Jackpiner history

[Mike Berrington]

Where can I find a historical summary of the Jackpiner including model year changes for it's  entire life.  It would be really nice to find photo's of each model year.

Thanks


 

[imported_n/a]

Mike, I'm going through the same thought process as you are.  I've got some '73-'75 original brochures, as well as having a '72 Jackpiner now, and '73 and '74s back in "the day."  I've got questions about when the black to silver engine change was made, as well as frame and wheel changes.  Gotta go catch a train right now.  I'll follow up this topic tonight or tomorrow.

Glenn

 

[Rocket]

From what I can remember??
72 Jackpiner, black motor, amal carb, non hi-breather frame, full width aluminum hubs front and rear, aluminum fenders, blue 3 gallon tank, held on by a leather strap, 32mm Ceriani forks, girling shocks.
73 Jackpiner, black motor, bing carb, non hi-breather frame, full width aluminum hubs front and rear, plastic fenders, blue tank available in enduro and mx sizes, held on by a leather strap, 32mm Ceriani forks and girling shocks.
74 Jackpiner, silver motor, bing carb, hi-breather frame, conical rear hub, magnesium, full width magnesium front hub, plastic fenders, blue tanks availble in enduro or mx size, held on by a leather strap.  I think the 74 still had the 32mm forks, not sure.
75 Jackpiner, silver motor, bing carb, hi-breather frame with lay down shock capability, magnesium conical rear hub, magnesium full width front hub and plastic fenders, blue tanks available in new style enduro shape, looked like a watermelon, and mx size, held on by 2 rubber straps.  Tanks had black and white stripes along the whole side of the tank with the Penton logo, 35mm Ceriani forks and marzocchi gas charged shocks.  
76 Jackpiner, I believe they offered both the blue tank bikes early in the year and started coming with the orange tank models later.  I'm thinking the orange bikes came with a Lectron carb too.  The blue bikes had Ceriani forks, 35mm, and the orange bikes started coming with leading axle Marzocchi's, 35 mm.  Both of these bikes had Marzocchi shocks.
77 175, not called the Jackpiner anymore, called a GS6 with new style motor, smaller looking jug with rounded fins.  This bike has the Lectron carb, hi-breather frame, small mx style orange tank, held on by a leather strap again, 35mm Marzocchi leading axle fork.  The frame is similar to the MC5.

I'm sure I have left some details out and maybe somebody can fill in the gaps.  Every shipment that came to the dealer was different than the one they received before, always making changes.  I don't think I ever have ever seen 2 Penton's exactly alike at a dealer, always something a little different!!
Rocket

 

[Kip Kern]

The easy way to research the Pentons are to purchase all of the old original magazine articles pertaining to which model you are interested in.  There are several folks out there who sell the old original magazines as a business.  I found this to work for me several years back before the big interest in Pentons!  The really cool thing is that you will see several differences in each of the magazines for each year bike.  A real neat example is a photo I found of the first 73 250 Hare Scrambler having aluminum fenders and a silver jug!  Hope this helps!

 

[Mick Milakovic]

Rocket,
my '74 has 32mm forks, but the rear hub is full-width.  Probably using up left over parts from '73?

Mick Milakovic
Delphi, IN
765-268-2570
[email protected]

[Rocket]

Mick
What color motor and what is the frame serial number?  
Just curious??
Rocket

 

[imported_n/a]

Mike, the descriptions by Rocket are a good guideline of the history.  If you're trying to restore a Jackpiner, use a photo from a magazine or a Penton brochure to work from.  At least you have a snapshot from one point in time.

I'm curious if any of you know about when the KTM engines changed from black to silver.  I know my '73 Jackpiner from June of '73 had a black engine.  My '74 Jackpiner from June of '74 had a silver engine and long-travel frame.  A friend of mine bought a '74 Jackpiner over the winter of '73-'74, and his came with a silver engine, 250 short-travel frame, conical rear hub and 35mm Cerianis.  He was very upset when the long-travel bikes were released in the spring.

Also, was the little time clock on the crank cases of each engine the date the castings were made or when the engines were assembled, but not put in frames yet?  I know the serial numbers indicate the year of production, but the numbers don't always correlate with the time clock numbers.  

