Dane Leimbach
Penton Rider Profile
Penton Motorcycle?
By Dane Penton Leimbach
Editor's note: This is a reprint of the article that Dane Leimbach wrote and was printed in the first issue of “Still … Keeping Track” in 1998. It was the first member profile published before being classified as a “member profile”.
Please forgive me if this story seems a little self-centered at first, but I feel the need to explain who I am before I can tell of my experiences with the Penton Motorcycles. Bear with me and you will experience the Penton story from a slightly different angle.
I never asked my parents why they chose to use my mother's maiden name for my middle name, but it is indeed Penton. From that piece of information, you should easily deduce that my mother is John Penton's sister, and I, a nephew. As such, I was the recipient of an experience that many people of my childhood era know or have experienced. When I was four, the untimely death of John's first wife from Multiple Sclerosis left their three sons without a mother and as a result they were sent to live in the homes of John's siblings. The closest son to my age, Jeff came to live at our house for the next three years, turning the boy who had been one of my favorite cousins, into a temporary “brother”.
It was during these three years, I first began to view Uncle John as more than just an uncle that owned a motorcycle shop. Notice that I said “shop” instead of “store” as you may hear today in this age of marketing glitz. In those day stores were where you bought food, clothes, and hardware. Motorcycles came from shops. The reason for this was on special occasions Uncle John would come to our house riding his single cylinder BMW enduro machine. It wasn't neat enough that he road over on the bike, but he gave us rides as well! I was old enough to recognize that the machine was not the same as a motorcycle that was used exclusively for the street, what with it's being equipped with the knobby tires, special flat steel metal fenders, and no lights. We didn't care what the bike looked like, because being taken for a ride on it was probably the coolest thing that could have happened to us at that time.
Over the ensuring years we were chased out of the small motorcycle shop that Uncle John owned more times than I could ever remember for being underfoot. But those “associate” experiences in motorcycling planted the seed that kept me interested in motorcycling all through the years as the shop saw many diffent franchises pass through the door; BMW, Ariel, BSA, Yamaha, Suzuki, CZ, Husqvarna, and Honda. While I wasn't old enough to ride a mororcycle our bicycles became surrogate mounts and with varied sound effects, we surely thought ourselves as enduro riders.
At some point Uncle John must have decided that his two oldest sons were ready to experience motorcycling from the riders seat, and gave them an older 125cc Yamaha street bike for Christmas. Thus began the new era of Penton motorcyclists. I would jump at the chance to visit just so I could watch my cousins riding their prized possessions. I have no recollection of how long it was or how my first ride came about but I knew I just had to have one of these marvelous machines, well perhaps not a 125 Yamaha street bike, but a motorcycle none the less.
Over the years my cousins rode a variety of different motorcycles that would be just right for me, or perhaps that should read “could afford”. In 1966 a fellow from Cleveland, Ohio who was importing a line of small displacement two-stroke motorcycles brought one of these machines to Uncle John's shop and encouraged him to try it out as a competition unit. A casual glance at the bike told Uncle John that it would never make a race bike, but to silence the disbeliefs of the importer, the 100cc Hansa was stripped of unnecessary parts then equipped with different fenders and given to Jack Penton to race.
In an unfavorable beginning the machine literally broke in half and the test was over, and this machine wasn't going to make a race bike. The importer was told and shown the results and he assured John that the company that built this bike could build a better unit and one that could be raced successfully. The importer arranged for one of these new bikes to be sent over for evaluation and some months later a “Six-Speed” Hansa arrived, and boy was this guy right, not only was this thing different – it was a rocket!
The class of the field in those days was the Yamaha Twin Jet 100 with a factory race kit called a GYT. Like most race machines, it was actually a 100cc street bike converted for racing and then hopped up. You have to keep in mind this was before most Americans had ever heard of motocross. Smooth track scrambles were where most of these Yamahas were raced. The Six-speed blew by these Yamahas so badly that most people wouldn't believe that it was only a 100cc machine. Not only was it faster than lighting, but it didn't make any noise!
After a number of successful outings Uncle John decided that perhaps this KTM firm could actually build a bike worthy of the term “out of the box racer”. After a trip to the ISDT later that year Uncle John returned home by way of Mattighofen, Austria the home of Kronreif and Trunkenpolz Motorfahrzeugbaubesellshaft, KTM to most people. It was there that the first arrangements to produce a “Penton” motorcycle were concluded with a handshake. The era of the Penton Motorcycle had begun!
