Restoration Projects

[James McKenzie]

Hey, new to the forum, please forgive me if it takes me a bit to navigate around here properly.

I am looking for a restoration project to start, preferably a 125 ~ 175 Penton in the 1974 or so vintage.

Is there a particular year(s) or model(s) that parts are easier to come by? Is there a year or model to stay away from for the same reason??

Thanking you all in advance for any and all help!

[thrownchain]

What part of the country are you in?

[Paul Danik]

Hi James,

   Seeing that this is your first post on the Penton Owners Group message board, I would like to say welcome aboard. We are always glad to have new Penton enthusiasts join our online community. Be sure to take some time and visit the photo gallery if you wish, lots of great machines to look at as well as pictures from some of our POG activities.

    I am sure that others will provide you with the information that you are seeking.

Again, welcome aboard,
Paul

[James McKenzie]

Thank you very much!

Yes, I have drooled all over my keyboard already looking at some of the pictures, what great motorcycles!

Rod Bush and I grew up riding together, and I always liked his Pentons.

[James McKenzie]

I live in Concord, NC, just north of Charlotte.

[Paul Danik]

James, that is awesome that you and Rod grew up together. I really got to know Rod and his parents "back in the day" during the ISDT qualifiers, great folks. I traveled to the Appalacia Lake (sp) track one time for a harescrambles and got to run the full 2 hours with Rod, was pretty sore that following week.  Maybe you know of that track?  I think I still have a T shirt from Rod's shop, I think it was just simply called The Bike Shop.

Did you also know Joe Barker?  

Anyways, great to chat with you, gotta get you a Penton....but you may find out a guy can't seem to ever just have one

Take care,
Paul

[James McKenzie]

We had a lot of fun back in the day as you said.
Rod's older brother Randy used to drive us to the races (both motocross and hare scrambles)before we were old enough to drive.

The Bike Shop was their Penton / Husky shop about a mile from my house.

Unfortunately, all of the Bush's have passed away except for the oldest brother Rick, who really never was interested in the bike stuff.

Appalachia Lake was a great track track, owned by the Coomb's, and was the predecessor of High Point Raceway.

Yes, I did know Joe Barker, but have not maintained any contact with him for many years.

That's what i'm afraid of, I have 22 "projects" in the works now, so what difference should a couple of Pentons make! Wahoo!

[thrownchain]

You asked about what model of Penton is the better choice. The 125 Six Day, the 175 Jackpiner and the 250 models all seem to fairly popular with good parts availabilty.

[hankthecrank]

James , you obviously grew up in Vienna and went to P-burg HS. I knew Rod and always drooled over the beautiful bikes that he rode to school. I graduated in 74 after Rod and lost contact with him after graduation. I was so tickled to see how he had helped the Penton and KTM brands. I met his wife, Sherrie and his son Robbie a few years ago. I realized then I had gone to school with Sherrie also. He was a very good rider. Thanks for posting , nice to hear from someone else who knew Rod. PS,do you remember Badlands MX track outside Belpre, OH? Hank

Hank Rinehart

[James McKenzie]

Thanks for the reply!

Where is the best place to look for parts? Is anyone re-manufacturing any of them, or tend to carry a lot of parts in stock?

I know one solution is Ebay, Craigslist, etc.

Thanking you all in advance!

[James McKenzie]

Hank,

Yes, I grew up in Parkersburg and was racing with Rod when they lived near downtown P-burg on Julianna(?) street. Don Bush was still working at the phone company, and we were all racing very modified Honda SL-100's. My brother-in-law, Dan Willis and I were working for Honda of Parkersburg then.

Badlands was a great track! We all had a hand in building the track in the beginning, and it was only the second time I ever beat Rod in a race!

It was in 1975, we were running in the 250 class. At that point, Dan and I had gone to work for Wolfe's Sport Cycles in Belpre.

At that race at Badlands, Dan won the race on a RM-250 Suzuki, I got 2nd on a Can-Am 250 GP, and Rod was third on an orange-tanked 250 Penton. It was the first one of those I saw, and it was beautiful!

The last time I saw Rod was the summer prior to his mom dying, and Rod, Sherrie, Robbie, and Rod's daughter came to Charlotte to visit his brother Randy, who had moved here about 15 years earlier. I hadn't seen him for years, although i did keep in touch with him over the years.

We moved to Colorado Springs in 1982, and I had a job at Academy Sport Cycles, a Kawasaki / KTM dealership as service manager. Rod and I talked quite a bit whilst I worked there.

We opened a Ducati / Husqvarna / Gas Gas dealership there in 1986, and sort of lost contact with the Bush's for a bit. It wasn't until we closed the shop and moved to NC in 1992 that i ran into Randy Bush again, and was able to keep up with the Bush's again so to speak.

They were a great family, and Don was a huge influence on my me in my early days as a bike mechanic. He was about the most detail-oriented person I knew at the time, and it really helped me in my race prep.

I have nothing but great memories from that time period, and I'm not embarrassed to say that i have teared up a little bit writing this, I really miss those guys, and that time in our lives.

[thrownchain]

Your best source for parts is this site. Click the suppliers link for a list. If they don't have it, just ask, someone may have or know where to go to aquire what you need.

[hankthecrank]

Thanks for the reply James. I too get kinda misty when I think of those days, as the BOSS says, Glory Days! Later, Hank

Hank Rinehart