Penton Wassel

[lksseven]

in the following blurb from MXOffroad.com list of Worst Dirt Bikes ever, what does the writer mean by "good" engines

3. PENTON 125 MUD LARK. In 1973, John Penton was selling some great race and enduro bikes that were being produced by KTM in Austria. However, he was forced to buy a whole load of the Sachs 125B engines in order to get a supply of the "good" engines. So, to get rid of the B engines, John contracted with Wassel, an English fabricator, and they threw together a frame, a set of wretched Betor forks, ginky shocks and a layout that made you feel like you were sitting on the edge of a pinball machine.

John called it the Penton Trials, but not even Batman could have ridden it in a trials event. There was no power at all, the gearbox was spaced oddly and it wouldn't turn without plowing the front end. So, in desperation, John renamed it the Mud Lark, a sort of all-purpose play machine. In fact, it was a no-purchase dirt bike, and will go down in history as one of the few bad business decisions ever made by savvy John Penton.

here's the link to the entire article ... http://www.off-road.com/dirtbike/feature/2003_06/worstbikes.html

Larry Seale
I choose to ride

[slvrbrdfxr]

Larry,
Only thing I can figure is they are calling a 6A the "good engine". Think the 6A's were used in most all of the bikes at during that time and John Penton probably had to take some 6B engines to get a steady supply of the 6A's. Maybe someone else knows more about this and can explain it better.
Dave McCullough

[firstturn]

Read the John Penton Book to get the real story.  Sure is funny that Dennis Jones did well on the Mudlark?  Hey it is a fun bike and I am honored to own one...and Larry Seale owns the bike that Dennis won a Championship on in 2001.

Ron Carbaugh

[lksseven]

Great tip, Ron - I have John Penton's book and have read it, but need to go back and read that section again.  I just couldn't follow the paragraph's train of thought.

I absolutely love the look of the bike, and an very happy to own this one (I can only hope it's not too depressed going from a rider like Dennis to a rider like me).  

Like so many other things, the media's 10 second spin on this can be so misleading and inaccurate.  I'll bet that if Penton Co. had had some observed trials riders on this bike who won some high visibility nationals back in the 70's (and placed some high priced advertising in the mags), the media would be extolling the virtues of this very same machine.  Ron makes a great point about a bike that captures a national championship can't be too bad (while recognizing that 90% of the heavy lifting was Dennis'!!)

Larry Seale
I choose to ride

[firstturn]

Larry,
  Dennis is a great rider.  I feel that all the people we saw at the ARHMA National this weekend are Champions in their own way for getting out on the track and going after the Gold.  And the guys and ladies that promote these races are just Great People.  Check out the Wanted/For Sale section and I will bring up info about your bike.  Thanks for making my weekend really fun by attending the National Race.

Ron Carbaugh