Posts
155
Joined
4/1/2008
Location
Amherst, OH, USA
Edited Date/Time
1/26/2012 4:58pm
In the mid 1960's, KTM was only making bicycles and mopeds when John Penton asked KTM to build a small displacement racing motorcycle. The Penton family paid KTM $10,000 to KTM to build the prototype and the 125cc Penton Six Day prototype was completed in the late fall of 1967 and was shipped to Amherst for testing. Once the bike had been ridden, John and Ted Penton decided to move forward with production. Here's a shot of the original prototype:
This prototype is now in Italy in the collection of Arnaldo Farioli, one of KTM's factory enduro riders in the late 60's and early 70's. Arnaldo was the manager of the Italian KTM distributor until the early 21st century when KTM bought the business out.
On March 6, 1968, the first 10 production 125cc Penton Six Day motorcycles arrived in Amherst and that got the Penton motorcycle era under way. This is what got KTM off the ground building racing motorcycles.
10 years ago, a group of Penton owners and the developers of the Penton motorcycle, created an organization called the Penton Owners Group to spread out the information about the Penton motorcycles.
On September 20th and 21st, the Penton Owners' Group is organizing a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Penton motorcycle and the 10th anniversary of the Penton Owners' Group. The celebration will be held in the Amherst area at KTM's facility.
There will be a tour to show where the Penton motorcycle was created and the facilities that Penton Imports existed in Amherst and Lorain. On Saturday night, there will be a banquet in Vermilion to give people the history about the company. On Saturday morning, there will be tours of KTM's facility in Amherst. On Sunday afternoon, there will be a parade of Penton motorcycles from KTM's facility to "Pentonville" where the family grew up and created the company.
Information about the celebration can be found on the Penton Owners' Group Web site at:
http://www.pentonusa.org/...forum.asp?FORUM_ID=7
If you're interested in attending the event, you can find the information and forms at these sites:
http://i127.photobucket.com/...TGTech/EventForm.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/.../CelebrationForm.jpg
KTM's management, both in Austria and the US, are very appreciative of the actions of the Penton family and are assisting with the celebration.
Dane
This prototype is now in Italy in the collection of Arnaldo Farioli, one of KTM's factory enduro riders in the late 60's and early 70's. Arnaldo was the manager of the Italian KTM distributor until the early 21st century when KTM bought the business out.
On March 6, 1968, the first 10 production 125cc Penton Six Day motorcycles arrived in Amherst and that got the Penton motorcycle era under way. This is what got KTM off the ground building racing motorcycles.
10 years ago, a group of Penton owners and the developers of the Penton motorcycle, created an organization called the Penton Owners Group to spread out the information about the Penton motorcycles.
On September 20th and 21st, the Penton Owners' Group is organizing a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Penton motorcycle and the 10th anniversary of the Penton Owners' Group. The celebration will be held in the Amherst area at KTM's facility.
There will be a tour to show where the Penton motorcycle was created and the facilities that Penton Imports existed in Amherst and Lorain. On Saturday night, there will be a banquet in Vermilion to give people the history about the company. On Saturday morning, there will be tours of KTM's facility in Amherst. On Sunday afternoon, there will be a parade of Penton motorcycles from KTM's facility to "Pentonville" where the family grew up and created the company.
Information about the celebration can be found on the Penton Owners' Group Web site at:
http://www.pentonusa.org/...forum.asp?FORUM_ID=7
If you're interested in attending the event, you can find the information and forms at these sites:
http://i127.photobucket.com/...TGTech/EventForm.jpg
http://i127.photobucket.com/.../CelebrationForm.jpg
KTM's management, both in Austria and the US, are very appreciative of the actions of the Penton family and are assisting with the celebration.
Dane
Have fun!
the 125 "Six Days" and 100 "Berkshire" were both Sachs powered. the first Penton with a KTM powerplant came in late 72' and was the 175cc "Jackpiner", followed by the 250cc "Hare Scrambler" in ealy to mid 73'.
not trying to be a wiseguy here, but wondering if KTM actually manufactured the bikes, sourcing Sachs engines, before they produced and utilized their own engines.
also, I'm assuming "Dane" form "Amherst" is Dane Lembach. if so, his Penton history credentials are about as good as they get.
It was my understanding when Mr. Penton got into a riff with KTM management
he would just go another factory to get his stuff made.
Didn't they come with a Zundapp motor for awhile?
Actually, because of the transmission issues that the Sachs engines had, Uncle John actually tried to get KTM to use the 125 and 175 Puch engines in the Pentons. There were two prototypes with the Puch engines in them, but only one (the 175) came to the US. The 125 never got here, but we have some pictures of the bike.
The reason that the Penton's ended in 1977, was for two issues: KTM's "direction" and the economy. The Austrian Shilling to the US$, was 26 to 1. 10 years later, the exchange fell to 13 to 1, which meant that the price would have had to jumped 100%.
Dane
The Shop
DeCal Works Huge Plastic Inventory of UFO and Polisport kits.
Luxon 4-Post Bar Mounts
$189.95 - $239.95
Free shipping: VITALMX
Dane
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timsphotosite/collections/7215760744029929…
http://gallery.pentonusa.org/gallery/album17
Dane
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