Vintage 1000 2020

[Rick Bennett]

3.6 miles on the odometer lets me know I have six working gears, clutch, brakes. Trying to break in easy and do a couple heat soaks. Will put some serious miles on this weekend. Too early to tell how it is running as I am keeping the rpms down. Still needs a rack and work on the lights.

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

   Rick left yesterday morning and made it about 60 miles before the engine went sour. His wife picked him up and hauled him and the Berkshire home at which time Rick pulled the engine and tore into it. he found that the lower rod bearing had gone south.

   He tore the crank apart and installed a new rod kit and had her buttoned up and and test ridden by around midnight. He went to a 140 main from the 135 but found the real problem pretty quick. He was test riding the bike and it run out of fuel...but it had plenty in the tank. He said he could see air in the fuel line, turned out the repop gas cap he was using was of the "non venting" variety...he put a used original cap on and the problem was solved. He figures with the gas cap not venting properly the bike was running lean and that was the root of the problem.

   They left around 8 AM this morning and stopped about 30 miles in to put on their rain gear. At 85 miles they stopped for coffee and he said the Penton was running great! Gas stop at 120 miles in. At 185 miles in they stopped for ice cream, vanilla was his choice of flavor.

   Next text stated " Gearing 15 57 good. Motor is amazing", to which I replied " you just need to feed it enough". Rick feels the change in the jetting has helped his mid-range.

  At 274 miles in he said they had gotten wet 4 times and the Penton was running perfectly. Rick went on to say that he sure didn't have time to break in the Penton after the rebuild, 5 miles around the block around midnight and then hit the road in the morning. I replied that it is a Penton, no big deal !

At 310 miles they stopped at a nice stainless steel diner for coffee. They made Kentucky at 370 miles in and he figures he is getting about 70 miles to the gallon and said the Penton is running great. They stopped for gas again at Millers Landing, KY, all good.

The above was all pretty much by text. At 6:47 Rick called and said they were at Burnside, KY where they would be spending the night. 529 miles in and he said he missed 3 shifts the entire day, he said he wraps his big toe with tape before putting his socks on as he sure gives the gearbox a workout. He loves the way the bike feels like a road racer in the curves and can't get over how much fun the Penton is to ride and how incredible the 100cc engine is. Rick said the missed shifts are going into 6th, no issue at all in the lower gears. He knows he just has to hold the shifter for a second longer, he stated.

Paul

[Richard Colahan]

Sure ...just a quick same-day crank rebuild...no problemo! That would take me 3 months and $500! Well done Rick!!!

quote:Originally posted by Paul Danik

Greetings,

   Rick left yesterday morning and made it about 60 miles before the engine went sour. His wife picked him up and hauled him and the Berkshire home at which time Rick pulled the engine and tore into it. he found that the lower rod bearing had gone south.

   He tore the crank apart and installed a new rod kit and had her buttoned up and and test ridden by around midnight. He went to a 140 main from the 135 but found the real problem pretty quick. He was test riding the bike and it run out of fuel...but it had plenty in the tank. He said he could see air in the fuel line, turned out the repop gas cap he was using was of the "non venting" variety...he put a used original cap on and the problem was solved. He figures with the gas cap not venting properly the bike was running lean and that was the root of the problem.

   They left around 8 AM this morning and stopped about 30 miles in to put on their rain gear. At 85 miles they stopped for coffee and he said the Penton was running great! Gas stop at 120 miles in. At 185 miles in they stopped for ice cream, vanilla was his choice of flavor.

   Next text stated " Gearing 15 57 good. Motor is amazing", to which I replied " you just need to feed it enough". Rick feels the change in the jetting has helped his mid-range.

  At 274 miles in he said they had gotten wet 4 times and the Penton was running perfectly. Rick went on to say that he sure didn't have time to break in the Penton after the rebuild, 5 miles around the block around midnight and then hit the road in the morning. I replied that it is a Penton, no big deal !

At 310 miles they stopped at a nice stainless steel diner for coffee. They made Kentucky at 370 miles in and he figures he is getting about 70 miles to the gallon and said the Penton is running great. They stopped for gas again at Millers Landing, KY, all good.

The above was all pretty much by text. At 6:47 Rick called and said they were at Burnside, KY where they would be spending the night. 529 miles in and he said he missed 3 shifts the entire day, he said he wraps his big toe with tape before putting his socks on as he sure gives the gearbox a workout. He loves the way the bike feels like a road racer in the curves and can't get over how much fun the Penton is to ride and how incredible the 100cc engine is. Rick said the missed shifts are going into 6th, no issue at all in the lower gears. He knows he just has to hold the shifter for a second longer, he stated.

Paul

Richard Colahan
1969 V1225
Upper Black Eddy PA

[Rick Bennett]

Made it, 726 miles to cabin #6 Racoon Mountain. My Berkshire is running just like the day John sold it in 1974. Riders meeting tonight at 7:00. The others will get a look at one of John's best. It has been a blast to take one of his machines and bring it back to life. Holding 55 on the road is no problem other than the screaming 48.5 mm piston waking everyone in my path. Only a broken headlight ground in three days of riding.

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

   Rick called today from a gas stop at around 11 am. He said he is giving the little Berkie a real workout in the hilly terrain but it is running like a Swiss watch.

   He said there have been some deep creek crossings and he helped rescue a BMW out of one of them. There have been some break downs and from the sound of it Rick has been making friends quickly as he helps where and when his skills are needed. " You meet the nicest people on a Penton"

  That is about it for now.