Back in Ohio, when I first heard of this venture, I had to admit I was a bit confused, I can remember asking myself - “what brand of motorcycle were they going to put the Penton name on?” You mean they are going to actually build a motorcycle and put my middle name on it? Were they going to put the Penton name on a Hansa? Oh well only time would tell and indeed it did.
When I first set my eyes on the prototype 125 Penton Six Days, I absolutely forgot about any other so-called competition machines, this was the best piece of machinery that I had ever seen and of course I wanted one. Well actually the 125 was too big for me. I wanted the 100cc that was to be made in the near future, but “if wishes were horses then beggars would ride”, this was simply not to be, at least for a while.
You would think with a famous uncle who rode a motorcycle that having a bike would be a cinch, right? Not if you have a father who has two brothers that were doctors and both had more than their share of experiences with “motorcycle hoodlums” who had been splattered all over the highway and this was sure to happen to me should I start in this motorcycle riding business. It goes without saying that I spent countless hours trying to convince all concerned that I would not meet the same fate as those unfortunate souls that my Dad's brothers has worked on. Finally, in the fall of 1969 my dreams were finally realized. I got my first motorcycle, a 100cc Penton Berkshire – frame number V525.
As you can see my doubts about the design, development and production of a 'Penton” competition motorcycle were unfounded, all because of the determination of one guy – my Uncle John A. Penton. It took me many years to realize exactly how special this man is, but I've learned a lot from him and the life experiences that he's provided. The Penton motorcycle era was only 10 years long, but it set the stage for the American dirt motorcycling boom in the 70's and the off-road bikes of today.
Dane Leimbach remembered
The following is a list of stories to give you, the reader a better appreciation of who Dane Leimbach was. His first article for the newsletter was focused on his Uncle John and the Penton motorcycles with only a hint about himself. This article will help fill in the blanks.
I first met Dane at his farmhouse in 1997. The purpose of my visit was to borrow his ISDT medals to have them professionally framed up by my sister, Marie Vetrano. These were to be used in a special display that I was planning for my vendor spot at the AMA Vintage days event at Mid-Ohio in July along with the ISDT medals of Paul Danik, and Jack Penton.
When I arrived at Dane's house he was in the back yard with a couple of boxes on his picnic table. Each box was a time capsule for all of the ISDT events that Dane attended. Each layer inside the boxes were a specific year and location with time cards, maps, badges, directional arrows and anything else related to those ISDT events..
After he showed me what he had in the boxes, I asked him about his ISDT medals. He went into the barn and came out with a homemade wooden box with a glass cover. Inside were all of his medal tacked on the inside. I found it a little strange that he would have them displayed inside the barn and not inside his house, but at least he had them sort of framed up.
When the POG was finally up and running a newsletter was needed to inform our members as to what was going on. Stories were also needed and after this was discussed at one of the meetings, Dane submitted his “Penton Motorcycle” article for the first newsletter. And he did it without saying anything at that meeting and did it in short order.
Dane's article is sort of like a member profile with him telling about his childhood and Jeff Penton living with the Leimbachs for three years with his main focus about his Uncle John and how the Penton motorcycle came to be. As Dane stated at the beginning of the article, he was not one to brag, so a lot of details about himself were left out. This is before we started the “Member Profile” series of articles.
Dane was a doer. He was one of those guys with an instinct to just jump in and help out without anyone have to ask him. At the AMA Vintage Days events at Mid-Ohio he was always there to help set up the displays and help take them down. During those events he was around most of the time to meet and talk to visitors. With his experience with the Sachs engines I had witnessed him many times on his hands and knees adjusting someone's transmission and showing them how to do it.
At the Penton Owners Group meetings, Dane was a quiet guy. He would sit and listen in on stories being bounced back and forth and he would generally be the last one to throw his two cents in with the facts that he remembered.
