45 years ago today.......March 7th, 1968

[Paul Danik]

On March 7th, 1968, the first ten serial production Pentons arrived in Ohio.  They had been air shipped to the states, and when they arrived Doug Wilford's father, Wally, picked them up at the Cleveland airport and brought them to John's shop. The following excerpt is from the John Penton and the Off-Road Motorcycle Revolution book written by Ed Youngblood.

    Arrangements were made to go into production immediately, and the first shipment of ten Pentons arrived in Ohio on March 7th, 1968. By the 8th, six of them were on their way to the Stone Mountain national enduro in Georgia, to be ridden on March 10th by Dave Mungenant, Leroy Winters, Tom Penton, Larry Maiers, Al Born and John. It was a very gutsy move to take new, untried motorcycles right out of the crate and debut them at an AMA national championship event. It was to be a tough environment, under the scrutiny of the best and most seasoned enduro riders in America. Under the circumstances, the Penton riders did well. Tom Penton was the Bantamweight class champion, and Al Born won his class. Leroy Winters and John Penton placed second and third respectively in the A Lightweight class. John admits, "I don't think anyone was very impressed with the motorcycle at Stone Mountain, but the fact that some top riders were riding them got peoples' attention."

Paul

[brian kirby]

I guess this is kind of the Penton Sportcycle's birthday isnt it?

Brian

[Gordon Brennan]

I'm sure that story will be part of the movie. Great stuff.

[Mick Milakovic]

It's probably been hinted on the site before, but are there special events being planned for this year, other than the ISDTRR at Dalton?

Mick

[joe novak]

Today is JESSICA; my daughter's 11th birthday!   We'll celebrate at home, but I intend to see everyone at the POG meeting this evening.   joe