Cycle-liner trivia

[swamp fox]

Dane,
Those must have been some fun trips back then. I can relate to the speeding up and down the hills. I helped move my sister once with a Uhaul, and that's about the only way we could get through the roads in the upstate.[}:)]

Robert Manucy
72 Berkshire
72 Six Day

[swamp fox]

Doug,
You didn't pull the old "we're not stopping till we get there" trick did you.?[}:)]

Robert Manucy
72 Berkshire
72 Six Day

[tmc3c]

What year and make were the buses? Could there be a RESTO job in there for RON? Wouldn't that be cool?? Loaded up with bikes like back in the day with the gear hanging and all of the gas cans !! Wow that would take a whole row at Mid - Ohio !! I can see it now !! Hmmm

Thomas Carmichael

[firstturn]

Thomas,
  Actually some years back I scouted one out near Lubbock.  That was BM.....Before Marrage.  I think at this point I would probably be building a BIG DOG HOUSE for me and my Pentons.  At least if I decided to do it between Dane as the Chief Engineer and Doug as the Man in Charge we would win trophys at the Car & Truck Shows.  And when they saw what was inside........MX, Flattracker, Enduro and Trials.  I have a lot to think about today.[]

Ron Carbaugh

[Randy Kirkbride]

Dane,
70 mph, huh?  I remember returning home from the Aligator one year back in about '75??.  I was driving thru Tennessee in a blinding snow storm at about 60 mph, way over my head, when the Cycleliner passed me and about blew me off the road.  Looked like they were going 90.  It was always neat whenever we were at the races somewhere & the Cycleliner pulled in.  You knew you were going to get to race against the best!!!

[Paul Danik]

When Penton was the featured marque at Vintage Days, Mr. Penton, Al Born and myself hauled the POG display to Sonoma, California, site of VMD West.  After the event was over we were traveling through a small town heading towards the interstate.  I looked over to my left towards some large trucks that were lined up for sale, in the center of the row sat the cycleliner, or what looked to be it's twin brother, with a FOR SALE sign in the window. I pointed it out to Mr. Penton who instantly got all excited and wide eyed, "otta buy that and build another Cycleliner" was his responce.  After a second or two passed the reality of the project seemed to hit home and we all just took one last look at the bus and kept moving.  I have since wondered if that bus ever sold, would make a mighty nice birthday gift for Mr. Penton!!!

   One quick Cycleliner story, I was at the wheel when we were going through a town on the way to a qualifier in Oregon. It was a rather hot day and the floor vent was open, the door of the vent was quite near the brake pedal.  A rather hard left turn was coming up and I wanted to slow a bit before the turn.  I put my foot on what I thought was the brake pedal and pushed lightly, nothing happened, I pushed a bit harder and still nothing happened, we were now at the turn and I had no option other than turn and hope for the best.  The bus listed to the right pretty hard and I heard some items falling onto the floor as we rounded the turn, needless to say I was all puckered up. As we exited the turn and the bus righted itself Dane hollered out, " Pauls starting to get the hang of driving this thing", the guys laughed at Dane's comment as I tried to release my unusual grip on the seat.  Of course I acted as though everything was under control!!!! Apparently I had my foot against the vent door and not on the brake pedal.

Paul

[TGTech]

Thomas,

  I get the inference from your questions and suggestions, that you  may believe that the Cycleliner was the equivalent of one of today's modern motocross transports and while it is a really nice thought, I have to tell you, that this just wasn't the case. It was comfortable enough to do it's job, but it was strictly utilitarian. No frills.

   The two buses that I had much connection with, the Cycleliner and the Hi Point bus, were '64 and '66, I believe. The Hi Point bus was the '66 model and the Cycleliner the '64 model. I have no idea of how one was chosen for a particular job or the other, but that is the way that I remember it.

   Crown Coach Corporation of Los Angeles was the manufacturer and according to the front of the parts book that we have, they  made fire engines as well. I have no idea if Crown is still in business or not.