Alan Buehner
I first met Dane at Mid-Ohio in the latter 90’s where I would normally bring several restored Penton’s for display at the POG site. While sitting with the bikes, Dane came up and introduced himself and was asking about my collection. As soon as we started talking, we immediately hit it off as I noticed that not only was he a famous Penton rider, he was a nuts and bolts type of guy just like me. The entire conversation revolved around the construction of the bikes, design and history. We later got to the Sachs engines and the conversation stayed there for quite a while. Dane was asking me if I had any issues with the proper adjustment of the transmissions and I stated that I used a combination of the Penton manuals and a Clymer M427 manual to assemble and adjust the transmissions. It’s then he invited me to come over to Amherst to his shop sometime and he would go over the transmissions and give me a private tour.
I liked him right off the bat and eventually took him up on the offer. I broke free from my busy schedule and drove over to see Dane at KTM and was sure glad I did. He not only gave me an amazing private tour of the facilities but a view of the original hidden Penton racing bikes from the day and a nice education on the proper assembly and testing of the Sachs transmission. He also gave me a few tools that he and Uncle Ted had developed to assemble and properly adjust Sachs transmissions. I still use these cherished tools in my shop today and think of him often.
We stayed in touch as I was always sending him boxes of Motoplat ignitions and coils for testing and we were continually picking each other’s brains for information on Penton bikes and their engines. At one time, I got the crazy idea to build two identical matching Hiro bikes as I had two NOS engines so back to Dane I went for information as he was involved in the construction of the oddities. While building the bikes, I received a surprise package from Dane and it contained the original machined stock for the rear engine mounts for the Hiro’s. One stipulation being that I only use what I needed and return the rest which I did. Another time, I had built a 125 Penton for Jeff Penton to ride at the Vintage Six Days in Massachusetts and Dane sent me a few MZB ignitions to install on Jeff’s bike and one for my personal rider. These were new to the states and we were the test bed so to say for the ignitions to see if they were good. Needless to say, we both rode well, the bikes performed excellent and I absolute loved the ignition.
To say the least, Dane was an amazing man and cherished friend. Not only was he a natural championship caliber rider but he was a thinker and builder and I honestly think he was more at home in the shop developing items for the bikes and riders to ensure things worked well and helped us win races. I can never thank Dane enough for the wonderful friendship and knowledge that he gave me. Priceless, is the very least I can say for this amazing visionary and also the entire Penton family.
Kip E Kern
I didn't know Dane until later in his life due to our age difference and my late life involvement in the sport of motorcycling. It was sometime around the end of the 1990"s that I was building small fiberglass duck hunting boats and Hi Point had started building their line of trailers. Someone had mentioned my name to John Penton and Larry Maiers concerning fiberglass fabrication. Larry wanted to enlarge the trailers - taller with a larger rear door. I worked up a full-sized model of the enlargement and attached it to the existing trailer. Larry liked what I had designed, gave me the go ahead to produce the plugs and molds. The additional height would necessitate changing the inside metal framing. Changing the framing would also mean changing the jigs that the framing was built on. This is where Dane came into the equation. Dane is the guy that would alter the jig to the new framing dimensions. This is the point that our relationship began.
I had no idea that Dane was a ISDT gold medalist or that he was John's nephew. Our involvement at that time lead to a friendship that lasted until his death.
Somewhere during our working together, I purchased a Kawasaki KDX 175. This bike had seen it's better days and was in need of a great deal of work. I was sure that Dane could help me right all the wrongs that the KDX had. Showing Dane what I needed and asking a lot of questions reveled the fact that Dane, Jack Penton and Mark Hyde had been the team that developed the KDX for Kawasaki. Dane was very helpful with the information concerning the development of the KDX and the rejuvenation of my project. During all that time, I worked on the KDX and was in need of Danes help. I didn't hear him brag of his involvement with Kawasaki or the ISDT.
Our relationship continued to grow throughout the years. We traveled together to motorcycle events, races and fiberglass seminars. During the trips we might have had John and jack as traveling companions. While on some of these long trips, some lengthy some very interesting stories would unfold. I wish I could recall them all.
Dane was not only a great motorcyclist, but he was also a designer, excellent machinist, mechanic, welder and just an all-around fine person.
There is hardly a day that passes that I do not think of him. I'm proud to have had Dane as My friend.
Paul Arthur Busick
Dane’s abilities and accomplishments as rider were simply amazing. I’ve heard him referred to as “Mr. 100”, as among many other successes in competition, Dane’s performance on 100cc Berkshires defy common logic. In his typically understated way, Dane’s explanation for what he was able to achieve aboard the small displacement machines was, “I would just ride the bike as fast as it would go.”
