32mm Ceriani forks

[t20sl]

Was there a model Penton that used 32mm forks that had pinch bolts in the top tripple tree?  Or were they all taper fit?
Thanks, Ted

[454MRW]

I thought that the 32mm Penton Ceriani forks were all straight and that only the 35mm Cerianis had the taper at the top. Other 35mm Cerianis such as road race forks are straight tubes also. Mike

Michael R. Winter
I enjoy rebuilding and appreciating Pentons!
1974 250 HS Pentons-1980 KTM 175-400'S
1975 Can Am 175 TNT & 77 250 Black Widow
1979 Husqvarna OR250 & OR390
1976-78 RM & 77-79 PE Suzuki's
1974 CR250M 07 CR125R

[t20sl]

Guess that is part of my question also.  If they are straight which they seem to look like on Ebay do they have pinch bolts?  The only top steering stem I find a photo of is on Ebay has no pinch bolts so it relies on the top nut to hold it in place?  I am looking for 32's but with a better set up like the late 35's had with pinch bolts top and bottom.  I am building a trials bike and want the light weight of the 32's but the rigidity of clamps top and bottom.  Does anyone know if that exists in the Penton line up and of not did Ceriani make any or Betor?
Thanks, Ted

[checkcrew]

Ted,

all of my 72 and 73 CMF Penton 100's 125's and Jackpiner's with 32mm Ceriani's use the pinch bolt set-up on both the upper and lowers,
also you can use a fork brace on these to make them even more stable for you trials bike,

hope this helps,

regards,

Mike Gallagher, NJ.
[email protected]

[brian kirby]

The early 32s had one pinch bolt top and bottom, the later ones had two pinch bolts top and bottom, but I've never seen 32mm Cerianis with no pinch bolt like the 35s.

Brian

[t20sl]

What years did Penton use 32mm forks with double pinch bolts each side on top and bottom yokes?  Then does anyone have a set with good chrome for sale?  
Thanks, Ted

[Richard]

I have a set of 32mm forks and triple clamps (two pinch bolts top and bottom) off of a 73 125 I will sell for $100 + shipping. I'm using 35mm now. I will even include the handle bar mounts. :)[email protected]

[Gordon Brennan]

Don't want to take a sale away from Richard. Sounds like a good deal.
What I don't understand is why you want to put 32mm forks on a Trials bike, to make the front lighter. The action of the forks is far more important than the weight, in Trials. You're better off re-working the inards of a pair of 35's. Sounds like you're building, not restoring, so why not play with other brands? My Penton Trials bike has 31.5mm MP forks. They suck. I compete regularly with it and plan to bore out the clamps for REAL forks over the Winter. And they certainly won't be 32's.
Just my opinion.

[t20sl]

Gordan:
Why is the action so different on 35 vs 32?  
Ted

[brian kirby]

Only the first half of the '72 100/125 CMF used the single bolt clamps, from second half '72 to when they all went to 35s they had the double bolt clamp. The single and double clamp have different wheel spacer widths too,6 1/4" for the single bolt, and 6 3/4" for the double bolt clamp. I like the action of the 32mm Ceriani's and I feel no need at all to replace them with 35s, but I am sure my small size and light weight have something to do with that. A person more "normal" sized and not garden gnome/lawn jockey size like me might benefit from upgrading to 35s.

Brian

[gooddirt]

The early 32's had around one inch less travel ( 6 vs 7) [shorter tubes].

[Gordon Brennan]

I'm not sure why or if the action is different. I do believe more "work" can be done to the 35's to make them better. I'm not sure how much a riders weight has to do with the forks, other than the heavier you are the better they will work. I weigh in at about 145. Shocks, however can be built around a riders weight though. I'm running 0 weight fork oil to get mine to react better. On a Trials bike, while pushing down with your hand, in the middle of the bike, both the shocks and forks should go down and up together. With normal oil rates and weights, the only way I can make my forks move is to be on the bike with the front brake on and being up against a tree usually helps too!
The other problem I have with my small forks is stiction. They aren't smooth. They stutter going down. You can only feel this if the forks are off the bike and when the fork leg is on your foot and you're compressing them by hand. My forks have two seals per side. I may pull one or at least trim the wipers on one to see if that helps. A recommendation from Bob Ginder and my local Trials vendor at our New England events. (One of which I won today).
I'm sure Brian knows far more about Ceriani forks than I ever will. All I can say is in Trials, you want to be able to compress your forks by just pushing down on them while standing on the side of your bike; and even holding them there. If you can't it disrupts the suspension while riding so slowly and creeping along over logs and rocks if your shocks are the only thing working. A motocross suspension isn't meant to do this.
I don't mean to go on and on, but if you watch a very well tuned Trials bike, and rider (not me) going slowly over a rock garden, his body will stay relatively level and the suspension will look like it's bottoming out and it will be constantly working.
Anyhow, that's my take on Teds fork issue. Sorry for the novel.
Oh ya, did I mention I won today with my Penton Trials Bike?

[Lew Mayer]

Congrats on the win! What class did you run?

Lew Mayer

[brian kirby]

Gordon, I know absolutely nothing about setting up a bike for trials. I missed that part so I was talking about cross country or MX which is not much help.

Brian

[Gordon Brennan]

Thanks Lew,
In New England Trials, the Vintage class is a minority. There are no classes. If the bike has twin shocks, is air cooled and has drum brakes, you're Vintage, regardless of the year. There are only a few of us that ride it on a regular basis. The Vintage line is the modern B line. So where they set up a section to hop, we'll have to take a dab. But I will say, it is often that our vintage scores are better than some of the modern B line scores. And at least on one occasion one of our Vintage riders beat all the B line scores. He was riding a heavy Reflex to boot.
I love my Penton, and it gets a lot of looks and comments.