Can You Guess The Riders On The Homepage Photo?

[Admin]

Can you guess the riders on the homepage photo?[8D]

//www.pentonusa.org

Have fun!

[rob w]

004 and 006, a desert race maybe. The rider on the right for some reason reminds me of Doug Wilford.

[Steve Minor]

The homepage photo I see is of a muddy Berkie with Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from POG.....Am I missing something?

Steve Minor

[Mike Rosso]

Go to the Home Page and try hitting "F5" to refresh it ?

[Steve Minor]

Got it Mike.....Thanks

Steve Minor

[Tom Penton]

I'll go with (L to R) Paul Danik and Doug Wilford. And what with the Texas/military look in the background, I'll hazard a guess at Ft Hood.

Tom Penton

[fischercycle]

TO ME IT LOOKS LIKE LARRY MEIRS WAY OUT FRONT ON THE LEFT RIDING A STEEL TANKER 100CC AND GUNNER LINDSTRUM WAY IN THE BACK ON RIGHT RIDING A HUSKY 400CC. WITH A PENTON SHIRT,THATS MY BEST ALTZEIMERS GUESS.

[slvrbrdfxr]

Interesting picture for sure. Clothing the guys in the background have on are particularly interesting as my first thought of their attire was European but then after a closer look it seems more of a military design. With that in mind, my guess is going to be 1975 ISDT Qualifier in Ft. Hood, TX with Dane Liembach on the left riding his signature Berkshire and on the right is Dan Young riding a Jackpiner.
Dave McC

[firstturn]

It is Doug and Paul at Fort Hood Texas.


Ron Carbaugh

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

   Tom and Ron have properly identified the riders in the photo, Doug Wilford and myself, and the location. The photo was taken on day 2 of the 1973 Fort Hood, Texas ISDT Qualifier during the final Special Test MX, it was Sunday April 1, 1973. I have no recollection of how I attained the photo, but it is priceless to me as it provides the catalyst for several stories of why my passion for all things Penton runs as deep as it does.

   Although I had ridden  a fair number of National Enduros and an Inter AM Moto Cross Series event, in my mind they both paled in comparison to riding the ISDT Qualifier. As anyone who ever spent any time around John Penton "back in the day" can tell you, John Penton spoke of the ISDT in such reverence and referred to it so frequently that the event was soon engrained in my mind as a larger than life event, and now I had an opportunity to possibly get to ride in one if only I could prove myself worthy.

   I rode both days of the event with a little to much gusto, punishing my machine as well as my body with some serious soil sampling around the Fort Hood property. I was looking forward to the final Special Test and soon the flag dropped and away we went. About 1/2 way thru the event the right side of my handlebar, throttle and all, broke off in my hand. I took the broken handlebar and jammed it down behind the front number plate so I could still twist the throttle and continued on, at of course a much slower pace.

   As I came past the main flagman he had the black flag in his hand and pointed it at me, indicating I should pull out of the race, having respect for his authority I did so. As I stopped my Penton I was approached by John Penton and he asked me why I had stopped and I told him of being black flagged, to which he responded. "No one can ever tell you when you should quit, only you can decide when and if you ever quit", John was easily heard over the sound of the machines on the track ! I instantly kicked the machine back to life and off I went, having realized whom had the most authority in this situation and learning first hand how John Penton viewed such situations.

   We loaded the bus after the event and headed to Amarillo, Texas and did repairs and preparations for the Potosi, Missouri event which took place the following weekend. Later in the week and at the invitation of Dave Mungenast we pulled the bus into his Doe Run Cycle Park to put a little time on the machines and make sure all preparations were in order. At the request of Dave Mungenast, Jack and Dane worked together to get the bus properly parked in such a way to show the Doe Run Cycle park sign and allow for a photo.

   Dave, camera in hand, wanted a Team photo with the bus as a backdrop. Although I had traveled with the Team I most certainly did not feel I was truly a part of The Team and started to move myself and my machine out of camera range. As I was doing so Jack and Dane called out for me to get my Penton and get into the photo, a gesture that I will never forget. That picture is on page 97 of the John Penton book.
 
   I earned a Gold Medal at Potosi and had earned a Silver Medal at Fort hood. Soon we were back in Lorain at the R & D building and had unloaded the bus and my Mom had driven over to pick me and my gear up. She said for me to make sure to ask Mr. Penton what I owed for being taken along on the trip and being provided with motel space, parts and support. Just then I saw John on the sidewalk in front of the R & D building and went over to him. " I owe you money for parts and motel room and travel" I said to him, to which he replied, "Paul Danik you don't owe me anything, and there is a container of motorcycles on its way to the port and when it arrives there is a new motorcycle in it for you"!