Besides being totally in awe of his riding and racing skills, as a wannabe motorcycle mechanic, I very much enjoyed and appreciated the technical insights Dane so very graciously shared with those, like me, much less knowledgeable and capable than he.
Lessons learned from Dane’s descriptions of his experiences have stuck with me to this day. Of note, Dane at one of the POG meetings described in detail that, during his time with Kawasaki, bikes for the coming season were assembled, then transported down south for testing. However, upon arrival at a facility where the riding and testing were to take place, none of the bikes would start. Dane described that extensive diagnosis and repair efforts were applied to the bikes but with no success. Eventually, Dane and the Kawasaki team aborted their efforts, loaded the bikes, and returned north.
Back in the shop, the bikes were taken all back apart and all components evaluated. Careful assessment and reassembly eventually led Dane to conclude that brand new motors, preassembled and placed on a shelf, actually developed just enough corrosion on the case surfaces where they connected to the frames that effective grounding was not taking place. This apparently was enough to provide spark to occur at the plugs but not enough for the bikes to fire or run.
Most impressive that Dane would openly share what was undoubtably to a very unfortunate oversight, specifically for the benefit of us common slobs so that we could take steps necessary to avoid similar experiences.
I have never forgotten that lesson, nor all the other insights Dane so very graciously shared in his practical, logical, very detailed manner. The man was tremendously, technically skilled, both in his actual mechanical skills as well as his capabilities in evaluating problems and developing solutions. A true thinking man.
Ted Guthrie
During my beginning years with the KTM company, Dane was the man with skills that could fabricate anything. Special tools, fixtures for special projects, basically anything KTM needed.
I did not know Dane as well as others in his circle but am fortunate to have worked beside him for a while during his illness at Penton Racing Products.
Dane used his professional expertise (along with his Cousin Barb Penton) to operate the successful Penton Racing Products business. In the beginning, Dane and Barb imported and serviced Motoplat ignitions.
Motoplat ceased operations in the early 90’s, like Dane’s uncle John and forward thinking, he saw the opportunity to provide quality ignition systems for motorcyclist that could not otherwise ride their motorcycles. Dane sourced PVL ignition components from Germany. PVL is primarily a racing kart ignition supplier. Power Dynamo was another supplier, this company provided stators with lighting capabilities.
It was impressive how Dane could take raw material: copper windings, magnets, capacitors, steel, and aluminum, design then reproduce a quality motorcycle ignition with strong spark at the right time. Dane reverse engineered original systems then designed his own adaptor/mounting plates. Magnetic rotors were precision bored to fit crank taper, stators and CDI’s paired for different types of engines. all hardware was supplied for complete bolt on kits. Penton Racing Products was one of the first companies to do this on an international scale for modern electronic ignitions kits. Penton Racing Products provided ignition systems not only for Penton bikes but Japanese, European BSA, Triumph and HD as well. Dane (and Barb) also provided exceptional customer service.
Dane was the pathfinder of Spark when it came to motorcycle ignitions. I will always remember Dane running his ignition Dynamometer at a VERY high rpm. sparks jumping everywhere! Dane was able to map and test most any ignition system. This tool was crucial to the design new systems and testing any used system.
Dane was also the first to market programable, digital ignitions to public. He was always on the cutting edge with new products/applications. I will always remember and appreciate Dane for his articulate drawings, notes, fabrication, and design skills. I often wonder where their business would be if he was still around.
Jerry Birky
Being a teenager hanging around the Penton machine shop was an opportunity for learning for me. As Jeff Penton and I were working on our bikes, Dane would be on task under the tutelage of Ted and Ike (Erik) Penton, learning the workings of the machines in the shop. This would be in the late 60’s on North Ridge Rd. There were no limits to Ted and Ike’s wisdom and repair abilities.
When the Motoplat ignition hit the production, Dane understood the testing and repair. Dane’s use of the English language whether In speaking or written was beautiful.
During any event, Dealer School, racing, fundraising or parties, Dane would help set up, support and clean up. Never heard anyone ask, he just did what was needed.
