John Penton
John Penton (born August 19, 1925 in Amherst , Ohio ) is an American racing driver, motorcycle designer and founder of the American off-road brand Penton. He is considered one of the most successful motocross and enduro racing drivers in history and a pioneer in the development of modern motorcycle technology. The motorcycles he designed in 1968 enabled KTM to mass-produce off-road motorcycles suitable for competition.
Life
John Penton grew up on a farm in Amherst, Ohio. After the early death of his father, his older brothers discovered a dilapidated 1914 Harley-Davidson in a barn and thus discovered motorcycling. Especially for John Penton, who played football in high school, it soon became clear that he wanted to race motorcycle.
First successes
After World War II , which he spent in the Merchant Navy and the US Navy , he had too little money for a new Harley - there was only enough money for a used Knucklehead . Together with his brother Bill, who drove an Army WLA 45-inch HD, he took part in the Jack Pine 500-Miles Enduro in 1948. In 1949 he drove a B-33 BSA in the same race and came second. In 1950 he and his brothers opened a motorcycle shop in Amherst, where they sold BSA, BMW and NSU motorcycles. The shop became a meeting place for bikers, and in 1954 the Meadowlark Motorcycle Club was founded here and is still there today.
On the way to becoming a star
In 1958, Penton's wife Katherine died after a long illness. The other members of his family looked after his three children while Penton continued to race. He won five national enduro competitions in a row - all on an NSU. He set a new cross-country record on a BMW R 69 and drove from New York to Los Angeles in 52 hours and 11 minutes . In 1962 he took part in the Six Day Trials for the first time and won a silver medal in Garmisch . However, he had previously found that lighter machines were superior to the Harley Davidson. To build an enduro motorcycle that was lighter, smaller and faster than the models from BSA, NSU and BMW, he turned to a manufacturer whose motorcycles he also sold in his shop - Husqvarna , but could not generate any interest there .
Penton and KTM
In 1962, John Penton got to know the small and powerful European motorcycles at the first Six Day Trials in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. That is why he competed in races in the USA on a lightweight NSU 175. To be able to realize his idea of building a lightweight motorcycle for the US market, he visited the KTM plant in Mattighofen in 1967 . Here he described his ideas of a small-volume, powerful and high-quality off-road motorcycle: a 100 cm³ and 125 cm³ motorcycle that was to be available as an enduro and motocross version. Back then, KTM built mopeds and bicycles. In 1956, the company also turned to off-road sports, but then lost interest in it due to problems with the production of the KTM scooter "Mecky". John Penton managed to convince KTM. Four months later the prototype was ready: it weighed 103 kg, was equipped with a new 125 cm³ five-speed Sachs engine with cast iron cylinder and a stable Ceriani fork with a 35 mm handlebar diameter and 135 mm travel.
KTM began series production, and the first 10 Pentons from Austria, powered by a 100cc Sachs engine, arrived in Ohio in March 1968. In 1968, six 100 cc Penton prototypes started at the Stone Mountain National Enduro in Georgia. In the same year, several Penton KTMs competed at the Six Days in San Pellegrino , Italy , and the American team finished tenth out of 22 teams. As early as 1969, John Penton was able to order “Penton Six Day 125” for the American market and became the first KTM importer in the USA.
Instead of a simple model name, Penton called the 125 “Six Day” after the only international enduro competition with championship character. The 100 cc motorcycles were called "Berkshire" after an off-road event in Massachusetts. Further models were developed by John Penton from 1968 to 1977.
breakthrough
What made KTM a competitive manufacturer of off-road motorcycles was fifth place in the silver vase classification of the Penton sons Jeff, Jack and John at the 1970 International Six-Day Race in El Escorial, Spain. In total, Penton and his team were able to win 38 off-road and motocross races in the 100 cm³ and 125 cm³ classes.
End of the Penton brand
More than 400 motorcycles were sold in the first year. Ten years later, when Japanese competitors hit the market in 1977, more than 25,000 motorcycles had been sold in the United States. In the USA Penton stickers were stuck on KTM motorcycles until 1977. 1978 Penton gave the KTM sales to "KTM America Inc." from.
Equipment
Penton also wanted to improve its motorcycle boots and turned to the Italian ski boot manufacturer Alpinestars . The result was the Hi-Point Boots. In the late 1970s, they were the top-selling motorcycle boots in the United States.
Private
His sons Jeff, Jack and Tom are still in the motorcycle business. Penton lives with his second wife on his ancestral farm. In 1998 he was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
Movie
- Penton: The John Penton Story , directed by Todd Huffman, produced by: Pipeline Digital Media
book
- Ed Youngblood: John Penton and the Off-Road Motorcycle Revolution , Penton Owners Group, USA, October 1, 2014
Web links
- Penton Owners Group [1]
- Penton in 'Motorcycle Hall of Fame' [2]
- Trailer for the film: The John Penton Story [3]
- Six day Trials 1962
Individual evidence
- ↑ AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame | John Penton. Retrieved September 4, 2017 .
- ↑ #TBT Throwback Thursday: Penton and KTM - KTM BLOG . In: KTM BLOG . October 16, 2014 ( ktm.com [accessed September 4, 2017]).
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Penton, John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American racing driver and motorcycle developer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 19, 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Amherst (Ohio) , Ohio, USA |