   I told that story in the John Penton movie and my emotions showed thru even after all of these years. I asked Todd Huffman if we could reshoot the interview and he just smiled at me and said "no way".

   Even though the Fort Hood , Texas photo is a bit faded, my memories of that event are still pretty fresh. It is very appropriate that Doug is in the photo as he was the person at Penton Imports who invited me to travel in the Cycle Liner when I had called out to Lorain to see if they could transport my cycle.

   On a side note, the trip in the Cycle Liner was such a big deal to me that I took a camera with me and crawled thru the maze of cycles and gear as we traveled and snapped a number of photos. When Todd Huffman was making the John Penton movie he said they might have to buy a Crown bus and repaint it as he wanted to include the Cycle Liner in the movie but had come up short on any photos of it. I told him I had some and he instantly asked if I would gather them up and send them to him, which I did, and a number of them are used in the movie to help tell the Cycle Liner story. He decided that buying a bus and repainting it wasn't necessary.

   The kindness and generosity shown to me in this trip and forever afterward by John penton, and so many of the Penton family and organization is incredible, and is consistent with stories others have told me over the years. I am, and always will be grateful to John Penton, his family, and the entire Penton organization.

Paul
   
   

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Great story Paul! I was agreeing with the ID of the riders and was going to guess '72 or '73 as Doug had the early USA team helmet on, predating the familiar skunk stripes
   Being from the St. Louis area, I am very familiar with Doe Run Cycle Park. Basically that is where I learned how to ride. I started out with a 90cc Kawasaki, then graduated to a square barrel Berkshire steel tanker Penton, then a '72 Six Days and they all had many miles put on them at Doe Run. Doe Run was such an excellent place to ride my big brother Tom would load up his Ford Country Squire station wagon with camping gear, load the bikes up on his home made trailer, and 20 bucks would get he, my little brother Jim, and myself a whole weekends worth of riding plus gas there and back! Doe Run had a reputation for being very rocky, as most of that area is still today, but you had to realize that rocks roll down hill, and once you got past the rocky sections at the base of the hills, the trails higher up were just awesome. Dave Mungenast and a gentleman named Eddie Vierman would strap a chain saw, an ax and some hand saws to a step through Honda 90 and head up to clear trail and cut new ones when we were there sometimes. To this day I marvel at how fast Dave was on that little Honda with all that stuff strapped to it! When I heard that Dave was bringing the Penton team to Doe Run to spend a week or so there, I started to figure out a way to skip school so I could hang out and ride with them, but my Mom just would not consider it. I was only 14 or 15 and no drivers license or way to get there and back during the week. It still disappoints me today, but Mom had to raise 9 of us by herself, so I didn't fuss over it with her. I just reveled in the fact that I was riding the same trails that you guys were whenever we went down to ride there. I have often told Dave, and recently his son Ray, that if they were ever to have an event where we could ride there again, I wanted to be the first to sign up! That place is sort of my motorcycle "Field of Dreams!" I have that team photo in the book and in a couple of other forms and it's one of my prized possessions. You were one of the riders I looked up to back then and were most definitely considered a member of the Penton Team by us back then!
    Those were definitely great days!
   Type at you later,
  Dan McEntee

[BobJones]

Wow this brings back so many memories for my brother & I. Our Dad retired from the army out of Ft. Hood in 1963. We moved back to Potosi Missouri our Mom's home town. We started racing dirt bikes in 1969. We raced Enduros , Hare Scrambles & the occasional 2- day qualifier. In 1975 we decided to go to Ft. Hood to see if we could find the trailer park we grew up in & ride the 2-day. I was on a 74 Hare Scrambler & he was on a 73 Jack Piner. I was passing a guy on the 1st day & he fell into me & put a hole in my gas tank with his handlebar. There was a guy in a jeep that had a fiberglass repair kit we got it fixed but I hour'ed out. Jim made it to the finish but hour'ed out because his rear shocks seized up & he rode a hard tail for the last couple of hours. He was much faster than I & collected a couple of gold medals in the qualifiers. We went on to open a motorcycle dealership in 1977 & did very well. We sold it in 2015. We are now both retired but the memories of racing & riding Penton's will stay with us forever. I think the perseverance it took to finish & never give up in an Enduro was  one of the reasons for our success. Keep up the great stories. Bob

Bob Jones
Show-me state
(2)74 Harescramblers,72 Jackpiner,68/69 6-Day,73 Harescrambler.