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The Sachs cutaway engine that is now on display at Ray Mungenast's Museum, was originally displayed at Penton Imports. I do not know if it was cutaway by the folks at Penton Imports, if so, possibly John's brother Ted did the cutting away, or did the folks at Sachs do the cutaway. My first recollection of that engine was when it was displayed on a pedestal in the hallway of the Penton Imports building on West Erie Avenue, possibly around 1973 -74. I was always fascinated by it and would often take a few minutes to check it out. The proto model Penton was also displayed in that hallway, if my memory is correct.

Fast forward a good many years, possibly the early 1990's. I would stop by and visit with Dane Leimbach at the ignition business which was being run out of a section of the KTM building on the property where KTM is now located. I always had questions for Dane about the Penton Sportcycle era, and we would talk Penton history. One day Dane asked if I had my pickup, which I did. He then asked me to follow him home as he had some items to show me. At the Leimbach farm, next to the old farmhouse, was an old garage. Dane had me back up to the door and when he opened the garage door, I was shocked at what was sitting inside. Sitting on the dirt floor was a treasure of Penton items, including the Sachs cutaway engine. Dane said you are the only one who seems interested in the Penton history and you should be the one to have this stuff. What happened was when Penton was closing up shop, Dane gathered up numerous items that he felt should be preserved and put them in the garage for safe keeping. I climbed into the bed of my truck and Dane just kept handing me the items, I spotted the Sachs cutaway engine and wondered if Dane was going to hand it up to me, which he did. I hauled the truck load of items home and carried them all into the basement for safe keeping.

Possibly about 4 - 5 years later we got the POG off the ground, I made mention of these items and said that they need to belong to the Group. The cutaway engine was looking sad from years of neglect. About that time, I became good friends with Richard Sanders from Texas. Richard's restorations were second to none, one evening I mentioned to Richard how we would like to display the cutaway engine, but it sure could use a refreshing and the POG was looking to get it redone before showing it. Richard instantly offered to redo the engine. I don't remember how we got the engine to Richard in Texas, but sure enough we did and Richard along with his right-hand man, Caption Don, worked their magic on the Sachs cutaway. Richard would not take any payment for his work; he was proud and honored to have restored that incredible piece of Penton Sportcycle history.  A side note, Richard had hired Lyle Lovette to work in his shop when Lyle was young, and Lyle got to meet John Penton at a dealer service school.  Years later, when Todd Huffman asked Lyle about narrating the John Penton movie, Lyle instantly agreed to do so. I talked with Lyle at VMD a few weeks back and we were reminiscing about Richard Sanders, Lyle got a smile on his face and unbuttoned his dress shirt enough to show me his Cycle Shack T-shirt that he had on underneath. Cycle Shack was the name of Richard's shop.

Olie and Al Martin made the storage / display box for the Sachs engine. After displaying it at numerous events for a number of years, the cutaway Sachs spend a number of years in storage. We wanted to get the cutaway Sachs somewhere where it would be seen and appreciated, fortunately Ray Mungenast provided us with that location, thank you very much Ray! Sorry for the long-winded reply Gary, but numerous folks deserved to be given credit for their efforts in preserving and displaying that incredible piece of Penton Sportcycle history.

The August Penton Owners Group meeting will take place on Thursday August 1st. in the Jackpiner room, located inside the KTM office building just west of beautiful downtown Amherst, Ohio. The meeting will commence at 7pm and one does not need to be a POG member to attend.

The attached photo was taken after the July POG meeting. The folks in the photo are as follows. Front row left to right, John Penton, Jack Penton, Alan Buehner and Rick Bennett.  Second row, left to right, Karen Turner, Bill Smith, Larry Maiers, Jim Reed, Paul Arthur Busick, Paul Danik, Greg Troyan, Matt Weisman, Barb Wiesman, Jim Borer, Scott Brogan, John Borer and Tom Worcester.

Matt Weisman, who was the man in charge of promoting the Penton Sportcycles and the Hi-Point line of products with literature and the Keeping Track newsletters,  gave a very heartfelt explanation of how he made a sincere effort to acknowledge the efforts of the amature Penton riders in his newsletters. Matt also made mention of how any letters that arrived at Penton Imports addressed to John Penton or Penton Imports, always got a personal reply. Matt was also the man behind creating numerous movies for Penton Imports, such as the 1973, 1974 and 1975 ISDT movies. Matt had a very creative and dedicated right hand woman by his side helping with all of the above and much, much more in his wife Barb.

