Cut away service motors

[G Ellis]

Was wanting to know if the cut away motors that have  been displayed at some early years of the Vintage day events. Were Owned buy the club or were some club member that did those? Would like to get some photos to do some for myself. Or maybe make an offer if they would be for sale.

[Paul Danik]

The Sachs cutaway engine that is now on display at Ray Mungenast's Museum, was originally displayed at Penton Imports. I do not know if it was cutaway by the folks at Penton Imports, if so, possibly John's brother Ted did the cutting away, or did the folks at Sachs do the cutaway. My first recollection of that engine was when it was displayed on a pedestal in the hallway of the Penton Imports building on West Erie Avenue, possibly around 1973 -74. I was always fascinated by it and would often take a few minutes to check it out. The proto model Penton was also displayed in that hallway, if my memory is correct.

Fast forward a good many years, possibly the early 1990's. I would stop by and visit with Dane Leimbach at the ignition business which was being run out of a section of the KTM building on the property where KTM is now located. I always had questions for Dane about the Penton Sportcycle era, and we would talk Penton history. One day Dane asked if I had my pickup, which I did. He then asked me to follow him home as he had some items to show me. At the Leimbach farm, next to the old farmhouse, was an old garage. Dane had me back up to the door and when he opened the garage door, I was shocked at what was sitting inside. Sitting on the dirt floor was a treasure of Penton items, including the Sachs cutaway engine. Dane said you are the only one who seems interested in the Penton history and you should be the one to have this stuff. What happened was when Penton was closing up shop, Dane gathered up numerous items that he felt should be preserved and put them in the garage for safe keeping. I climbed into the bed of my truck and Dane just kept handing me the items, I spotted the Sachs cutaway engine and wondered if Dane was going to hand it up to me, which he did. I hauled the truck load of items home and carried them all into the basement for safe keeping.

Possibly about 4 - 5 years later we got the POG off the ground, I made mention of these items and said that they need to belong to the Group. The cutaway engine was looking sad from years of neglect. About that time, I became good friends with Richard Sanders from Texas. Richard's restorations were second to none, one evening I mentioned to Richard how we would like to display the cutaway engine, but it sure could use a refreshing and the POG was looking to get it redone before showing it. Richard instantly offered to redo the engine. I don't remember how we got the engine to Richard in Texas, but sure enough we did and Richard along with his right-hand man, Caption Don, worked their magic on the Sachs cutaway. Richard would not take any payment for his work; he was proud and honored to have restored that incredible piece of Penton Sportcycle history.  A side note, Richard had hired Lyle Lovette to work in his shop when Lyle was young, and Lyle got to meet John Penton at a dealer service school.  Years later, when Todd Huffman asked Lyle about narrating the John Penton movie, Lyle instantly agreed to do so. I talked with Lyle at VMD a few weeks back and we were reminiscing about Richard Sanders, Lyle got a smile on his face and unbuttoned his dress shirt enough to show me his Cycle Shack T-shirt that he had on underneath. Cycle Shack was the name of Richard's shop.

Olie and Al Martin made the storage / display box for the Sachs engine. After displaying it at numerous events for a number of years, the cutaway Sachs spend a number of years in storage. We wanted to get the cutaway Sachs somewhere where it would be seen and appreciated, fortunately Ray Mungenast provided us with that location, thank you very much Ray! Sorry for the long-winded reply Gary, but numerous folks deserved to be given credit for their efforts in preserving and displaying that incredible piece of Penton Sportcycle history.

[G Ellis]

Paul thanks for the reply. Not long winded, thanks for the insight. Looks like I will need to go there and get some photos. Thanks again Paul

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Paul thanks for the reply. Not long winded, thanks for the insight. Looks like I will need to go there and get some photos. Thanks again Paul

   Hi Gary;

     If you have difficulty finding time to get toe the Mungenast museum for pictures, let me know and I can make a trip there. I live in the North St. Louis County area, and it's only about a 45 minute drive for me. In this day and age of digital photography, it's pretty easy to take pics and email them. Just let me know.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee
   [email protected]
 

[Rob Hugo]

Paul, Thanks for taking the time to write out the history of the cutaway engine! I really enjoyed reading that.

[G Ellis]

Daniel it would be great if you  could do that. Detail photos would be great I will pay or trade for your time. Thanks.

[Dale Fisher]

A Sachs and KTM cut-away as seen at the 50th.

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Daniel it would be great if you  could do that. Detail photos would be great I will pay or trade for your time. Thanks.

    I am going to try and work the trip to the museum this coming week. They are open limited hours and it's best to call ahead and make sure someone is there.. I'll keep you posted.

  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Rob Hugo]

Dan if you end up going, would you mind asking them if the book "Take it to the Limit: The Dave Mungenast Way" is still available? I tried calling the dealership, but did not get very far. If it is, I could use a phone number or email address. We have a page for Dave on the main website and it mentions the book but am not sure if it is still in print or not. Thanks!

[johnborn]

hi, Rob. I have a hardcover copy of this book if you are still looking for one. e-mail me if you are interested. [email protected]. thanks.

[Rob Hugo]

Sorry! Should have been more clear... I am wondering if it is still available so I can update the information on the website and let people know where they could get it if they were interested.

[Daniel P. McEntee]

Sorry! Should have been more clear... I am wondering if it is still available so I can update the information on the website and let people know where they could get it if they were interested.

    Hi Rob;

    This slipped my mind while I was there. There was just a guy filling in for the day there, and I did not get to talk to Ray. I'll find out and report back.
    Type at you later,
     Dan McEntee

[Rob Hugo]

Dan,

Thanks for thinking about this. No big deal! If you find something out, that would be great, but please don't go to any extra effort. Thanks again!

[Daniel P. McEntee]

   Ray is out of town until next week. I have an email in to the museum but haven't heard back from them yet. I'll keep you posted.
  Type at you later,
   Dan McEntee

[Al Martin]

Dane made the rotating brackets that hold the motors to the display/storage boxes