Issue link: http://trailridermagazine.uberflip.com/i/771894
January 2017 39 problems disappeared. It now started easily and fi nally ran consistently. Like many of us bike fi ends, the deep allure is the thrill of the chase and the opportunity to wrench on old iron. Wrenching on vintage bikes is considered deep therapy — Zen-like, really. A er ge ng the Penton thoroughly squared away mechanically, my new Southern Maine friend soon lost interest and off ered it up for sale, but only to another vintage "family" member. Once I had properly familiarized myself with this sweet old Penton, it was me to dress up the old girl. With the tank looking so nice and the frame nicely detailed, this wasn't gonna be another "pig in lips ck." She was now a thoroughbred and just needed the proper vintage ensemble. The fi rst order of business was to strip off all the bodywork and make a list. The fenders, although not cracked and broken, were scratched and dingy. Since we're woods-lovers here, and believe all Pentons deserve to be fi ed in enduro-dress, we needed lights. There were a handful of small parts that were needed as well. Fortunately for Penton parts, we've got a tremendous resource in Alan Buehner of Penton Parts USA (pentonpartsusa.com). Al had the NOS factory wiring harnesses in stock for the ligh ng kit and supplied the appropriate speedometer cable. The correct Magura hand grips and a host of other small parts detailed the bike nicely. As for body work, Paul Stannard of Preston Pe y Products (Yes, yahoo, they are back!) supplied an Integral Tail light rear fender, a period-correct "Muder" front fender and one of Preston Pe y's iconic headlight/number plates. As for the speedo, as a hoarder of all things vintage enduro, I happened to have a perfect VDO si ng on the shelf that had been doing duty as "fi ne art" for decades. Once all the new body work was mounted, it was me to choose a new set of knobbies. Since we were going for a period-correct look on the freshening, we chose a pair of Vee Rubber V109 vintage pa ern knobs. We ran the Vee Rubber V109's on our 250 Can Am Qualifi er during the NETRA Vintage Scrambles last season. Not only do they look right on a vintage bike, they really work well for our terrain. Now that we've go en the old 250 Cross Country all cleaned up and into proper enduro dress, this bike is not going to sit and languish in the corner. Plans for 2017 call for a fair amount of vintage events and we'll probably have it plated for the season for some dual sport use and abuse to boot! -Kurt