It was a real joy just to sit and listen to Matt tell of his days working with John Penton "back in the day", and rest assured John had a smile on his face as he listened to Matt reminisce of those days and say how much he enjoyed them and working with John. It was most certainly a very special meeting.

Hope to see you Thursday.
Paul

It is with great sadness that I pass along the word that Connie del Solar has passed away. Young Ted said Connie passed away peacefully last night. Young Ted and Connie have been a valued part of the Penton Owners Group Family for many, many years, Connie will be greatly missed by all who ever met her.

The attached photo of Young Ted and Connie is from one of the Penton Day at the AMA meetings. Young Ted and Connie always made the long- distance trip to those meetings, as well as the Penton Owners Group Family night gatherings.

May you rest in peace Connie.

Paul

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On the way home from a west coast trip that was part vacation and part Penton pickup, we just happened to get off interstate 80 at the LeClaire, Iowa exit. If LeClaire, Iowa rings a bell, possibly that is because it is the home of the American Pickers. The American Pickers store / headquarters is only a few miles from the exit and I highly recommend a stop there if you are in the area. Possibly some of you on the way to VMD, or maybe on the road home, will be passing by LeClaire. They are open 7 days a week. Finding the American Pickers shop is quite easy. Get off 80 at the LeClaire exit, go upriver till you see the B.P. station on your left, the American Pickers home base sits up behind the B.P. station. The river is the mighty Mississippi.
We arrived there before they were scheduled to open, and I figured the doors would not open till the prescribed time. The gals that run the place were busy placing some items outside and as soon as that was done they invited us and the others who were on hand to go on in, maybe 15 - 20 minutes early. Both buildings were spotless inside and the grounds were well maintained. I was amazed at how spotless all of the displayed items were and commented to one of the gals about it, she said they are constantly rearranging displays and performing housekeeping duties.
I was also surprised to see some items priced very reasonably, $ 20.00 and under. Of course there are high priced items as well, but we were able to pick up some items for friends and the grandkids without busting the bank. The American Pickers coin banks made great gifts for the grandkids, but those boys also expect me to help them fill them !!!  Mike Wolfe wrote a nice children's book titled "Kid Pickers, how to turn junk into treasure." I was impressed to see the attention paid to the youngsters with the book and the coin banks.
If you are crossing the Mississippi River on interstate 80, jump off at the LeClaire exit and spend an hour or so at the American Pickers headquarters. If you do, I hope you find it as entertaining, interesting and educational as we did. If they are filming, the original building may be closed to visitors.
https://antiquearchaeology.com/pages/locations

I have thought how it might be nice to have Penton Owners Group mousepads made up with the website address on them. If they were not to $$ possibly send one out to each member as a Christmas gift in the December newsletter. Possibly calling the POG website the Encyclopedia of all things Penton. Just my 2 cents....  I wonder if the younger guys would need to google encyclopedia.....

AS much as there are costs associated with the POG website, if I understand correctly the lack of postings and reads, is being interpreted as a lack of need by the folks who do the heavy lifting to keep the website up and running on a daily basis. Those folks handle a lot of issues from "behind the curtain", as the saying goes. The offers of more $$ to keep this site up and running are surely appreciated, but as with a lot of Penton Owners Group activities, manpower is more the issue.

The info and photos contained on the POG website are priceless, no question about it, and everyone I have talked to agrees with that fact.

Keep your comments and thoughts coming.

Paul

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Two weeks from today, Saturday April 13th, the Penton Owners Group will be gathering at The AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum located in Pickerington, Ohio. The POG festivities will begin at 1 o'clock. The Museum does open at 9, for those who want to check out all of the displays beforehand.
Besides the abbreviated Penton Owners Group monthly business meeting, an insight into what it was like to be involved with the glory days of the Penton Sportcycle will be provided by Penton employees, riders and dealers who will be interviewed by one of the best moto sports interviewers of all time, Larry Maiers.


