New Penton Fan from Germantown, Tennessee

[johnbowman]

Hello everyone,

My name is John Bowman. I just registered for the forum. I have ridden trials for the past five years in AHRMA. This year, I bought a Honda XR200 to try out cross country. I'm in my fifties and had never raced in the past. I have always enjoyed watching enduro races and anything to do with the ISDT. I figured that it is never too late to do what you love. I completed five cross country events this year.

I raced cross country at Barber this year. I met several of the great people on this forum while at the cross country races (some of them as they blew by me on their Pentons). I met John and Jack Penton at the awards ceremony. I can't tell you how impressed that I am with the whole Penton motorcycle family and riders. After coming home, I ordered the John Penton movie. I watched it as soon as it arrived. After telling my wife about it, she watched it with me again. What a great story!

I was looking for a vintage bike to ride in the cross country series next year. My wife told me that I should get a Penton. After a little digging, I found a bundled deal on three Penton Six Day 125 projects (1972, 1971, and 1969 steel tank) in need of some love. The past few years, I have been rescuing project bikes. I built a 1954 BSA Bantam Plunger Trials from scratch to ride this year.

I'm looking forward to getting the Pentons going. My local bike shop owner started his off-road racing career on a Penton in the 70s. I'm sure that I'll need some help and advice along the way. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have a few questions.

1. Is there a place to officially join the POG?
2. What are the best places for parts? (I've already found Al who was very helpful!)
3. Is there a good place to find set up info for the six days for cross country events? (Gearing, fuel mix, tires, etc.)

Sorry for the long message. Thanks in advance. I look forward to meeting more POG members in the future.

John Bowman
Germantown, TN (right outside of Memphis)

[Larry Perkins]

Welcome to Pentonia!  I have a lot of used Penton parts and some NOS if you are in need.  Feel free to pick my brain anytime.  I raced the Pentons in mostly MX back in The Day and again now so can help on setup of jetting and gearing and hopup if you feel the need.  Enjoy!  Dale Fisher can clue you in on getting all joined!

Larry P

[johnbowman]

quote:Originally posted by Larry Perkins

Welcome to Pentonia!  I have a lot of used Penton parts and some NOS if you are in need.  Feel free to pick my brain anytime.  I raced the Pentons in mostly MX back in The Day and again now so can help on setup of jetting and gearing and hopup if you feel the need.  Enjoy!  Dale Fisher can clue you in on getting all joined!

Larry P

Larry, thanks for the heads up on the parts. I will definitely look you up when I start the project. Do you have a website for the parts?

John

Also, I found the info for the application to the POG on the home page. I just completed my application and will mail it in tomorrow.

[Larry Perkins]

No I sell on eBay, Facebook, and some swapmeets.  My cell is 217-414-2295 and email is [email protected]  Feel free to reach out anytime.

Larry P

[Carl Hill]

Welcome, and caution... this stuff is addictive.
If you need parts and Al or Larry don't have them in stock just post what you are looking for on the forum. We sell/trade stuff all the time.

[skiracer]

Welcome to the group John!  Best of luck with your Penton projects...

1976 250 MC5 Original Owner
1976 Penton 175 XC

[Toolsurfer]

From Gainesboro , TN  . Now reside in Detroit MI but most all family are still in the area . I have a Early Hare Scrambler that I ride and had a Jackpiner also . Good luck with your projects .

[johnbowman]

Thanks for all of the support! I appreciate it. I'm looking forward to next year's cross country season. Now, I just have to get a bike running and hopefully dialed in during the off-season.

[tooclose racing]

Welcome John - I showed up at this site about 12 years ago - young (51), dumb. and full of...well anyway.  My gosh - I just looked it up and saw that my first post was 2007!  I currently race two bikes in AHRMA XC, a 74.5 Jackpiner and a 76/77 MC5 175.  

My first racer was a 72 Penton 125 Six Day.  I was fortunate enough to start with a Tony Friedel restoration/rebuild that was beautiful until I got ahold of it.    You should have found Buehner's on the Supplier page, that link will get you to their website and catalog.  Lots of tuning tips out there for the Six Day, but I principally went with 1) upgrade to 35mm forks from the 73 and later models, 2) decent, "modern" 13.5 inch racing shocks - I used Works Performance, and 3) Renthal mini-high bars.  I used a 28mm Mikuni on my 125, but only because I had issues with my original Bing as I recall.  I currently race a 175 Jackpiner and love the Bing carb with that set-up.  I raced my 125 as an MX set-up, no lights or enduro bag, updated plastic fenders, and I was able to locate a smaller "MX" style tank that was also introduced in 73, but the toaster tank is more immediately recognizable.  ONE MORE THING..my current bikes use electronic ignitions - PVL in my case, but HPI seems to be the best (supported) electronic ignition available.  I know..by the end of this paragraph, you are thinking "ka-ching".  Take baby steps, add a part here, add a part there if that's what your finances dictate.

