Cool Bike

[Admin]

The website just received these pictures of Dave McCullough's new '68 steel tanker and we thought they would be worth posting on the message board.

Bill & Karen

[Paul Danik]

Dave,
   WOW, what a find!!  Just goes to show that there are still some great bikes out there.

   How about we have a little "Penton Steeltanker 101" class with this bike.  We are collecting data at this time for an indepth  "Penton Steel Tanker" book and we are looking at every detail of these early bikes. How many "details" can you guys find on this machine that a restorer wanting to do a "perfect" restoration should make note of.

   Dave, once again nice find, wanna double your money:D

Thanks
Paul Danik

 

[Rocket]

Paul beat me to it, but I'll second the WOW!!
Great find.
Rocket

[cardojr]

Dave--that is too cool.. the first odd thing i saw is the backwards and oversize air box -my aluminum airbox on the berkie has the bolt on the other side and a plug on the pipe side
rob

[slvrbrdfxr]

Thanks Paul and Rocket !! I think WOW was my first word too when I saw the bike. It sure was an very nice stroke of luck !! I really owe my buddy bigtime. Not sure exactly what I'll do with the bike at this point but am leaning toward just cleaning it up as best I can and get it running good. Might be best to leave it as much original as I can. Wish I lived a little closer and could bring it to the AMA POG meeting next month. Maybe I can have it ready for a trip to VMD this July. I'll be glad to help with the "Steeltanker Book" in any way I can so let me know if you need any more pics or data from the bike. Take care and talk to you later.

Dave McCullough

[Kip Kern]

Beautiful find Dave, love those Borrani rims, they will polish up very nice.  Is the airbox the long or short version of the 50cc Comet  Does it go down to the bottom of the frame, it should, having both grey side covers.  If you need a NOS gas cap, contact Domi Racer, also they may still have a NOS headlamp for the bike.  Good Luck and great find!

[slvrbrdfxr]

Kip,
The bike does have a pretty large airbox. It extends from just short of upper shock mount to about even with the tank petcocks. It extends down to the swingarm pivot bolt. The wheels should clean up real nice. There is alot of barn dirt stuck to them but seems to wipe of easily. Might get the powerwasher out on the bike tomorrow if the weather holds. I think my biggest obstacle is going to be dealing with the left footpeg which is broken off. This frame has threaded holes for the pegs to mount whereas my 70 steeltanker has a long threaded bolt running between the two pegs. The threaded hole is gone on this one so I'll have to fabricate some sort of replacement. Will also need to find the correct rounded footpeg for the left side. I'd be happy to send you any close up pics of the airbox or anything else on the bike for you future reference. Just let me know. I'll get with Domi Racing to see what they have available for the bike. Thanks again !!

Dave McCullough
Tulsa Trail Riders
[email protected]

[firstturn]

Per Paul's request about things to look for on this early Penton:  The air box with the two side covers that has the airbox cover mounting with a bolt on the exhaust side, the long chain guard, the original shocks and the four bolt rear hub/sprocket carrier.  What a great find Dave.

Ron Carbaugh

[Kip Kern]

Dave, The footpeg mount replacement is easy, I cut a good one from a junk frame, weld it in place and rethread it.  I may have an extra "calf jabber" footpeg for it in my inventory, I'll check.

[baxtermcc]

Good job there brother.  I guess this seals it, we're riding '68 steel tankers at the ISDTRR next year?  I better get busy!  Only ~275 days until we hit the trail.

Good find,
Bob McCullough

[Paul Danik]

    I can't tell from the photos if the exhaust stinger is original, it sort of looks like it is a larger OD than stock, but it's hard to tell. What do you guys think?  I can sure remember that distinctive Ring Ding Ding that those pipes sang.
Paul

[firstturn]

Paul,
  I think it is just the angle of the picture.  The mounting holes for the guard are in the correct general area.  I love it when one of our guys find something like this.  I think due to the area that this bike came from that it passed through Leroy Winters shop.  Just my guess.

Ron Carbaugh

[Paul Danik]

The stinger I am speaking of is the very end of the pipe, the narrow tube on the end, the rest of the pipe looks very original. The reason that I ask is that several members have wondered in the past what the correct length and OD of the original stinger was.  Many of those long narrow stingers were replaced with VW tailpipe stingers " back in the day", the VW stinger reduced the racket made by those pipes and supposedly took some of the peakiness out of the bike.

Another hard to find item are the original fork bellows that are on that machine. Really neat!!!

[firstturn]

Paul,
  I have signed up for reading classes next week.  The only original pipe I have is in South Carolina so I will see if I can get it measures and get back with....off to reading class.

Ron Carbaugh

[slvrbrdfxr]

Paul and Ron,
Im curious about the stinger on the pipe also for a couple of reasons. The stinger measures 7.5" in length and is a 1" diameter. The stinger weld looks pretty decent so it might be original but there is a series of small holes drilled near the end of the stinger. The holes do not appear to be stock so maybe this was someone's attempt at a homemade diffuser ?? There is also a thin 8" long brace welded horizontally between the pipe cone and stinger on the inboard side. It sort of looks like a fin on the inboard side of the pipe and comes pretty close to touching the upper shock cover. Weld on that piece looked decent too so I wasn't sure if that was original or not. I'd be glad to send you a close up picture the stinger to get your thoughs. Talk to you later.

Dave McCullough