What year??

[OGR250Junior]

I recently acquired what I believe to be an early 70's model 175cc Penton (enduro version). Please understand that I am learning about the Penton / KTM experience, but am still confused on when Pento became KTM. I hear a lot of people say they have a Penton, but then look at the side of their case and read KTM. I am in this same situation. The side of my case says KTM, but the bike looks strangely similar to the bike shown in the April 2002 picture on this website. Anyhow, this bike has Preston Petty fenders, a plastic tank, and the leather tool pouch and tank strap. The number stamped into the steering head is (7-30565234). Any ideas on the model, does anyone have original information including pictures, etc. I want to restore this bike right and get it as original as possible. I greatly appreciate any help, and I appologize for my ignorance. Thanks!

 

[Bob]

What Year Is It?
The following is a listing of Penton motorcycles by year and what to look for:

The Steel Tank Bike Era

1968 – (Starting Serial no. V001) non-high breather frame with cast aluminum mid frame air box – short seat – 35mm Cerianni forks (30" from top to bottom) with long rubber accordion boots – 4 bolt  rear sprocket carrier (part of hub assy.) – long steel chain guard (20" across the top) – curved style center stands – Sachs motor with cast iron cylinder with butch cut heads. Come with Magura ISDT style controls.

1969 – (serial no. V1360) same as 1968 except – short aluminum or steel chain guard (11" across the top) – high breather frame – skid plate welded on bottom of frame – round air box.

1970 – (serial no. V2117) same as 1970 except – most came with longer seat (20" long) – 35mm Cerianni front forks came with short rubber boots – straight style center stand – a 7" frame extension was added on the bottom left side of frame to hold a down style exhaust pipe – gas tanks have holes  for tank bags – Sachs motors came with radial aluminum heads.

1971 – (serial no. V4578) identical to 1970 except for triangular shaped gussets on rear motor mounts to back of frame tubes.

NOTE: Serial numbers shown for the 1968 thru 1971 "steel tank" bikes are for reference only. Your bike could have a lower serial number for any given year.

The Chromemolly Frame Era

1972 – Sachs 100 & 125s and first year for the KTM 175. Cerianni 32mm front forks. Chromemolly frame with round tube for backbone under gas tank. 175 has a black KTM motor with flat side cases. Exhaust pipes have a metal heat shield. Fiberglas air boxes and gas tanks are painted Red for 100, Green for 125 and Blue for 175. Small White "Penton" decals on upper front part of gas tank with name of bike and two White stripes under it. Air boxes come equipped with a triangular shaped aluminum cover that also forms an oval number plate. All bikes come with alloy front and rear fenders and the straight rear hubs with sprocket carriers. Come with Magura smooth style levers and metal "quick release" throttles. Gas tanks held in place by leather tank strap.

1973 – First year for the KTM 250 motors and all frames equipped with high breather tube under gas tank. 100s, 125s, & 175s equipped with 32mm Cerianni front forks, 250s with 35mm Cerianni. All bikes come with plastic front and rear fenders. 250s come with small "Penton" decals on the upper front part of Gold painted gas tanks and conical rear hubs.

1974 – All bikes come with 35mm Cerianni front forks and thicker seats with more foam. First year for the 400 KTM motor. All KTM motors are painted Silver and come with a rounded profile clutch case cover. All frames for KTM motors come with flattened rear frame member to allow positioning the rear shocks in a 45 degree (laid back) position. Gas tanks have the long Penton stripe decals. The heat shield for the exhaust pipe is a fiberglass number plate that comes up and over the pipe. The rear fenders are fastened to the frame (rear loop) with a "U" bracket in the center. Rims are high shouldered Akronts. Frames with KTM motors come with conical rear hubs. Magura "Power" levers are used.

1975 – 250s come with Red painted tanks & air boxes. Gas tanks are a low profile design but appear larger in size on the sides and are held down by two spring tensioned cables.

1976 – Last year for Sachs powered 100 & 125s. First year for the KTM 125 motor and MC5 series frame. Rear frame loop behind seat is eliminated, rear fender comes bolted to the rear seat. Air boxes are aluminum and color for all bikes is Orange. Rear shocks are mounted at 45 degree position. Front  forks are leading axle Cerianni or Marzocchi. GS (enduro) models use same frame style as 74 & 75 but gas tanks have a "Penton" decal and Black & White "L" shaped stripe decal running from front of tank to about halfway then angling up to the top. KTM powered bikes come with Marzocchi gas charged  rear shocks, and low shoulder alloy Sun rims.

1977 – New frame design for GS-6 series is a wide high breather backbone with aluminum air box and 45 degree mounted Marzocchi gas shocks. All bikes come with leading axle 35mm Marzocchi front forks. GS series use same gas tank design and lettering as the 1976 but use a leather strap to hold it down. MC series gas tanks have a large "PENTON" decal surrounded by a "C" shaped Black 7 White stripe. All bikes are equipped with a longer designed plastic front fender.

NOTE: All 1972 thru 1977 Penton motorcycles have an 8 digit serial number stamped on the steering head of the frame. The actual serial number is the last 5 digits. The 3 digits preceding the 5 digits is the date code. The first digit indicates the year, the second two digits indicate the month. For example, a serial number of 30161040 would be January of 1973. Some bikes have an extra two digits of "54" stamped on them. An example of 54 41078651 would indicate an October of 1974 date.

To determine the year of a KTM motor, you need to find the serial number. For this, look for the number stamped on the engine case, just below the bottom cooling fin of the cylinder, on the ignition side of the motor. The serial number is coded with the first number determining the year and the next two determining what size the motor is. If the first number is a "3" then the year is 1973, a "4" would be 1974, and so forth. The following is a list of motor sizes: 51=125cc, 52=175cc, 54=250cc, 55=400cc. Thus a motor number beginning with 654 would indicate that it is a 1976 250cc.

All KTM motors also have date stamps as part of their castings. They have small clocks with an arrow in the center pointing to one of the numbers from 1 thru 12. The numbers indicate the months of the year with the arrow pointing to the month of manufacture. Under the arrow is a two digit number indicating the year. The motor cases also have cast-in part numbers. These again follow the codes for motor size by observing the first two digits (e.g. 52 indicates 175cc).


 

[Bob]

Pentons were built by KTM in Austria using either Sachs ( German ) or KTM ( Austrian ) motors. They were built to Penton's ( Ohio, USA ) specs.

Bob

 

[OGR250Junior]

Thanks for the help. From your information and the picture at this website, deductive reasoning tells me it is a 1972 175. It has a black KTM motor, plastic air box, metal heat shield for pipe, etc. Wish I had the original tank though. Maybe I'll come across one somewhere. Thanks again!

 

[Dennis D]

I think that Mark Annan has a tank for your bike. He is on this site regularly and will probably see your post. Dennis

 

[Rocket]

ORG250
If your serial number is 305, your bike was made in May of 1973.  What part of the country are your from?  I had a 73 175 that I put a green enduro tank on and removed the small blue mx tank.  I am from Ilinois.
Rocket

 

[OGR250Junior]

Thanks for the added information. I live in Corydon, IN (near Louisville); the bike was originally purchased and subsequently beat on by my father-in-law in the early 70's. It has been sitting in his old leaking shop since around 1975. What a shame! Anyhow, he stopped racing enduros and ultimately riding when his kids came along (guilt trip from the wife). We started riding off-road again in 1998 and are both in love with the sport and also our stable of KTM's. Thank heavens for John Penton and his revolution! Well, we dug out this old Penton and also his old Husky automatic. He is restoring the Husky and I am starting on the Penton. Thanks again for the help folks!