Your 69 and 71 bikes - if you have the patience and time to do it- can be built into real "collectibles" with much greater value on the market place, or maybe just much prettier to look at in the garage. But I emphasize - patience...and time. And luck. And...I haven't done one myself, but I have witnessed some real "art" around this here POG and various bike shows/festivals with respect to the Steel Tankers.  

As others have said - this site is THE source for advice, parts search, etc.  Good luck with your racing, have fun, crack a rib.  Just kidding.  No I'm not.  [B)]

[Dale Fisher]

Thank you John your membership application has been processed and your first newsletter and documents will be in the mail this afternoon

Welcome to the group!!

Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships - POG Merchandise
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Penton Owners Group - Administrator
Facebook - Cheney Racing Group - Administrator

[johnbowman]

tooclose,

Thanks for the advice. I was thinking along the same lines. I'll keep the steel tank for a restoration project. I plan on using the 72 to race cross country. The 71 was made late in November of 71 so it's a CMF bike. Hopefully, I can piece together a good bike between the 71 and 72. I'll definitely take your suggestions into consideration when I start the process.

After saving a few bikes, I've learned a little patience. I rebuilt a 1952 BSA Bantam from scratch. The parts literally came from all over the world. I searched for four months for a rear plunger axle. I finally found a guy in England that had put one in his storage garage in 1971. Luckily, the one common denominator for motorcyclists is the desire to help each other out. Three months later, I was riding that bike in AHRMA trials.

I have already talked with Mr. Buehner a few times. He is a great source of knowledge.

I came across another Penton project, a 1975 250 Hare Scrambler. I couldn't resist. I'm going to put it on the list of projects. The engine needs a complete rebuild, so it might take a while to get going. After I get the 250 running, I'll have to figure out which bike I like better for AHRMA cross country. It's a hard problem to have!

quote:Originally posted by tooclose racing

Welcome John - I showed up at this site about 12 years ago - young (51), dumb. and full of...well anyway.  My gosh - I just looked it up and saw that my first post was 2007!  I currently race two bikes in AHRMA XC, a 74.5 Jackpiner and a 76/77 MC5 175.  

My first racer was a 72 Penton 125 Six Day.  I was fortunate enough to start with a Tony Friedel restoration/rebuild that was beautiful until I got ahold of it.    You should have found Buehner's on the Supplier page, that link will get you to their website and catalog.  Lots of tuning tips out there for the Six Day, but I principally went with 1) upgrade to 35mm forks from the 73 and later models, 2) decent, "modern" 13.5 inch racing shocks - I used Works Performance, and 3) Renthal mini-high bars.  I used a 28mm Mikuni on my 125, but only because I had issues with my original Bing as I recall.  I currently race a 175 Jackpiner and love the Bing carb with that set-up.  I raced my 125 as an MX set-up, no lights or enduro bag, updated plastic fenders, and I was able to locate a smaller "MX" style tank that was also introduced in 73, but the toaster tank is more immediately recognizable.  ONE MORE THING..my current bikes use electronic ignitions - PVL in my case, but HPI seems to be the best (supported) electronic ignition available.  I know..by the end of this paragraph, you are thinking "ka-ching".  Take baby steps, add a part here, add a part there if that's what your finances dictate.

Your 69 and 71 bikes - if you have the patience and time to do it- can be built into real "collectibles" with much greater value on the market place, or maybe just much prettier to look at in the garage. But I emphasize - patience...and time. And luck. And...I haven't done one myself, but I have witnessed some real "art" around this here POG and various bike shows/festivals with respect to the Steel Tankers.  

As others have said - this site is THE source for advice, parts search, etc.  Good luck with your racing, have fun, crack a rib.  Just kidding.  No I'm not.  [B)]

[johnbowman]

Dale,

Thanks for your help in getting me plugged in to the group. I'm going to need a lot of help and advice. I figured that I should officially join to help support the site and group. I'm already impressed by the passion of the group. To have this level of enthusiasm and support 40 years after production stopped says a lot about the Penton bikes and the family.

John

quote:Originally posted by Dale Fisher

Thank you John your membership application has been processed and your first newsletter and documents will be in the mail this afternoon

Welcome to the group!!

Dale Fisher
Penton Owners Group - Memberships - POG Merchandise
Mudlark Registry
Facebook - Penton Owners Group - Administrator
Facebook - Cheney Racing Group - Administrator