Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1139140
July 2019 33 A low-use survivor, it gets used but treated gin- gerly. Over the past three seasons, I've been rac- ing a '76 Penton 250 Cross Country in the popular NETRA Vintage Scrambles series. I've developed a love/hate rela onship with the bike as it bit me a few mes. But truth be told, the '76 model year is a favorite. It's no secret that Kurt likes orange bikes, and the '76 model year was the first or- ange Penton/KTM built. As a believer of if two is good, three is be er, I soon began hun ng for a '76 125 Penton to round out the collec on. The year '76 was significant for Penton/KTM as it was the very first year for the KTM 125 engine. Pre '76 100 and 125 models were Sachs-pow- ered. The new KTM 125 bo om end was basically iden cal to the 175, 250 and 400 engines. The top end was en rely different with KTM 125 cast ver cally into the cylinder. 1976 was also the last year of what's known as the CMF (Chrome Moly Frame). "Frame Breather" Penton as the 1977 models (and last year of the Penton motorcycle) were en rely different with an all-new chassis. A one-year model, the '76 KTM powered 125 isn't common on the used market, now 40-plus years down the road. What's fun about the vintage bike thing is that when you pre y much give up look- ing for that unicorn, they crawl up and lay in your lap. Case in point, this happened last March while tes ng Honda's CRF250F. My buds Beau Viens and Owen Tirrell joined in on the fun. Owen happened to have a project he thought I might be interested that was packed in his truck. Yup, a '75 125 Penton! A li le horse trading, some cash and within min- utes, another basket case of a Penton was loaded into the Trail Rider Sprinter. The back story on this one — it was an original owner bike that Owen found on Craigs a few years back. He purchased it from an older gent who used it for trail riding around Cape Cod for a season or two, then parked it in his shed for decades.