73.5 250 Pipe Heat Shield

[KJDonovan]

Got a question on the 73.5 250's that I hope someone can answer.  When these bikes originally came out was the pipe heat shield the "cheese grater" metal one or the plastic/fiberglass cover.  I have seen several pictures of both configurations.

Thanks,

Kevin

[firstturn]

I owned one if the first 10 1973 Pentons to come into the USA.  Mine had the fiberglass cover.  A lot of the ones I saw later had the chrome grate.  So I guess it is your choice.  I still have some old pictures of mine somewhere.

Ron Carbaugh

[Daniel P. McEntee]

I myself prefer the chrome heat shield look for the right side of the bike. My '73 had a badly painted fiberglass side cover but I found a decent used heat shield to put on it. One less thing to paint!
   Type at you later,
    Dan McEntee

[KJDonovan]

Ron / Dan,

Thanks for the responses. Ron, I would be very interested to see the photos you have of your if you can locate them.  The particular bike I'm starting is something of an oddball. Frame is 401-XXXXX, but everything else appears to be 73.5, right down to a shattered 14MM kicker shaft and oddly enough a round style clutch cover with the 14MM hole for the kicker shaft. Also came with 73.5 style pipe, minus the fishtail. I would like to restore it as a 73, not to deceive, but just because I really like the look of the 73's.  I have seen lots of photo's of restored 73's but don't recall any pictures of originals. Photos would be helpful for getting some of the details right.

Thanks,

Kevin

[Paul Danik]

Kevin,

   If you get a chance go to the link below and go through the pictures of the machines that were displayed at the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum for the KTM dealer meeting a few years back. We purposely lined all of the machines up in chronological order by serial number so as to present a timeline of the evolution of the different models. There are three of the early Hare Scramblers pictured.

http://www.pentonusa.org/GalleryServerPro/default.aspx?aid=8

Hope this helps.

Paul

[Patton]

Paul,that gallery of photographs is outstanding!

Thank you so much for the link.

Dumb, newbie question, is that link easy to find on the POG sign-in page? Wait a minute while I go search for it as I had not previously run across it and it is a wonderful time capsule.

Thanks, Robert Patton

[Paul Danik]

Robert,

  Go to the POG homepage and look for Photo Gallery, just click and enjoy. That group of photos are listed as POG/KTM Day at AMA Museum.

  I remember that day and the display like it was just a few weeks ago. We purposely lined the bikes up by model and serial number so the evolution of each model is easy to follow.

  Can't ever thank Bill Smith enough for taking those photos, and lots of the other photos in the photo gallery as well. Bill was also very instrumental in getting the POG off the ground.

Thanks also to the others who have taken photos over the years as well as to those who have supplied photos to help "tell the story", everyone's efforts are very much appreciated.

Paul

[Patton]

Paul, found it. Got it! Apologies to others for being off topic.

This group is so helpful that I'll be looking to purchase  a third Penton (250 that is in Winston/Salem NC) this weekend.

Doesn't take too much to want to relive those years of yesterday's youth...just time and money.

RP

[KJDonovan]

Thanks Paul, very helpful knowing these we all in line by build date.