I checked my engines for time clock and serial number information.  

Black  175 Serial No. 2 5201587 clock 6/72
Silver 175 Serial No. 4 5207375 clock 11/72
Silver 250 Serial No. 3 5400175 clock 10/73
Silver 250 Serial No. 4 5404348 clock 3/74
Silver 400 Serial No. 4 5500906 clock 2/74

The silver 175 cases are stamped in November of '72, with a 1974 engine serial number.

Any facts or theories would be appreciated.

Glenn

 

[Mick Milakovic]

Rocket,
The motor is a silver KTM with a build date of 11/72, taken from the clock on the side case.  Frame# is 7-30565657

Mick Milakovic
Delphi, IN
765-268-2570
[email protected]

[imported_n/a]

Mick, what is the serial number on the right crank case just below the bottom fin on the cylinder?

Glenn

 

[Mick Milakovic]

Glenn,
I'll check tonight and respond to this topic on Monday morning.

Mick Milakovic
Delphi, IN
765-268-2570
[email protected]

[SoCal996]

I have a 73 Jackpiner build in March with a black engine and metal fenders. I'm fairly sure everything is original considering the rough condition. Looks like it was the enduro version as the rear fender is drilled for the tail light. High breather frame, 32 Ceriani front forks.

Brian

 

[imported_n/a]

Brian, my '73 from June was a high-breather with plastic fenders, small mx tank and black magnesium front hub.  I don't have any record of the serial number or clock from that bike.  I sold it in June of '74 to buy a silver engined long-travel Jackpiner.

Glenn

 

[Mike Berrington]

Rocket,
thanks for all of the information,  I was not aware of the black to silver engine change and was interesting reading about the latest models.  I saw a 1977 for sale and was not sure when they stopped mfg. "Jackpiners/Pentons" and when they became KTM.

I have been searching for photos representations of each derivation but have not had any takers,  do know of anyone who may be able to help?

Also I am still looking for a Jackpiner, preferable large tank model.  I have been lamenting about my old 1973 since I sold it back in 1978...  any leads?

Thanks again for your information


 

[Mike Berrington]

Glen
Thank you also, for all of the year transition information,  I plan to restore a Jackpiner if I can locate one!


 

[Rocket]

I dug through my old Penton brochures that I happended to keep from the 70's and here is what I found.
The 72 literature doesn't even mention the Jackpiner, probably because it was printed before they were sure to release the 175.

The 73 literatures shows the bike with aluminum hubs and aluminum fenders, (I bought a new 73 in January of 73 and it had plastic fenders), black motor and lists a Bing carb.  It also shows the new 250 with aluminum fenders and the motor is black with silver jug, also calls it the 250 Mint, which was changed to Hare Scrambler when they hit the dealer floor.  Nothing mentioned about Hi-breather frames.

The 74 Literature has the Jackpiner with silver motor, plastic fenders , black magnesium hubs, conical in the rear, and the picture shows 35mm Ceriani forks.  The gastank is listed as the 2.4 gallon tank and it has the full size black and white stripes with Penton on the side.  The 250 is red and called the Hare Scrambler.  Still nothing mentioned about Hi-breather frames.  Nothing mentioned about the 400 Mint either.

75 Literature new style frame with laydown shock capability, silver motors, Hi-breather frames, black mag hubs, 35mm forks and pictures show ceriani rear shocks, some came with them and the later one's came with Marzocchi's.  The 400 Mint shows up now.

Here is where it gets confusing, the I have 3 different brocures for the 76 models, the 1st one has the bikes like the 75 models with the exception the 125 now has a KTM motor and there is no longer a 100.  The 2nd brochure, all of the bikes are now orange with the different style gastank, the 175 also has a 32mm Bing instead of 30mm.  They also have the Sun shoulderless rims.

The 3rd brochure has the new MC5 series bikes, 125, 175, 250 and 400.  Completely different frame, leading axle 220mm travel leading axle forks and marzocchi shocks.

I know there were many different combinations of Penton's sold.  I had a late model 250 76 that had old style frmae with leading axle Marzzochi forks and the orange gastank, which I sold to Ted Del Solar in 1977.  I've also got a 73 frame that is a hi-breather.

Sorry to be so long winded.
Rocket