Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/125870
There is nothing comparable to t he ne w-framed Penton 400 in corner ing. You can use a berm o r ignore it, or change your line confidently once in the turn . By John Huetter Want to be the center of attraction In any motocross pi ts In the United States? It's simple. Unload a 360 Penton from your truck. The white alloy and plastic, the radically suspended frame draw gawkers like Swiss cheese does St. Bern ar ds. Most enthusiasts have 24 heard about the 2 50 Penton, or seen it, or rid d en it, and most of the world isn't read y for the notion that this 360 has " more" of whatever the 250 had. Well, it d o es. But as k yourself as yo u re ad th is, " Am I ready for more ?" There is no suc h thing as the perfect co mpe ti tion mot orcy cle. Ho we ver, John Pen to n has tried to bui ld an d m aintain an image that the bik es sold wi th h is name on the tank are as cl ose as m os t b u yer -u sers ar e . likel y to ge t t o perfection in a flexible , off-road, natural te rrain co m peti tion machine. Par t of th e im age is clever advertising, part of it is reali y b ut John's many. trips t o !,"d discussions with the KTM factory in Austria have born reasonably palatable fruit. lt has taken some years to negotiate, and cajole the Austrians in order to import machi nes that now emerge near the top of the ladder in te rms of hand ling and power and. due in part to their limited production, in price. The m ach ines are no t perfect b ut rem e mber th e wo rk s K TM s in W orl d Ch ampi onsh ip m o t ocr oss are the fastes t. The' mach ines are as expe nsive as tw o of so me other b ikes bu t t he handling an d control impar ted with the new frame and suspen sio n, first appearing o n this 357cc m odel o f the Penton , is t he best experienced o n any stock m otor cy cle. Unfortuna tely, like Ho nda's Elsino re, th e , pe o p le who name Penton.'. motor cy cl es for t he U.S: ar ke t.PiC chosen to label it after another now-defunct racing event: the Mint 400. Call it a Fast 360 and you'll be a lot closer to the truth. T he new Pen to n , and it is all new, both frame and engine, has more power; more flexib le, forgiving handling; m ore co mfortab le, usa ble sus pe ns ion, but only costs $100 m o re than a 250. Bob Moorfield, a Southern California man ufacturer and businessman, has the only 400 in private hands in these parts. His methods of obtaining it are impressive and well nigh incredible. He also typifies one major type of buyer who will be attracted to the new Penton/K'TM: somebody who rides cross-country, appreciates a piece of engineering that works better than anybody else's, and can afford his pleasures . We were able to talk hi m out of his new scooter fo r a few days. There's hardly any point in ta king color ph otogr aphs of this m ac h in e, as mo st o f the m aga zin es will w an t to do. Tan k, side pa nels, and fe nde rs are po lar whi te . T he frame is flat gray, as is the engine. "P-E-N-T-O-N" is written o n the ta nk in bl ack; th e same color as th e seat an d ca bles. But the im pression is not dull , it is dram at ic. T he real d rama lies in the vis ib le suspension differences. The Ceriani fo rks , l ong a Penton stan dard, give seven measured inches of co m p re ssion a nd rebound up front and the Ceriani gas-damped shock absorbers, which have six lo wer and two u pper mounting posi tions, provide six and one-half inches of rear wheel travel in their full laydown position. This shock m ou n tin g position, which appears to be slightly mo re than a 45 degree angle wh en the swi ngarm is level, is the one that appears to work for serious racing. But if it doesn't suit you or en duro riding is your bag, you can play around with all the other possibilities. In most of the variations. you'd have to be a finely tuned professional, to notice any difference because most people won't ride this machine flat out ; certainly not for very lo n g. From a somewhat impu re technical standpoint, the Ceriani gas shocks can '( fade . The pressure of a gas held in co nstant vol ume inc reases with te mpe rature so, ac tually, shoc k damping force sho uld in cr ease as a gas shock is used har d er. The de sign would ap pear to requ ire valvi ng vo lu me to ac tually increase ; t he oppos ite o f hy dra ulic dampers. If you di ssip ate th e hea t b uildup at the righ t ra te (wh ich involves a bizarre co nducting fo rm ula we d o n' t remem ber from th ermody nam ics), the shocks shoul d stay ju st like you want the m inde fin itely . Un less you blo w a seal. Then i t 's rea lly al l ยท o ver . So - Iar , gas-damped bouncers have- avo ided this