Non Breather & High Breather Parts Interchange?

[Keith Meatyard]

I have three 175 Jackpiners, two complete (one untouched original) and the third, 80% there basketcase.  I discovered that one is a Hi Breather.  The frame numbers look like so:
7-30261863 - The original bike with alum fenders and kickstand mounted underneath swingarm, Bing carb, Girlings, early chain guard.
7-30262792 - Basket case, kickstand on side of swingarm, Bing, later design chain guard.
7-30464908 - Running bike, kickstand on side of swingarm, later chain guard, Bing, but... Hi Breather frame.
I want to combine parts from two to make the best bike, and was wondering if the swingarms and airboxes are the same between the latter two, the Non and Hi Breather.  Based on the frame numbers, it appears that the frame design may have changed sometime between Feb and April?  Are all three of these considered '73 models?

Keith Meatyard

[joe novak]

Keith,  Just be thankful that none of your three Pentons came with an Awful carburator, Oh, I mean Amal...   Any of the three can be made to run the BEST.  You may prefer the high-breather frame if you might ride in wet or muddy conditions.  Some claim (especially the West Coast riders) that the non-high breather frames are preferred because they are lighter.  For someone who might pack 50 pounds of mud on their Penton, weight of the frame won't make a difference.  Why not make the two running Pentons the BEST of the three?  Check your triple clamps.  The 32mm forks could be mounted in two different types of triple clamps.  One set was wider than the other, which I believe had four hex-head bolts on each fork tube.  The other type of narrower clamps had two hex-head bolts on each fork tube.  To some, it is desireable to keep an original Penton in it's original condition, especially if it has the aluminum fenders.   Joe

[gooddirt]

Right off you have two types of air boxes, the one for the HB frame will fit that frame only. The rear rim on some of the early 72's were wider. The carb to air box boot are smaller on the Amal carb maybe.  Some of the early pipes are not the same in the front sections but should mount fine. I think all the 175 had 32mm 7in travel forks (the four pinch bolt triples). LG