Bobby Lucas

[tmc3c]

Has anyone had any work completed by Bobby?

Thomas Carmichael

[Dennis D]

He has my Piner motor. Dennis D

 

[tmc3c]

Hi Dennis, Is this your first with Bobby? Or has he done work for you already? He has my rear Marzochi piggyback shocks.

Thomas Carmichael

[Dennis D]

This is the first time I have had him do work for me. I'm guessing that he's had your shocks for a while. I dropped off my motor over thanksgiving and I don't think he has taken it out of the box yet. I can tell you that he has a ton of work to do. He is also very involved in racing in Texas both as a racer and an organizer. Add to that the normal job and family and the fact he has a hard time telling people no and its easy to see how far behind he can get! I talked to him a couple of weeks ago and he said he was redoing some shocks. They may be the ones that belong to you. Dennis

 

[tmc3c]

It has been about 7 mnths he has had my shocks and it is not the time he has had them that bothers me,just tell me something, tell me what you can do and what you can't.I am sure he does great work but consider yourself lucky that you have talked to him.

Thomas Carmichael

[Dennis D]

Tom, I have talked to him on several occasions. Are you having a hard time getting ahold of him? The last time that I talked to him he was working up north of Dallas and wasn't getting home til late. Larry Perkins said that he had a motor of his for over a year. I know thats not what you want to hear and I'm not defending the guy, but if it were me I would call and tell him that you really need your shocks to race and if he can't get them done just send them back. There is talk of a couple of vintage rides comming up and if I can't get my motor done that's what I'm going to do. I'll either figure out how to do it myself or I'm sure someone on the board knows someone who can do it. Dennis

 

[tmc3c]

I have talked to him and let me say up front that the guy is a walking encyclopedia on pentons,and I am sure that he does great work because Al say's so but there has been problems.With this being said I owe all readers a apology for using our great website to voice my frustrations.I will not go into the problems and will hope for the best.I have a motor and a pair of forks that need rebuilding but they won't be going to Texas.

Thomas Carmichael

[Big Mac]

Try Charlie Richardson at //www.crhighperformance.com, 760-451-0056, in Fallbrook, CA. He's a long time CZ expert and always done good by us guys with Czhech iron, and recently hired a guy with Sachs experience. I sent him my crank out of a '73 KTM 250 motor and he rebuilt it, balanced it and got it back to me in 2 weeks for $80 total, no problem. He's wanting to get more into Pentons and as more work comes that way, he'll be more equipped to handle anything & everything--getting set up with specialty tools to remove inner crank bearing races, for example. Best part is he always there, always answers the phone and races vintage bikes on the side.

Jon McLean, Portland OR

 

[Monty]

O.K Mr Carmichael....Your making it sound like you've got beef with TEXAS...I hope you don't, or else I just might have to come on out to South Carolina and ride my bike all over a great big, pretty, green mountain; then go fishing!

Now, with that said...How are things?

 

[tmc3c]

Monty, that is just what you need to do with that street tracker you got, come on down here and show some of these HOG riders whar a PENTON is all about!

Thomas Carmichael

[tmc3c]

And as far as Texas goes,I know from past experience that Dallas/Fort Worth is a rockin' place to be.How's the Baby?& Family?

Thomas Carmichael

[tmc3c]

Thanks for the tip BIG MAC! I will keep this in mind!

Thomas Carmichael

[chris richardson]

The answer, grasshopper, is:

timing, anticipation, patience...multiple bikes!

 

[James]

Hi great forum. I will have to add that Bobby is a friend I have known since 91. He got me into vintage racing when I was a 20 something ready to get out of mx due to the
four foot speed bump night tracks and general loss of interest. My first vintage bike was a mistake...(75 Bultaco 250 that I was taken on since I knew nothing about them at the time). I wanted a Penton after seeing Bobby,Skip and Randall running them. I was too broke to pop $500 for a clean 74 400(wow that is unthinkable today LOL). I purchased a250 Penton from someone else for $300. I took it to Bobby-and he saw I had been had again(even for $300). He sold the Bultaco as a parts bike for me and helped get my Penton going. A year later I won my first mx moto on my Penton(with Bobby's borrowed tank and seat)this was the only time my dad saw me race and I smoked that day. Soon Bobby was able to get more parts...in 1994 I went trough cosmetics-Bobby did motor-ran for three years let sit. 1998 went through again.
This time Bobby putting motor in at 9 pm Valentines day night(my wife won't let me forget). Almost no break in on cylinder-went2nd in vintage and won GP1(post vintage 76-78) with my 74 250. Yes Bobby is enthusiastic about Pentons and vintage..Yes he takes on often more than can be done in a reasonable time. I would suggest that he may have a set of rebuilt shocks to swap(if that is applicable in your situation). BTW my works never "worked" correctly. The zokes Bobby set up were perfect. I am 35 215 lbs and slow but aggressive-they were the best shocks I've had( that is good when I was practicing at Village creek mx and casing the bike on doubles table tops, everything else). As far as not contacting you-no excuse-again the guy just takes on more than he can kick out in reasonable time frame. I apologize for failure to be concise, yet wanted to be clear that Bobby has done a lot for myself and others. Bobby is one of the few people in the world that I trust and perhaps the only person i know that I would trust with a blank check. Thank you for letting me use the forum the say this, James

I have bike parts in the kitchen cabinets where most people have dishes..

[tmc3c]

I have now recieved my shocks this week and they of course done perfect.With that being said we had talked about him keeping mine and him sending out another pair, but that isn't what happened.I am sure that he is honest,with out a doubt this was never in question! With him being spread so thin time slips by.I will not go into any details with the problem I had but I will state that the shock work is unsurpassed!

Thomas Carmichael