March 2006 Home Page Photo

[Lew Mayer]

Kickstarter looks like the early Jackpiner kickstarter.

Lew Mayer

[slvrbrdfxr]

Hi All,
Here's my try for tonight. It looks like the crossbar is bolted to tabs on the handlebars. I still think the bike has a compression release on it because I see what appears to be the ball end of another lever just barely visible above the clutch lever dust cover. Can't see the entire lever because it must mounted with the lever facing aft. I can see it has the metal Magura crank type choke lever also like the early Jackpiners. Come on Dane...how are we doing Are any of us getting warmer ??
Dave McCullough

[OUCWBOY]

Dave,
You could be right, but I don't see the extra cable. I see the Clutch, Throtle, Choke cables, fuel line, ignition wires and the igition cover vent line, but that is all I see. I can kinda see what you are refering to on the bars, but tough shot to see anything there real well.

Donny Smith

[rob w]

Comparing this bike to some '69 sales literature I'm looking at - which was printed April of '69 with a '68 model bike like this one:

Has the same engine side covers.
Same forks, with unmatched legs L to R.
Same handlebars, with bolt-on crossbar.
Same handlebar clamps, alum. blocks instead of common U-bolts.
Same chrome pipe, only having chrome wire heat shield.
Same flip-up gas cap, with turn lever.
Same rims. Borani's
Different seat without pleats.
Different slanted tank decals.
Different choke lever, early typical pull-in, instead of twist.
Different kick starter, like commonly seen.
And...I can't see the rear brake pedal well enough.

Bob

[OUCWBOY]

Rear fender appears to be shorter too!

Donny Smith

[OUCWBOY]

Rear fender appears to be shorter too!

Donny Smith

[rob w]

-
Is it not one of the most beautiful machines ya ever saw ?
 -
It's definetly in my top five favorite bikes on this planet.
 -
Is it allowed visitors ?
 -
Thanks,
 -
Bob
 -

[TGTech]

Bob,

   Think back to the fall of 1967, and imagine how you would have felt, if you saw this machine at that time? Think about the other machines that were on the market at that time, and then feasting your eyes on an out of the box, full on 125cc race machine. THAT is when this machine really made an impression on me.

Dane

[OUCWBOY]

As this month is about to close, are we going to get the list of "What is Special" on this great machine??

Donny Smith

[slvrbrdfxr]

I'm with Donny. End of the month so it's time to give up all her secrets. Thanks !!
Dave McCullough

[TGTech]

This machine is indeed where the whole Penton era started. This is the prototype of the 125cc Penton Six Day and was completed in December of 1967. I don't remember exactly when it arrived here in Ohio, but once it did, it saw lots of use in various competitions.

Obviously since this is the prototype, we can't compare it to any of the production versions, but there are some things "wrong" with it now compared to how it arrived over here in '67.

Many of you have picked out the differences from other early pictures of the bike, but nobody mentioned the rear sprocket. The one that is on the bike now, is different from the original, in that instead of cut shapes, this one has drilled holes.

The tank and seat have been replaced with new parts, probably because it was just easier than going through the effort to go back to the original.

When we returned the bike to KTM, I'm pretty sure that it was whole, but since "our" intent was to continue to make a better machine, nobody paid any attention to making the bike a museum piece. I'm betting that somebody at KTM had that idea in mind, which is probably why they wanted it back, but obviously, nobody took the time to restore it to the original state.

The throttle is a round one instead of the oval tube models. I really liked that oval version. It just seemed to me, that it was easier to hang onto instead of the round ones.

The cylinder head that is on the bike now, is a "return", because at one time, this bike had one of the sunburst heads on it.

I'm still trying to find out about the engine's side covers, because this is the only Sachs engine I've ever seen, with these covers.

At one time, the machine was fitted with bolt on fork stops because obviously, the steering dampener wasn't strong enough to keep the forks from hitting the tank in a crash. As I remember, there was a clamp that went around the down tube and there was basically a bolt that tightened the clamp and provided a stop.

The cylinder looks "normal" to me, so I don't think that there are a different number of fins.

The petcocks look normal as well; the "square block" type with reserve.

One of the ironically funny things to me, is that there isn't a rubber on the shift lever. I know that I always had to have on on my bike, otherwise it just didn't "feel" right.

The forks look to be the original ones on the machine. I have no idea of what they were originally from, but I d remember that they were different than the production versions. One of the other "odd" things about the forks, is that this one didn't have a lug cast into the leg that served as the stop for the brake plate. If you look you can see a clamp around the right fork leg, above the axle. That clamp had a bar welded to it that fit into the slot in the brake plate to hold it fixed.  

I don't know about the brake pedal, the rear fender, and other things about the bike, but I do know that as I mentioned in my last posting, this machine looked so "tough" when it first arrived, that I knew right off the bat, that it was going to be a winner.

Thanks for all your comments on the pictures. I'm working on getting some pictures of other machines, that have a history, and once I'm able to do so, we'll post them on the site again.

If any of you have any other questions about the bike, fire away, and I'll see if I can answer them for you or try to find answers.

Dane

[firstturn]

Dane,
  I will look at all the information I have on this bike and see what if, any other changes I can identify, and also if I have any early pictures in my Archieves that shows this side cover.  Thanks for the Great Quiz.

Ron Carbaugh