In John Penton's world "Just a little drive"

[Rick Bennett]

Thursday I decided it was time to pick up a Six Days purchased from Larry Perkins a couple months ago, 30262922. Ohio, Indiana and Illinois still want you to stay home except for essential travel. What could be more important than another Penton? This one is for my son in law Nick. He already has a shop full of two wheel machines but has wanted a Penton. If I only stop for fuel and sanitize when done it should be no problem. Left Thompson at 7:00am, arrived in Sherman, Illinois at 3:30 (gained an hour), back on the road 20 minutes later, and home by midnight. 1100 miles in 17 hours. Dropped it off at Nick's house Saturday morning. He is stoked. It will make a nice AHRMA racer. Anyone go further to pick up a Penton?

[firstturn]

Kerrville Texas to Amherst Ohio.  1500 miles each way.  It was worth it and would do it again.

Ron Carbaugh

[454MRW]

Not as far but Newton Illinois to Denver and back 1932 round trip plus some extra miles in between to pick up a Penton for Larry Perkins, and for other bikes along the trip for myself and another person, including a rare cat for Madison. Left Sunday evening returning this Tuesday evening.

Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1976 Penton MC5 400
1977 KTM MC5 125
1978 KTM 78 GS6 250
L78-79 MX6 175-250 KTM's
1976-78 125-400 RM's
2007 CR125R Honda
1977 MC250 Maico
2017 KTM Freeride 250R

[Larry Perkins]

As always thank you Mike.  In case there is anyone in Pentonia that does not know Mike hauls bikes, does an excellent job, and is reasonable.  He also has a great love for Pentons.  

Larry P

[Tom Penton]

Ron, I attended the wedding of my niece Holly there in Kerrville a few years back. She's a Texas State Park Ranger.

Tom Penton

Tom Penton

[firstturn]

If you ever get back this way please look me up.  We live on the Guadalupe River  (the river that runs through Kerrville).

Ron Carbaugh

[Bill Campbell]

Late 1976-hitch hiked from Canberra to Perth WA to find myself. Didn't do that so went down to Bunbury WA to meet the original KTM importer for Auatralia. Saw my first 6 Days but it had seen better days. Got the Dirt Rider magazine that had Jack Penton captioned on the worlds tallest trailbike. Hitch hiked back to Canberra via Melbourne to check out the new range of KTMs at the new Aussie importer Bert Flood. Liked what I saw and a month or two later bought my 250 MC5 that I still have. 8000 kms I guess.

[Paul Danik]

Bill,

   If my math is correct you hitch hiked 4,970 miles !
If so, I am sure you could write a book about that adventure, incredible to say the least

   Possibly you could make a Penton / KTM commercial that would make this one look silly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIxtnMfCURs

Paul

[Bill Campbell]

Cheers Paul. Unfortunately my book writing is as good as my mechanicing.I do remember a few incidents. I caught a lift with a truckie who shared a beer (good old long necks) or two with me. Figured I should drink so he would not get too drunk. We stopped at the next town to get more beer! Got asked to hitch hike from the town limits in a very little place called Ceduna by the local constabulary.Guess he didn't like the long hair. Caught a lift from there in an Austin 1800 with two kids and a dog. Within 100kms we had rescued a young couple with a baby and took them across the Nullabor Plain to Kalgoolie. I also remember sleeping under a country bridge and staying awake all night listening to the drop bears(google that one). I think i am mixing a few journies in there. I have driven to Perth twice and driven back once. i have hitch hiked there once and hitch hiked back twice. I have also ridden a BMW R65 over and back. Also flown back and forth a few times as well.

ps sorry I don't smoke

[conrad2]

Bill, Maybe your trip wouldn't have taken as long if you were thumbing from the correct side of the road!
Great story and lifetime adventure
Conrad

Conrad Pfeifer
of Mars PA, Home of The Paul Danik Presidential Library

[61rover]

Mike want to hear something funny?  I tried to buy the 125 you picked up in Denver.  It was 10 minutes from my house.

