steering head reinforcement plate

[wildman]

Does anyone have some of the reinforcement plates Penton provided to weld under the steering head ? Or possibly directions to make my own? I need one for a 74 Six-days and  possibly for a 74 250. I've got a couple of frame-up restorations to start and I would like to do the reinforcements first. It would give me a little extra confidence, I'm not a lightweight. Thanks, Wildman.

1975 250 Cross Country, 1974 175 Jackpiner, 1975 125

[Mike OReilly]

Many years ago, I did a pilgrimage to Lorain, Ohio to pick up parts (which were unavailable to me in Canada). While at Penton's someone in the R&D shop gave me one of the steering head reinforcing bracket (Thanks) which I duly installed on my Jackpiner.
Fast forward to the 90's when I started racing my 250 (no reinforcing bracket) in AHRMA, going way faster and harder on motocross tracks than I did on the Jackpiner in the woods. I never did encounter a problem with the steering head/frame.
Has anyone had a documented instance of the steering head/frame junction actually cracking? I remember talking to Kevin Brown a few years back (and I suspect that he goes about as fast on Kent's bikes as anyone ever has on a motocross Penton) and about the pounding that the bikes can take on modern tracks. He talked about bending fork tubes but I don't remember anything about the frame.
So I'm not sure how critical the reinforcement piece is - Is it absolutely necessary? Anyone else have anything to add?
Mike

[Heinz Raidel]

I think Kent diagramed this reinforcement in a newsletter, or maybe I just imagined it.  I've bent both frame and forks recently.  Never did back in the day.  Could be the pounds and not the pounding?

-Heinz

"Sometimes the only mark we make in life is in our shorts."

[454MRW]

Mike,
I bought a 250 HS frame with a 311 date quite some time ago that had a crack welded across and just behind the steering head on the top side. It also had several repairs to the exhaust pipe mounts and to the coil mount. I felt that it had been rode hard and put away wet, so to speak, and I found another very nice frame to use instead.
I don't know for certain, that if it had been a later one with the steering head reinforcement, that it would have survived the obvious punishment without cracking or not. Mike  


Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 250'S

[Knute]

Hey Guys,

Just so everyone knows what we're talking about, I have attached a picture of the plate in question.  It is essentially a ring that fits tightly around the bottom of the steering head with a plate that extends back under the frame where it is welded on.  These started appearing on the frames somewhere around 501.

Mike (O'Reilly), good to hear from you.  You're correct, Kevin has bent frames, swingarms, and fork tubes in the past, but never the stem area.  And none of our race frames have ever had the reinforcement plate.  Go figure.

Heinz, you're right, several years ago I did outline all of the reinforcements we do to the frame.  Oddly enough, the stem is the one area we've never had to do!

Wildman, a plate like the factory item wouldn't be too hard to fab, but from our experience you'll be fine without it. I think the real key is to keep your steering head bearings nice and tight.  Any play at all will start hammering the races and eventually the races can start hammering and distorting the stem.

Kent

 

[Chakka]

Wildman,

I have a 75' 400 frame I picked up years ago and it has a reinforcement strap top and bottom on the steering head. I will take some pics later today and post them.

Chris

[wildman]

Thanks for the replys, Pentonites. I just figured that if John and Co. went to the trouble of adding these plates it would be a good idea to retrofit them to anything I'm redoing. My present race bike has it. I will look carefully for any cracks in my next projects frames. I've seen some that were obviously added by ownere and some look factory. Did the later bikes start coming with them? Wildman

1975 250 Cross Country, 1974 175 Jackpiner, 1975 125

[desmond197]

Reenforcing these frames is a good I dea if you are racing. Keep in mind that these frames are 30 years old and the steel and welds are starting to become brittle. The tracks today are a lot rougher than backin the day. I have seen a lot of frame falures with Bultacos and CZ's and the Penton frame is better but a little welding is a lot easyer to do than getting a broken arm or leg.