What dealer did your Penton come from?

[cubfan1968]

I was just wondering, how were the Pentons tracked when they were sent to the dealers. Was there a list stating these frame numbers went to a dealer in California and this one went to a dealer in Iowa?

If it was possible it would be cool if one could see how far their Penton traveled to get to them.

Rod Whitman
1972 Six Day (Rider)
1972 Six Day (Project)

[firstturn]

Rod,
  In Texas and surrounding states the dealers drove to Amarillo Texas to pick up their Pentons at Penton Central.  I will check and see how many I know had them shipped and how.  I know back in those days Central Freight Lines had a monoply in the state of Texas and Freight was sky high.  I think someones wife was the majority owner of that freightlines...something to do with LBJ.  Oh well this was and is Texas and as Rocket says "everything is legal in Texas till you get caught".[8D]

Ron Carbaugh

[gthong]

Lindy's suzuki... romeo, michigan

same dealer I bought my pentons at back in the 70's

dealer gone now

my bike is a 1974.5

[Rain Man]

3 bikes I have here all came from another members bike shop called
"New England Sportscycle"  on rt.1 Scarborough, Maine.

 Chuck Purinton was the proprieter, 30 years ago, wow

Raymond
 Down East Pentons

[cubfan1968]

What I'm trying to figure out here is when the Pentons were shipped from KTM to the US, were they sent to a central "depot" that shipped them to the various dealers? Or were they sent direct to various distribution points then shipped out to the dealers? And how did they track who got what?

Rod Whitman
1972 Six Day (Rider)
1972 Six Day (Project)

[Mick Milakovic]

Buck's Cycle in Valparaiso, Indiana [8D]

[tacrac]

Got my Jackpiner from  "Cape Ann Cycle" which was located in Beverly Mass.  Owners name was Charlie Hilderbrand

[OUCWBOY]

Rod,
looks like you're getting a bunch of data you didn't ask for!!! LOL

Donny Smith

[Paul Danik]

Rod,  

   The bikes were loaded into containers at KTM and were shipped by freighter to the port of Baltimore, Maryland.  Penton would make the run to Baltimore and retireve the containers which were unloaded in Ohio. At first Penton would rent a tractor to make that run but soon they had their own trucks.

   Van loads of crated machines would be hauled to new dealers by the Penton sales force, dealers would also make their own run to the Penton facility to get their shipments.

    Shipments of bikes, parts and accessories were also sent by tractor trailer to the other Penton distribution points across the country. The list that you ask about may still exist but as of yet has not surfaced.  Hopefully sometime when an old fle cabinet needs emptied this info may apprear.

    Your question can lead to some interesting stories, I hope my reply helps to answer your question.
Paul

[Steve Minor]

It might be fun to list the information of the bikes we bought new.

I'll start.......

1977 Penton 400 GS6 #70100837
$50 Deposit made on 4/29/77 (order was placed)
$1912.85 Balance paid on 5/13/77 (bike was picked up)

Dealer:
Motorsport Cycle Center, Roswell, Georgia
Suzuki, Ossa, Penton, Can-Am and CZ dealer

[cubfan1968]

Thanks Paul.

Rod Whitman
1972 Six Day (Rider)
1972 Six Day (Project)

[Paul Danik]

Rod,

     Here is a little more information concerning the route that the early Pentons traveled.    
     
     John Penton often marvels at the fact that KTM did not even have a tow motor when he first visited the factory.  He also tells of how the first Pentons were hauled on some sort of cart from the area of the factory where they were crated to the loading location, I am not sure what or who powered the cart but I think a four legged creature may have entered the picture, but I need to get that part of the story clarified. Maybe Doug or Dane could shed some light on this subject.

     An old dealer from Michigan and his wife told me of their travels to Lorain to pick up bikes while we had dinner at Tommy Garrett's after the POG/AMA meeting in Feb.  The dealer had a full time job at a factory and ran the dealership as a sideline, just like many of the early dealers. He worked the night shift at the factory, he would finish work and he and his wife would head straight to Lorain to pick up their order of machines and parts and also to get their "fix" of Penton enthusiam, then head back home to get to work at the start of his next shift. As they told me this story you could just feel the excitment coming from each of them as they recalled their venture to Pentonville.

    Some of the early Pentons were stored in the loft above the Penton Farm market, they made their way up and into the loft by way of a bale elevator, I remember that quite well as I was given the task of inserting the owners packet into the crates as they were placed on that elevator.

   Those early machines sure had quite a varied means of travel, and to think that some of them are now sold on Ebay and are making their way back across the pond in those same containers:D

Paul

[OUCWBOY]

There are some current KTM dealers that were Penton dealers back then Maybe if we contacted them they too could share some lite on this subject.

Donny Smith

[TGTech]

The motorcycles were boxed at the KTM factory in the newly constructed warehouse. (By the way, at that time, that part of the KTM factory, was nearly 1/3 of the total area of the plant. Today, the R&D department at KTM, is larger than that warehouse!)

The crated machines were then loaded onto what amounted to a farm wagon, and towed to the railroad freight station, about a mile from the factory. The crates were then loaded onto rail cars which were then hauled to the northern German port of Bremen, where they were then loaded into the containers. All of the handling was done by hand and as Paul mentioned, at the time that it all began, KTM didn't even own a forklift.

One more side note: The "loft" that Paul mentioned that was being used to store the motorcycles in the beginning, is being converted to a 2000 sq. ft. home for Bill Penton's oldest daughter and her husband, who operate the Penton Farm Market today. Who's doing the carpentry?: Penton Owners' Group members Ollie and Al Martin.

Dane

[Paul Danik]

Dane,
 
   How many bikes fit into a container?  Also, did the guys at KTM ever send a little "care package" to you guys in with the bikes?

Thanks
Paul