March madness......or.... Dear John

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

    Like many of you, this time of year I constantly hear the term "March madness" and I got to wondering just where that term began, and I do have a theory...

    It all started 49 years ago, on March 7th. 1968, when the first 10 serial production Penton Sportcycles arrived at the airport in Cleveland, Ohio.  

    Wally Wilford, Doug's dad, was sent by John Penton to haul them back to Amherst from the airport. When Wally arrived back at the shop with the precious cargo they were immediately unloaded. 6 of the Pentons were taken from their shipping crates and placed on wooden milk crates which John had borrowed late one evening about 9 years before from the local dairy, and the work began.

   You see the 6 brand spanking new Pentons were going to be ridden in the Stone Mountain national enduro that Sunday, March 10th, and they needed be enduro prepared and loaded for the trip south in less than 24 hours. The six riders, John and Tom Penton, Leroy Winters, Al Born,  Dave Mungenast and Larry Maiers were all in the shop and hard at work.

   As the story goes, it was in the wee hours of the morning when Larry Maiers asked aloud if the larger of the two wheels went on the front or the back of the machine that John exploded..."this damn March madness is going to drive me crazy" he exclaimed !

  So, now that you know where the term March madness began, possibly some of you might be inclined to tell your Penton Owners Group message board family about your own March madness. In following the recent posts with requests for a wide range of items, as well as some advice, it seems that March madness is occurring in many of your shops as you prepare for the upcoming season.

    As for the Dear John in the subject line. John Penton is absolutely amazed, as well as extremely proud of the continued popularity of his Penton Sportcycle after all of these years. At 91 years of age and with his Sportcycle almost half a century old, it will be very rewarding to him to hear of your plans for your Penton in the upcoming season, be it riding, racing or restoring...your know, the three "Rs"....

  Rest assured, if you tell us of your own "March madness" the story will be relayed to John Penton at the next POG meeting and it will most assuredly brighten his day, and that in turn should brighten yours !

Paul

[Boyd Riggs]

Good stuff Paul! Plan on having the '74 1/2 Hare Scrambler ready by summer and a '75 Orange tank black cylinder head 125 right behind that. I enjoy so much reading the adventures and fixes here at POG.

Boyd Riggs

[rob w]

Thanks Paul,
An old friend Bill and I both bought new 125 Penton's in 1972 from Lake Cycle in Grand Haven, Mich, when we were 16 years old. Like myself, through the years he has always continued his interest in motorcycling. Usually buying a new motocross bike every year or two, but has never tried going back to the vintage bikes. Now 45 years later, I've finally peaked his interest in racing a Penton again, and the fun there is in competing in vintage motocross. I'm currently building him a 1975 Mint 400, and our plans this year are to attend the September races at Red Bud, MI, and Byron, IL.

[Mick Milakovic]

MAY MADNESS for me - The Burr Oak Enduro was always run the first weekend in May.  Always wet and muddy in Shelby, Indiana along the Kankakee River bayous.  My brothers' first race in 1968 on a BSA Victor and I'm too young to play:  14 years old and still wet behind the ears.  I loved walking through the woods at the gas stops to see the best action, and these little red and green-tanked bikes were zipping through the woods.  Didn't know what or who the Pentons were, but I knew that was the way to best get through the woods!

Mick

[fischercycle]

Hello , Paul you are so right,WE NOW HAVE ON the bench 9 nine sachs engines 6 125cc 3 100cc and one 1 175 ktm engine all needed to be done yesterday, CONRAD PFEIFER, AND MYSELF HAVE BEEN BURNING PAST THE LATE SHIFT  AND WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF  MIDNITE OIL, JUST TO KEEP UP NOT COUNTING ALL THE HUSQVARNA SERVICE, WE ARE NOT TAKING ANY MORE REPAIRS AS OF 3/1/17, I CAN SAY ONE GOOD THING J.P. IS SURE KEEPING MY DOORS OPEN , WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON,:D[] AND FOR ME WHEN WE CATCH UP SUN IN THE[8D] THANKS TO THE POG WEB SITE [^] JAKE

[Husky]

Paul:  I hope some of the POG members plan to attend the vintage motocross in Jefferson, Texas this April.  Diamond Don does a wonderful job of hosting racers from all across the country.  I plan to race my recently restored and autographed 74 1/2 Harescrambler at the cross country on Friday. Will also bring my 88 Husky Auto as well as a recently acquired "in need of love" 72 Hodaka for conversation purposes.

1970 Hodaka Super Rat
1974 Penton Harescrambler
1988 Husqvarna Auto
2004 KTM 450 EXC

[fischercycle]

Hello , Paul you are so right,WE NOW HAVE ON the bench 9 nine sachs engines 6 125cc 3 100cc and one 1 175 ktm engine all needed to be done yesterday, CONRAD PFEIFER, AND MYSELF HAVE BEEN BURNING PAST THE LATE SHIFT  AND WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF  MIDNITE OIL, JUST TO KEEP UP NOT COUNTING ALL THE HUSQVARNA SERVICE, WE ARE NOT TAKING ANY MORE REPAIRS AS OF 3/1/17, I CAN SAY ONE GOOD THING J.P. IS SURE KEEPING MY DOORS OPEN , WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON,:D[] AND FOR ME WHEN WE CATCH UP SUN IN THE[8D] THANKS TO THE POG WEB SITE [^] JAKE

[Husky]

Paul:  I hope some of the POG members plan to attend the vintage motocross in Jefferson, Texas this April.  Diamond Don does a wonderful job of hosting racers from all across the country.  I plan to race my recently restored and autographed 74 1/2 Harescrambler at the cross country on Friday. Will also bring my 88 Husky Auto as well as a recently acquired "in need of love" 72 Hodaka for conversation purposes.

1970 Hodaka Super Rat
1974 Penton Harescrambler
1988 Husqvarna Auto
2004 KTM 450 EXC