PENTON—THE FIRST 50 YEARS
I
t was a noble goal. Build and
sell a small motorcycle that
could win in "woods racing." That
was over 50 years ago.
Leaving for the 1967 ISDT in
Zakopane, Poland, trail-hardened
John Penton had seen some
samples from the small manu-
facturer in Mattighofen, Austria,
called KTM. After the ISDT, Pen-
ton paid KTM a visit. Later that
year, after a prototype to John's
specifications was approved,
John and KTM's President Erik
Trunkenpolz struck a deal to
make 10 "Penton Motorcycles."
Those 10 bikes arrived to the
Penton family farm on March 7,
1968. The rest, as they say, is
history with those 10 125cc "Six
Day" motorcycles leading to more
containers from Austria as Pen-
ton Motorcycles began racing
and selling all over the U.S. and
abroad with KTM badging. Today,
KTM is the leading manufacturer
for off-road sport motorcycles in
the world.
Over the March 10-11 week-
end, The Penton Owners Group,
or commonly known in their
circles as "Poggers," celebrated
the Penton Motorcycle's "First
50 Years" in Amherst, Ohio, at
one of KTM's warehouses. The
building was turned into a "Smith-
sonian of Penton motorcycles
and memorabilia" from Penton
collectors all over the USA along
with a big stage and sitting area
for presentations, interviews, vid-
eos, food service, etc. In typical
Penton fashion, they even found
old cases of new Hi-Point Oil
to put on the tables as gifts for
guests in lieu of wine.
The displays of Penton prod-
IN
THE
WIND
P38
A crowd of 500 (including John
Penton, front row, left) were in
attendance for the festivities in one
of KTM's warehouses.
