John Penton signature hats are now available online. Available in either green or grey, these hats are of the highest quality. Just click the link to The POG Shop to place your order.  Your purchases help to fund the POG in its mission and are greatly appreciated. While ordering your hats, be sure to buy yourself some tickets for the POG raffle bike. Please feel free to repost / share this message on other Facebook pages, such as ISDT Reunion pages and / or other motorcycle pages that are appropriate. https://www.pentonusa.org/shop/

Boxing with JP, well, sort of !
It would sometimes take a day or so to load the Cycleliner for a trip out west to run the ISDT Qualifiers. The Pentons and the Leimbachs always made sure that when I was in town helping to get ready for a trip, that I had a nice place to stay, and some good home cooked meals. One evening over dinner at John's home, John stated that after dinner he was going to go to the Penton Honda retail dealership to collect boxes that were needed the next morning at Penton Imports, to pack and ship Penton parts orders in. I offered to go along and help, and John quickly accepted my offer, possibly this had been his plan !
Soon enough, John was backing his pickup to the rear door of the Penton Honda shop, and as he opened up the door there sat a nice pile of boxes. We started to pack the boxes together and carry them out to his truck. Pretty soon, there was just one lone box remaining, and as I started to pick it up John said to let it sit. "That is bait", he said, "if we take that one, the next time I come for boxes they will be thrown all over the back of this place, if we leave that one, they will aim for it and a nice pile will develop!"
Pretty soon, we had the boxes delivered to Penton Imports where Elmer Townie and his crew of parts pickers would find them in the morning. In due time, those boxes would be delivering Penton parts to Penton and Hi-Point dealers all over the country. As for me, in a couple of hours I would be at Tommy's pool hall in downtown Amherst with Jack and the boys having a cool one and shooting pool.
So, here we are about 50 years later, and pretty much every time I see a pile of cardboard boxes, I think back to the lesson that John Penton taught me that evening. As for learning lessons from JP, pretty much all through the years when John and I would get together, he would soon enough be leaning over and telling me of some sort of adventure he got into and how it all worked out. Thank you, John Penton, for all of the life's lessons well learned !

Here are a few pictures of the POG area from York. Under the leadership of POG President Rick Bennett, we had a really, really great team of folks working together at York representing the POG and the works of John Penton. It was a pleasure to spend time with not only those folks, but all of the Penton enthusiasts who stopped by the POG area, both young and old, and we sure had some incredible youngsters stop by. Cardboard John had a smile on his face the ENTIRE weekend !