New Member

[Bob Kent]

I just joined the P.O.G. while attending the 40/10 celebration.  My wife, Corky, and I were there with the '02 KTM Duke/'03 Velorex 700 outfit.  Had a great time riding behind 65 smoking Pentons on the way to John Penton's home.  Seeing him getting a spontaneous standing ovation in his own backyard among the riders and the motorcycles he created - PRICELESS!  I'm the former president (3 years) of the Ohio Valley B.S.A. Owners Club, where I met Paul Danik and "Augie," both later presidents of the OVBSAOC.  Paul has the '74 Penton MX that my brother gave to me years ago.  I still wonder about the engraving on the head fin which said "Porting by Majors, Grapevine, TX" if I recall correctly.  It sure was fast!  Maybe one of you can enlighten me about this tuner.  Anyway, just wanted to introduce myself as I've enjoyed POG hospitality on more than one occasion.  Getting my rig to the '05 KTM Dealer Meeting was part of my cardiac rehab and it worked.  Glad to be on board.  Bob Kent - Conneautville, PA

[tvrc18]

I remember Majors but can not recall his first name. He did a 74 cr125 Honda for me back then as I lived in Grapevine and it by far was the fastest 125 I had ever ridden. He also had a pipe built for me and matched the cases to the cylinder and did something to the rod and crank. It would hole shot every time. He engraved every cylinder I do recall and was very good.
Terry

[Doug Wilford]

Bob;
First, Welcome to POG!!! It was nice to see you again at the Anniversary Gala and to meet your bride.  At the gala someone asked me what your name was, and at the time I really didn't know but I had seen "Shade" embroidered on your shirt, so I told the person your name was "Shade".  Ha! Later while talking with you and Corky I asked about the name and she told me the reason it was on your shirt.  I'll bet it is hard to stand in one place all day just so your wife has some shade.  That was funny! Have Fun!

Doug

[Bob Kent]

Doug - My better-half's Day-Glo lime shirt says "Ballast," which is how I often refer to her when she's riding in the sidecar.  The shirts are just for giggles.  I already found out more about the engraving on Paul Danik's Penton 250MX, and it had more than one exhaust pipe also.  I sure agree with Terry when he says Majors of Grapevine, TX could make those bikes he worked "Scream."  Keep the Faith!  Bob

[tvrc18]

I remember now it was Jerry Majors from Grapevine. He was a super nice guy also and loved to grind on cylinders.
Terry

[firstturn]

Terry,
  Was he still around in the early 80's when I was there working for Honda?  I know the guy that was really good was Joe Gilbert and did a lot of the locals like the Poovey's, I think Mike Kid and a young and eventually World Champion Doug Polen.  Good times.
  Just to let people know Terry at a young age was Parts Manager for DFW Honda one of the leading Honda Dealers in the South.

Ron Carbaugh

[tvrc18]

Ron I think he retired in the late 70's and moved from Grapevine. I remember Joe Gilbert also. He did an 81 cr125 Honda for me when I was at DFW Honda and made it so fast the whole bottom of the cylinder dissapered out the exaust port. Oh wait a minute that was not suppose to happen. But Honda and Ron Caurbough warrantied the entire top end. It was good to have connections and especially if his name was Ron.
Terry

[firstturn]

Terry,
  Like you said.
"Oh wait a minute that was not suppose to happen."

It was great to help people although Honda had other ideas, but Honda Engineering an R&D loved my Tech reports.  Main thing is we have some great memories and now you will have a Penton Steeltanker that you built form scratch.  Your Project looks great.

Ron Carbaugh

[Paul Danik]

Bob,

    You left out a few things from your intro, such as how even some of the KTM dealers at the POG display for the KTM dealer meeting though that your rig was a factory outfit that they were not aware of, this sure made you and Bob Wark happy, as it should have. Here is a link to a picture of Bob's KTM rig in case anyone hasn't seen it.  http://www.warkshop.com/Paint/700cruiser.jpg

    Bob was the President of the OVBSAOC when the New England club that was supposed to host the Internationl BSA Rally backed out of that commitment with little notice in 1990.  Bob and his board of directors took on that rally and pulled it off with flying colors, that rally was a full week long. Jeff Smith, Dick Mann and Earl Bowlby were a few of the notables who made the trip to Toronto,Ohio for that event, plus many folks from across the pond and from all over the US.

    The OVBSAOC also put on the very first Featured Marque display at Vintage Days in 1996, featuring BSA of course. That was a great display and gave us POGGERS an idea as to how to do it when it was our turn.

    Lots of what the POG has done could not have been done as well without the knowledge and friendships that come from our association with the Ohio Valley BSA Owners Club, to this day the POG and OVBSAOC exchange newsletters.  

   The BSA club's Amazing Andy Tarnik provided me with a chance of a lifetime when he let me run a few laps around the Daytona International Speedway on his BSA Goldstar roadracer with Dick Klamforth as the so-called pace rider who was supposed to set a reasonable pace, Dick was gone instantly.  I was concerned about maybe hurting Andy's racer and was hesitant to do the run, old Augie convinced me to not pass up the chance, once again he was older and wiser than I.

    We owe you, the OVBSAOC, your board members, the founders of the OVBSAOC, Paul Atkinson and Clark Francy, all a debt of gratitude for all you have done in paving the way for us new kids...

Thank you Bob, and welcome to the POG. we are honored to have you and Corky aboard.

Paul