1970 Winner's List Ad Who do you know?

[Mike Rosso]

Anyone you know, knew, you, a family member, friend or someone you read or heard about? I'm up to just over 25 racers on the list. Some I sorely miss and some that are still good friends..........and still active POG members. ALL GOOD MEMORIES !! If you have a story about anyone on the list I'd love to hear it. Hope it brings back some good times Enjoy.

Mike

[Paul Danik]

Hi Mike, as soon as you posted this list I looked it over and the one name that really, really jumped out at me was George Bliss. I never knew George "back in the day", as a matter of fact it wasn't until he almost ran me over with his Steel Tank Penton at the Penton Owners Group 40th. Anniversary celebration that I actually did meet him.

We were lining up the display bikes outside of the KTM building and all of a sudden here comes George riding his original Steel Tanker that he had owned from day one. He was as excited as a 9 year old boy on Christmas morning to be amongst so many like minded folks and to have a reason to dust off his old Steel Tanker and get it out of the barn and put it on display. There were so many bikes to display that we were working at keeping them tight enough to fit them all in and George rode his bike right into his spot and for a moment it looked like he might topple over and start a game of Penton dominos, but the old Jackpine rider kept it under control and all was fine. As I write this I can still see his smile and feel his enthusiasm. George has since passed away, but I will never forget him.

A few years later we asked George if we could display his Steel Tanker and his BMW that he rode in the Jackpine in the POG display at the IX Center,  George was instantly agreeable to doing so. We set the bikes / display up early on Friday and the show didn't open to the public till late afternoon or so. The BMW Factory / Dealer display was right across the isle from our display and I asked George to set his Jackpine BMW display up in the closest location to the new BMWs as he could, only about 10 feet away and just across the isle from those shiny new machines. I can still picture George showing up a hour or so early and he had on a sports jacket and was carrying his briefcase which was jam packed with some of his most precious paperwork from "back in the day", but what really stood out was the ear to ear smile on George's face.

Once the show opened George took center stage by his BMW and it was absolutely amazing and quite entertaining as well to watch the folks who were in line to look at the shiny new BMWs catch a glimpse of George's Jackpine machine across the isle and migrate over to see his machine and be welcomed by George with his most pleasant demeanor , those shiny new Beemers could wait !!!

Like you Mike, I know / knew quite a few of the folks listed in that ad, I am thinking it was in Cycle News East. Personally, when I saw the ad for the first time "back in the day", and then saw my name in it I really felt a sense of pride and it is hard to put into words how wonderful it felt to have the folks at Penton Imports give the recognition, I tend to think Mike that maybe you felt the same way ! At that time Mike the two of us were fairly early into our two wheeled adventures and surly never dreaming that half a century later we would be bumping together on the internet instead of at an event somewhere in western Pennsylvania or eastern Ohio..... Thanks for the post.

Paul  

PS   Nice picture..... We sure had fun on those Steel Tankers.

[Mike OReilly]

Under the "G's": Udo Geitl. I thought it rang a bell.

I checked and confirmed: his real claim to fame is as the developer of the BMW R90S's that dominated the first years of superbike racing; Including as I recall, re-positioning the cylinders on the base to allow a better lean angle.

After Butler & Smith he went on to develop superbikes for American Honda, again with great success.

[rob brown]

Udo Geitl lives here at Smith Mountain Lake, VA. He stops by SML Cycles from time to time. I believe he is also into sailboats these days. I did not know he rode Pentons though. Good stuff!