PICKERINGTON, Ohio — The American Motorcyclist Association mourns the passing of John Penton, one of motorcycling’s most influential and well-known figures. Penton passed peacefully at 100 years of age, having recently celebrated his 100th birthday.
Born on Aug. 19, 1925, Penton and his brothers learned to ride after reviving an old 1914 Harley-Davidson they found in their barn. But when World War II began, Penton shifted his emphasis to defense of the country, serving during the war as a Merchant Marine and in the Navy.
After the war he bought a used Harley-Davidson Knucklehead, heading with his brother Bill to Lansing, Michigan, to ride in the grueling Jack Pine 500-Mile Enduro in 1948. It was at that race that Penton realized that the days of larger bikes like Harleys and Indians were likely numbered in races like the Jack Pine when he saw a lighter, nimbler BSA beating the more powerful bikes.
Penton returned to the Jack Pine the next year on a B-33 BSA and finished second, which was the beginning of his mission to find a smaller, lighter and better-performing enduro motorcycle.
Penton went on to open a motorcycle dealership with his brothers while also continuing to race, winning the Ohio State Enduro Championship and many other enduros throughout the Midwest. In 1960 he won the AMA’s Most Popular Rider Award.
Later becoming a Husqvarna distributor after winning the Jack Pine aboard a Husky in 1966, Penton toured the Husqvarna factory in Europe in 1967 and tried to convince the manufacturer to begin building lightweight off-road machines, which Penton saw as the future of off-road riding and racing.
His idea was met with a lukewarm reception, so he went to visit the KTM factory in Austria, where his idea of a lightweight off-road bike was greeted with slightly more enthusiasm. He offered to put up $6,000 of his own money if KTM would build a handful of prototypes to his specifications, and KTM agreed.
In early 1968, Penton took delivery of six Penton 100cc prototypes, promptly entering them in races and putting other top riders on the bikes. Right from the start there was a big demand for the Pentons, which were lightweight and inexpensive, and in the first year over 400 were sold. More than a decade later, over 25,000 highly-competitive Penton motorcycles had been sold in America.
Penton’s innovations also included improving boots for off-road riders by working with Alpinestars of Italy to produce legendary Hi-Point boots.
For his innovation and contributions to the industry with Husqvarna, Penton, Hi-Point and in a many other ways, Penton was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
See John Penton’s AMA Hall of Fame biography here:
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