Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/1521336
June 2024 35 In trying to process the situa on, it almost looked like someone got a new tool kit for Christmas, proceeded to get whiskey drunk in the garage, and took that old bike apart with no regard to the order of disassembly. It appeared the goal might have been to get all the fasteners on the floor. Now being in mately familiar with Penton motorcy- cles, I recognized each and every part lying on the cement. I looked around in astonishment then looked up at the seller. He said, "It's all there". Well, for 500 bucks, it was well worth it in parts alone and I began to load up the van filling coffee cups and donut bags with the loose hardware. The next morning, I unloaded the van and laid all the parts on the bench. Everything was filthy from years of neglect, but the bonus was the bike had always been stored inside in a dry loca on. In order to get a handle on the project, I decided to clean each and ev- ery component and begin assembling the bike to see what was missing as I had doubts about all the parts being there. Like a large puzzle with no instruc ons, by the end of the day, I had a complete motorcycle. Incredibly and true to the seller's word, all the parts actually were there. Now I like the honest look of a survivor bike as they're only original once. With all the parts and pieces squeaky clean, I decided to leave the frame and ns alone. Incredibly, the original aluminum fenders were in great shape. Amazing really as most stock Penton fenders were tossed at the dealer and replaced with Preston Pe y units before the bikes le the show- room. As for paint, the only part I painted was the pipe. Surprisingly, the bike appeared to be a rela vely low-use example right down to the original Metzeler res, bars, grips, and levers. Even the chrome rims shone brightly a er a good cleaning and were dent- free. It was at that moment that I decided to replace all the consumables and give it a fully func onal survi- vor bike makeover. As for the Sachs powerplant, although the top end had been removed, thankfully, the previous owner did not a empt to disassemble the bo om end, but it was chock full of crud from years of barn dust and needed to be gone through. Not having the special tools to handle Sachs engine rebuilding, I decided to ship the engine to Penton Owners Group President Rick Benne , a former air-cooled Porsche expert, and Sachs aficionado for a complete rebuild.