Dane would often stop by my house to chat as he was on his way to a Meadowlarks meeting. Those visits were wonderful. We also would compare notes and help each other when stuck on repair projects. My last job I had Dane do for me was a weld on a BMW K 1000 oil pan. Due to his declining health, he lost his beautiful gift of speech. I wrote what I needed and he wrote what it would cost. I left the shop with a repaired pan and tears in my eyes. This would be our last time shared together.
Norm Miller
I have a couple of Dane Leimbach stories that give even more credence to his legendary problem-solving skills. The first one involved a problem I had on an early Penton 400. It had so much compression that I actually snapped off the kick start lever shaft. When i was telling Dane about that at the old Penton Racing Products shop, he said "I remember Carl Cranke dealing with that back in the day". Then Dane started rummaging around in a couple of drawers in this old desk. He remembered that the tooling from Carl to modify 400 heads was laying in one of those drawers from decades ago. Soon after, he took my head, chucked it up in the lathe and showed me the mod to lessen the compression, making those engines much easier to start, but also smoothing out the powerband. I duplicated the tooling and I have not built a 400 motor since then that doesn't have the "Carl Cranke " mod to the head.
The next story was at the same location as the first, at the Penton Racing Products shop. Dane knew that at that time. I was racing my 400 Penton quite often in vintage motocross. He had many NOS Motoplat ignitions but the problem was that they were for Yamahas, which the ignitions spun in the opposite direction. He figured out how to use these abundant, albeit the wrong direction, ignitions for use on the various size Pentons. He used my 400 as a test vehicle to establish the viability of coming up with usable ignitions from new, old stock, but again, not ones that were configured correctly. He accomplished this by
de-magnetizing my flywheel and RE-magnetizing it differently to simulate the ignition spinning in the opposite direction. I was duly impressed with him coming up with that concept and I used that ignition for years afterward.
In May of 2008, Dane was being the "Legend Honoree" at a AHRMA National Race. We rode together in my truck to attend that event and we enjoyed the road trip and our conversations. Everything was good. During the hare-scramble race that weekend, I blew out the ACL in my left knee. Since I was out of action for a few months from the knee injury, I didn't see Dane for about five months. When I saw him again around November of that year, I then realized that something was amiss with him from the way our conversation was going. There were just some non-sensical things he was saying and he was losing his chain of thought frequently. That was the beginning stages of what soon turned out to be an ALS disease diagnosis. With the loss of Dane, we lost an incredible wealth of knowledge and also lost a great human being.
“Chicago” Jerry Grakaukas
“Be sure to keep the headlight off of your bike”, such valuable advice was common for Dane Leimbach to provide. We were in Camerino, Italy at the time, getting ready to give our ISDT Penton’s to the KTM folks to haul back to KTM after the 1974 ISDT.
Dane rode a 100cc Penton, he and Billy Uhl on his 100cc Penton were always the first off the line at the ISDT Qualifiers that I rode. That may not sound like a big deal, but just imagine trying to be on the pipe, AND watching for the trail markers on a relatively virgin trail for hundreds of miles and not missing a turn and getting lost. It took total concentration and being “one with your machine” to put in a Gold Medal performance under such circumstances, but Dane always made it look easy.
When I arrived at the Penton R & D building a couple of days early to help load the Cycleliner for my first trip west to ride some Qualifiers, Dane was quick to invite me to stay with his family at the Leimbach farm. I felt right at home at their farm as I had grown up in a similar home in a similar situation. The Leimbach’s grew vegetable crops, and we grew nursery stock, lots of long days in the fields for each of us working alongside our parents, broken up by racing our Pentons on the weekends. It was easy to become close friends with Dane, and I treasure the time that we spent together.
When Dane was ill, a benefit steak fry was held at the Amherst Meadowlarks track. I loaded up a couple of Pentons and headed to the event, we placed the bikes near the clubhouse and folks gathered around them and talked about the good old days. When it was time to load up Dane rolled one of the bikes into the trailer and stood proudly with the handlebars in his hands, just as I had seen him do so many times over the years. After I had the bike secured, Dane, unable to talk much at this time, embraced me and gave me a long hug, then smiled and headed out of the trailer. I had a long hard cry in that trailer as the thoughts of losing such a dear friend was simply overwhelming.
As for that headlight off of my 1974 ISDT Penton, it still has the Italian dirt and dust on it from 50 years ago and every time I look at it I am reminded of my dear friend, Dane Penton Leimbach.
Paul Danik