   Paul's post reminded me that there is something else about the Cycleliner that I forgot to mention. The Hi Point bus and the Cycleliner had different suspensions under them. The Cycleliner rode on air bags and the Hi Point bus had leaf springs. Because of the air bags, the Cycleliner had a pretty smooth ride compared to the Hi Point bus. Just like so many of the other features, there was a down side to the air bag undercarriage. While the ride was smooth, it was also sort of "mushy" and if you were going a little too fast around corners, the thing would heel over a tremendous amount, sort of like you were going to tip over. And that, was scary. Paul's episode wasn't the only time a rookie rounded a corner too fast, but whenever it happened, you can be sure, that things didn't always stay where they were originally put.

   Doing a restoration on one to like the the Cycleliner, wouldn't be too hard, but like anything else in our world's, it would take time. And duplicating the paint job that "Beet" put on it, would be a challenge.

   During Penton Imports' hayday, we employed a mechanic to take care of all the vehicles (and JP's tractors, back hoes, and bulldozer) whose name was Al Beetler. Just like most of the company's employees, Beet was a local boy (compared to the company patriarc) who had ridden motorcycles. Later on, after his body wouldn't take the motorcycles any more, Beet got into hot rods, and as such, became a pretty accomplished painter. It was Beet who put the red, white, blue, and gold patriotic paint job on the 'Liner in 1976.

   The post that Doug supplied, contained some details that I'd forgotten about. Most noticably, the "sink" that was installed. Since this was in an era long before you could drop down to your local Tractor Supply and buy a home generator, we didn't have any way to supply 110V power to the parts washer. So Uncle Ted dug around, and located a 12v pump to put in the washer, so we could use it where there was no 110v power.

   The parts washer was a Safety Kleen machine, and was on loan based on it being used as an educational tool. Since the bus was used all over the country and actual dealer training did take place from it, the bus could qualifiy as a mobile class room. After it just became a race bus, the parts washer stayed, and just sort of got "lost" over the years. It actually still exists today, in an (cough, cough,) undisclosed location, right next to a horizontal milling machine and a horizontal band saw. It has been converted back to 110v current thought.

Dane

[Tony Price]

quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilford

......There was only one time in a few hundred thousand miles that I ever had to go over a scale and that was with the Husky Liner during the Trans Am series, in Mississippi and I was about three Bikes to heavy   #600 .......    At that time I think there were 8 bikes and 6 people with luggage and riding gear.  No potty and the Swedes learned to not throw away any Gator aid bottles.  

Wasn't there some Swede collected pool furniture from the hotel in Florida contributing to the gross weight on this trip?

Funny the things you can learn hangin' out under a shade tree with Doug and Coco........

Tony



Tony

[Doug Wilford]

Tony you remember well, but if you remember I unloaded most of the Ramada pool furniture at my in-laws in North west Florida.  We only kept a few pieces for lounging at the races.   The problem was none of the contriband folded, so it took to much space, well it really took all the space in the back half, till the first stop.

[jchev]

If I can find them I have pictures I took of the cycle liner during a 2-day run in Missouri around 1974 or 1975. Our group from our penton shop was camped next to it. I also have pics from the moto cross on the second day. If any one wants to see them let me know and I will try to dig them out.   Jeff

Jeff Chevalier

[Admin]

Is this the thing you guys have been talking about?  [8D]

BS & KT

[TGTech]

That is the bus in it's first trim. And frankly, it was pretty drab at that point. When Beet went to work on the outside with the patriotic paint scheme, we had to go to work on the inside, and make it look a whole lot more flashy.

Dane

[Tony Price]

quote:Originally posted by Doug Wilford

Tony you remember well, but if you remember I unloaded most of the Ramada pool furniture at my in-laws in North west Florida.....  

Oh yea.....but I like the "fugitve Swede Husky team and Doug on a transport loaded with stolen pool furniture trying to run a weigh station" version!

Looking forward to seeing everyone in Tulsa!

Tony

[Doug Wilford]

Thanks Bill
That picture says alot.   There were 8 bikes on board for that venture and probably 6 of the riders.   See part of the top bunk thru the window.  
Those were the days for sure.

[BrianTaylor]

Dane what a hoot ....all good stuff.... if the cycl-liner wasnt luxury you should have seen the way we went! ..... Brian t.

Brian Taylor