Post by ssummey on Jun 5, 2016 18:39:22 GMT -5
OK maybe not the dark side but i'm close. Picked up a couple of 74 Penton/KTM Jackpiner's (sticking with the blue theme). A little history for those riders that take the KTM orange seriously. The goal is to get the #31 bike running and make it a rider and then see about the other at a later date. Wish me luck.
In 1967, John Penton, an accomplished American off-road racer and motorcycle dealer from Ohio, gambled $6,000 that a small Austrian motorcycle manufacturer could build the nimble lightweight race bike he'd been dreaming about for years.
As a returning WW II vet, Penton yearned to go off-road motorcycling, and he took to the woods like many others did in those days, plowing through races like the Jack Pine Enduro on an Army Surplus Harley-Davidson.
Penton knew there had to be a better way.
In the late 1960s, Penton was racing Husqvarnas and serving as the East Coast distributor for the Swedish manufacturer, when he first spotted a KTM engineer riding a dirt bike of his own design in the International Six Days Trial off-road race in Poland. (Penton is a seven-time ISDT competitor--a race open to only the best of the best.)
Intrigued, Penton approached the rider/engineer and quizzed him about the bike, which led him to visit the KTM factory in Austria. KTM CEO Erik Trunkenpolz (The "T" in KTM: Kronreif and Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen) was skeptical when he reviewed Penton's plans for a light, nimble small-bore two-stroke enduro bike, as the company had not been successful in the lucrative but competitive U.S. market.
So Penton put up $6,000 to fund the R and D, and KTM delivered, building six prototype bikes powered by 100cc Sachs two-stroke engines. Penton started racing the bikes in 1968, and put them under several of the top riders of the day as well. When the little bikes went on sale later that year at a price of approximately $700 each, they were a hit, and Penton sold 400 bikes.
The early 100cc, five-speed bikes were known as Berkshires while the 125cc bikes that also used a Sachs engine and five speed were called Six-Day. In 1969, the first Penton Jackpiner was built with a 175cc Puch two-stroke engine and a six-speed transmission. Later 1969 Jackpiners used a 152cc big-bore conversion kit atop the 100 and 125cc Sachs engine.
The 1972 model year brought about a redesign in the Berkshire, Six Day and Jackpiner models. For the first time, the Penton Jackpiner used a 175cc KTM engine. In mid-1973, yet another model, the Hare Scrambler, was released. This bike used a new 250cc KTM engine, beefy for the time, 35mm Ceriani forks, a six-speed transmission and a 34mm Bing carburetor. The Hare Scrambler was initially yellow, with green number plates and a black engine, but later was painted red.
The next big step came in mid-1974 when Penton released the 400 Mint which used a 352cc KTM two-stroke engine, a six-speed and a 38mm carburetor. This gave Penton a broad lineup, with an offering in every common displacement: 100cc, 125cc, 175cc, 250cc and 400cc. In 1976, the bikes' names changed to MC5, denoting "motocross" and a five-speed transmission (though there were six-speed MC5s), and Cross Country for the off-road racing crowd. Before Penton sold out altogether to KTM in 1978, he built the orange tanked GS6 Cross Countries and the Penton Woodsman.
Today, thanks to Penton's influence, KTM is a dominant force in off-road motorcycle racing, a darling of the motorcycling press and the marque that even casual riders aspire to own. Pentons are desirable collectibles today, and since the racer-turned entrepreneur cranked out more than 25,000 motorcycles in a 10-year span, they remain affordable and attainable.
For more information, check out the Penton Owners Group at www.pentonusa.org.
Scott Summey
In 1967, John Penton, an accomplished American off-road racer and motorcycle dealer from Ohio, gambled $6,000 that a small Austrian motorcycle manufacturer could build the nimble lightweight race bike he'd been dreaming about for years.
As a returning WW II vet, Penton yearned to go off-road motorcycling, and he took to the woods like many others did in those days, plowing through races like the Jack Pine Enduro on an Army Surplus Harley-Davidson.
Penton knew there had to be a better way.
In the late 1960s, Penton was racing Husqvarnas and serving as the East Coast distributor for the Swedish manufacturer, when he first spotted a KTM engineer riding a dirt bike of his own design in the International Six Days Trial off-road race in Poland. (Penton is a seven-time ISDT competitor--a race open to only the best of the best.)
Intrigued, Penton approached the rider/engineer and quizzed him about the bike, which led him to visit the KTM factory in Austria. KTM CEO Erik Trunkenpolz (The "T" in KTM: Kronreif and Trunkenpolz, Mattighofen) was skeptical when he reviewed Penton's plans for a light, nimble small-bore two-stroke enduro bike, as the company had not been successful in the lucrative but competitive U.S. market.
So Penton put up $6,000 to fund the R and D, and KTM delivered, building six prototype bikes powered by 100cc Sachs two-stroke engines. Penton started racing the bikes in 1968, and put them under several of the top riders of the day as well. When the little bikes went on sale later that year at a price of approximately $700 each, they were a hit, and Penton sold 400 bikes.
The early 100cc, five-speed bikes were known as Berkshires while the 125cc bikes that also used a Sachs engine and five speed were called Six-Day. In 1969, the first Penton Jackpiner was built with a 175cc Puch two-stroke engine and a six-speed transmission. Later 1969 Jackpiners used a 152cc big-bore conversion kit atop the 100 and 125cc Sachs engine.
The 1972 model year brought about a redesign in the Berkshire, Six Day and Jackpiner models. For the first time, the Penton Jackpiner used a 175cc KTM engine. In mid-1973, yet another model, the Hare Scrambler, was released. This bike used a new 250cc KTM engine, beefy for the time, 35mm Ceriani forks, a six-speed transmission and a 34mm Bing carburetor. The Hare Scrambler was initially yellow, with green number plates and a black engine, but later was painted red.
The next big step came in mid-1974 when Penton released the 400 Mint which used a 352cc KTM two-stroke engine, a six-speed and a 38mm carburetor. This gave Penton a broad lineup, with an offering in every common displacement: 100cc, 125cc, 175cc, 250cc and 400cc. In 1976, the bikes' names changed to MC5, denoting "motocross" and a five-speed transmission (though there were six-speed MC5s), and Cross Country for the off-road racing crowd. Before Penton sold out altogether to KTM in 1978, he built the orange tanked GS6 Cross Countries and the Penton Woodsman.
Today, thanks to Penton's influence, KTM is a dominant force in off-road motorcycle racing, a darling of the motorcycling press and the marque that even casual riders aspire to own. Pentons are desirable collectibles today, and since the racer-turned entrepreneur cranked out more than 25,000 motorcycles in a 10-year span, they remain affordable and attainable.
For more information, check out the Penton Owners Group at www.pentonusa.org.
Scott Summey