PS.  As I posted the above info a text came in from Rick.

"Done for the day. 1134 miles since leaving. Rained on the trail the second half of the day. My Penton is running great."

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings.

 Just got a quick call from Rick. They spent the night at a campground in Maggie Valley, about 3 miles from the Wheels Through Time Museum. All is good with him and Berkie. There are 21 machines on the ride and his is the smallest displacement. His brother got a plastic bag caught in the countershaft area yesterday and it took out the seal. They pulled the motor out and took it apart on a picnic table last night and put a new seal in. He said the design of the seal makes it so you can't just pry one out and put in another. Finished the fix around midnight.

 The ever cheer-full Rick laughs and seems to take it all in stride.

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings.

   Text from Rick at 11:15 am from a gas stop. " Gas stop all good. Rough trail yesterday and rain last night. 225 miles today. ".

 I take it that they have 225 miles to ride today.

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

     At 11:57 Friday night this text came in from Rick. " My Penton is running well. In to camp". My reply text read as follows. " Are you texting in your sleep", I got no reply. Interesting story surely to follow.

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

 Text at 1:16 PM " Ice cream stop, happy Penton."

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

 Great news, Rick finished the event at 10:36 last night. He said his Berkshire was perfect ! Can't wait to hear his stories. Great Job Rick...

 I don't know for sure but I do believe he has over 700 miles to ride to get back home. A true testament to Rick's mechanical and riding abilities as well as his commitment to finish what he starts, and most assuredly to the quality of John Penton's Sportcycle even after all of these years.

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

Rick just called and told of how the one day the roll chart directions were off enough that once in awhile they would roll up to a mailbox and pull out the mail and see what the address was just to see where they were, first time I ever heard that one...He also told of how the comradery among each group of riders  grew very strong and how when someone would have an issue and tell the others to go on that they would not do so, they worked together to overcome mechanical and trail riding issues as a team. He is tired and wore out, but he said he knew that would be the case. The Berkie doesn't sound as tight as it did a week ago but he said he is once again so very impressed with the Penton and particularly the Sachs engine. A gal on the ride kept falling and breaking her brake lever, finally when she had no lever to replace it with he offered up his spare magura lever and said to her "try to break this one."

Paul

[Paul Danik]

Greetings,

    Today is the last day of Rick's GREAT ADVENTURE. Just talked with him and he said they could smell bacon as they came thru Cedarville so they stopped for breakfast al the local coffee shop. He figures they have 239 miles to go to reach home.

   I think this is day 11 and he sounds as upbeat as he did on day 1. So far his Berkie seems to be holding up well and Rick said he is anxious to tear it down and check out the rings and piston to see what wear there is on those items. I imagine his tin can has a bit of wear as well !

Paul

[Richard Colahan]

Thanks for posting all of these updates Paul!

Richard Colahan
1969 V1225
Upper Black Eddy PA

[Rick Bennett]

My great adventure is over for now. Tomorrow I will give her a bath and good look over. Riding for that many miles and days in a row you sure get in tune with your bike. Riding becomes second nature. What did I learn on this trip? I carried too much stuff. Next time I will cut back even more. The one man tent worked just fine. Yes there was less space inside and out under the vestibule but even in rain it was workable. I did have to assemble it rain fly first again this year as it was raining. It can be done. My Thermorest air mattress and 40 degree down sleeping bag are from last year. I took too many clothes. Next time I will only take one pair of pants. I can wear my rain pants while washing them. I took three pairs of sox and needed them all. My single layer leather boots got wet but dried way faster. I packed them with TP stolen from the campground at night when necessary. Speed Deluxe gave us all a shirt and I didn't need to carry another one. I should have removed all my food and supplies used for the road trip down but didn't. I carried too many tools. I will have to think on this one. I checked my motor mounts and they did not get loose. Neither did my spokes this time even though the trail was rough. I used my riders wrench and large screw driver every day. Charging my phone, GoPro, GPS and flashlight became a problem. Because the charging port on my bike failed (Read made in China) and we reached camp late several night in a row, we couldn't run a generator. I should have had extra batteries for the GoPro. The biggest problem with my bike was the broken speedo cable (no odometer) and lumpy front tire. Both the Kenda 270 front tires were not round. Next time I will ride the bike earlier and change out the tire if I am not happy. I spent extra time making sure the wheels were round, so I know they are not to blame. With the mileage this bike makes I didn't need to carry any extra fuel. I filled my 30 oz. MSR bottle with oil and this weighed too much. A 12 oz. bottle is enough for a day of riding. I think I can get away with only one Wolfman saddle bag next time and a small dry sack. Other than over tickling the Bing one morning my motor ran flawlessly. I can't say enough good things about Sachs motors. I revved the h**l out of it for hours and hours. It does loose power when really hot and gains it back when cooled down. If the jetting is right and the air filter is clean these motors can be abused. I use the clutch for every shift and miss two shifts a day, one at 10:30 every morning, don't ask me why. Almost always going into 6th. Everyone on the ride wore a different jacket. I am still happy with my waxed cotton Barbour. It does soak thru, especially at road speeds, but is breathable in the heat. In heavy rains I use a second quilted jacket underneath for warmth and wetness protection. It doubles as my pillow at night.

That is all for now. I will probably think of more later.

[Rick Bennett]

One more recollection.

At two different fuel stops I had strangers come up to me and say:

"I haven't seen a Penton in a LOOOOng time. The only thing better would be a Bultaco"

They had no clue...

I guess you have to ride a Penton to really appreciate what John put together.