Instead, I bought a 175 in Wisconsin and am driving this weekend from Denver to pick it up.  We should have traded lol.

John Crouse
74.5 Jackpiner 175

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,
 
   One of the longest Cycleliner trips I was involved in was from the Penton R & D building in Lorain, Ohio to Barstow, California for an ISDT Qualifier. With multiple drivers it really doesn't rank with the trips already mentioned, but it was the parking of the Cycleliner in the motel parking lot once we arrived that motivated me to make mention of it. Possibly some of you long time message board members have heard this one before....

   Dane Leimbach was at the wheel of the Cycleliner when we arrived in Barstow and made our way to the hotel where we were going to stay. The blacktop parking lot was quite large and Dane wheeled the bus around to an out of the way area.

   Dane was a very, very precise person in everything that he did, as he was slowly backing the bus into the parking spot he was using the left and right side mirrors to be sure that the white lines on the blacktop were of equal distance from the dual rear wheels.  Suddenly there was a thud and a jolt and the bus stopped dead in its tracks, Dane had a startled look on his face and in a moment he had the parking brake on and the door opened and we all scampered out to see just what had happened.

   Turned out there was one of those large parking lot light posts at the rear of the parking spot and with no rear window in the bus it had remained unnoticed to Dane as he squared up the bus to back it in. After a moment to digest just what had happened Dane pulled his ever-present tape measure from his pocket and measured the location of the dent in the bumper. " Look at that, DEAD CENTER " Dane exclaimed with a beaming smile on his face...

Tom, I am thinking you were on this trip as well. I remember that we were required to have a canteen of water on us at the starting line as we headed out, and you were the envy of many as you had your Army belt and canteen, if my memory is correct.

Paul

[Mike Rosso]

I showed Mr. Penton this photo at a POG meeting a few years ago ('17) that was taken by a friend of Kent Howerton's of JP, Kent and myself. Kent had sent it to me just a few years before that meeting and I wanted to see if JP might remember where it was taken? John not only knew where it was taken but EXACTLY what year it was taken....I was floored when he said "Mike that was the 1985 Colorado 500 and that's Kent, you and me at Wally Dallenbach's ranch" WOW 32 years later and still sharp in his mind. I knew it was '85 but only because that was the then fairly new 1985 Ford E350 van (with a 6.9 diesel) that wasn't painted the dark blue KTM logo color and also not lettered up yet. That happened a few months later after this photo in '85 along with the painting and graphics to the matching blue Hi-Point trailer. John and I towed a white Hi-Point trailer behind that van from Amherst to the Aspen/Basalt Colorado 500 charity ride filled with ride bikes and support spares that year and several times in later years. What would normally be a 23+ hour one way trip usually would be a 17-19 hour trip with only rest room, fuel and filling John's thermos with BLACK coffee and two large cups to go. The van had the double fuel tanks and that made for some quick rest area or side of the road relief stops from all that coffee. It was just John and I and as some know John always wants to get there as quick as possible, I was scared that I would come out of the rest room at a fuel stop and find John and the van gone with him thinking I was in the back of the van still asleep. I know we had the Hi-Point trailer behind it in the photo as we already had the "west coast" Velvac mirrors on it.

[Mike Rosso]

The story continues a few years and decades later.

A few years later the Penton/KTM group had made a pretty good reputation at the Colorado 500 with event rider support and rider skill level and the number of off road motorcycle industry leaders that participated (a lot on KTM's). And by then the E350 and Hi-Point trailer were painted Penton/KTM/Ford corporate BLUE. I eventfully ended up with the E350 in the photo and restored it and just had to have something to remember all of the good and long drives in that van with John. I still drive it a lot and every time I get in it I take a look at the inside of the door(s) and smile.










(BTW that's the Leimbach "End-O-Way" farm (land) in the Ford van photo background as we live a tenth of a mile from the Leimbach home, surrounded by EOW farm land. We've lived here for the last 30+ years, friends and neighbors )