The ISDT 73' display will be only a few steps away from our meeting area, getting to see the array of machinery that has been assembled in the display would surely be in itself worth the trip. The owners and caretakers of these incredible machines all deserve a tremendous THANK YOU for their efforts, as do all of the folks who have contributed in any way with the display. We will be having a question-and-answer session as we mingle in the display.   
The Museum has many very interesting displays, including The Hall of Fame area that one will surely want to check out as well. The Museum opens at 9 am in case you want to arrive early and check out all of the displays. Info on The Museum can be found on their website. https://americanmotorcyclist.com/hall-of-fame/   


The photo below, of the 1973 Penton mounted United States Trophy Team, was taken by Jerry West in the Penton apple orchard located just steps from John Penton's home.  Left to right are Jack Penton, Dane Leimbach, Billy Uhl, Carl Cranke, Tom Penton and Jeff Penton.

It is with great sadness that I report that Ed Youngblood has passed away. Ed was an incredible person in so many ways. May you rest in peace, Ed. This link will take you to a very nice piece that tells much about ED.
https://riderfiles.wordpress.com/2024/03/12/ed-youngblood-former-ama-president-dies-at-80/?fbclid=IwAR11BHtY5csvAHvuNQ7nJZYmvUWjy9NfHP2AZ6nLK9vh8-CjIMG8myezA5M

Larry at his best, he will be missed.

POG President Rick Bennett, Larry Maiers and I, along with John's daughter Barb, had a wonderful visit with John Penton on Thursday afternoon, before the POG meeting. John is doing really well and for over an hour many topics were discussed. For anyone who does not know, John is in an assisted living facility about a mile from his home. He keeps up with all the news and he really enjoys having visitors. My only warning for visiting John is to not go near mealtime as John still likes to be first at everything he does. As it gets closer to mealtime, John keeps looking at his watch like an old enduro rider hoping to hit the secret check right on the 30 second mark ! When I mentioned about getting a picture John got a big grin on his face, as you can clearly see.

Greetings. The Penton Owners Group December 7th. meeting is Family Night, when friends, family, as well as any and all interested folks are all invited to join us for an evening of fellowship, food, and oftentimes very special guests.
We are very excited to have as a special guest, Dan Morse, who will be showing his video The Last Jackpiner. This will be the premiere showing of Dan's video and we are honored to have Dan traveling across the country to be on hand.
The meeting will take place in the KTM building located just west of beautiful downtown Amherst, Ohio. Key time is 7 pm. Numerous folks usually bring a dish of some sort and the POG orders pizza and supplies coffee and soft drinks. Trust me when I tell you this is an evening you will not want to miss.
Thank you, Dan, for the incredible story that you have brought to life, and for putting a few thousand miles behind you to be with us for this premiere event.
The official trailer for The Last Jackpiner is below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=ZG_JGR_IIqw

 
It is with great sadness that we tell of the passing of Dave Duarte. Dave had been fighting a tough battle for quite a while. Dave worked at, and eventually ran the Penton West operation. Larry Maiers told me awhile back that what Dave was able to accomplish at Penton West was simply incredible. Dave was a Founding Member of the Dirt Diggers North Motorcycle Club, a fact that he was extremely proud of. Dave was also a Hot Shoe Hall of Fame member.

Dave sure liked to have a good time and was a lot of fun to be around. The picture below from left to right are Dave, John Penton and Carl Cranke. Dave and Carl were the closest of friends.

Dave's Hot Shoe Hall of Fame bio.
https://www.hotshoehof.com/icons/dave-duarte)

The link below will take to Dave's member profile from a Penton Owners Group newsletter. This is MUST read!!!! An incredible story that tells a lot about Dave and much, much more.
https://www.pentonusa.org/dave-duarte/

Rest in peace Dave.

Bill, I emailed Rick with your question so hopefully he will chime in. It is a few decades since I was doing those engines, but if I remember correctly, we used to put a little Loc Tite on the threads of the selector rod to keep the key tight, so that may be making yours a little hard to break loose. I am also thinking that there was a special tool that Hi-Point sold that fit over the end of the rod and fit the area of the rod made for a wrench to fit and a rachet would fit that tool, but I may be wrong. ( long time ago !)   

Hi Bill. I am pretty sure you are a Penton Owners Group member, and you should have a POG newsletter handy. Look inside the front cover and you should see POG President Rick Bennett's email address. Drop Rick a line and he will be able to help you as he is a car engine builder by trade and does Sachs engines as well.

Hope this helps.
Paul

Here is a good one of Al from the 40th. event.