TE/TC John Penton and the 125 2T...

I found this print for sale on Face Book tonight and it set me thinking, about John Penton, Husqvarna, Penton, KTM and the 125 2T enduro bike.....



John Penton riding his Namesake, 125 Six Day bike, at the 1969 West German ISDT. The bike that came about, because Husky refused to build the 125 Enduro bike, that John Penton then the Husky Eastern US Distributor wanted. Husky would not build a 125WR, until 1972 and by then the KTM built Penton, was well on it's way. Funny how it has all come full circle and now a KTM built 125 Enduro bike, is a Husqvarna....

Yep... Its a small repeating world in many ways ... Seems ESP true in biking after reading all this stuff about the bikes from the recent past.

PS -- I should add guys like Penton were driving dirt biking to some degree back in those days ... Things were just kickstarting then...

Early 90's were probably the heydays in the US. 92-94 you could get either a Husky WXE 125 (which I had both a 92 and a 94), Cagiva or a KTM 125EXC which is now the TE. Bikes are like fashion trends, the cool stuff comes back if you wait long enough! Husky and KTM 125's, the motorcycle equivalent to Bell Bottom jeans! Glad I picked up a leftover 13 WR this year. Last of the real Husky's!

My '09 WR125 was a favorite! It will remain arguable, if these are the last of the "Real Husky" 125's. Our Italian Huskys 125's, were descended from Cagiva 125's, not Swedish Huskys. The first WRK and WRE125's were Badge Engineered Cagivas. The present KTM 125EXC based TE125, is really no different than the transition of Swedish designed and built WR125's to the Italian designed and built Cagiva WXE125 based Husky WRK125, back in the day....

HOPE TINKEN IS RIGHT AND MOST OF THE KTM IS GONE FOR MY16 I DONT HAVE A THING AGAINST KTM I GLAD THEY STEPPED IN AND SAVED THE BRAND [IF IT REALLY NEEDED SAVING] BUT WE DONT NEED KTMs IN TWO COLORS

Lets be honest the last of the real huskies was before Cagiva bought husky in the mid 80s.Without KTM, husky would most likely be gone. I do not blame KTM near as much as BMW for their piss poor management. I bleed Husky and always will no matter who owns them.

As a young kid, I remember the Penton bikes very well on the enduro scene here in New Jersey. A lot of guys back in the day rode them and they were very competitive bikes. Just looking at that bike in the picture reminds me of the way bikes were in those days. They could buy a bike and they were competitive right out of the box for the most part. My dad would tinker with his bikes a little just to set them up his way, but it was nothing drastic to get them to be a good woods bike.

Had several Pentons. My favorite was the 6 day. Power band in the open or the woods was super. As far as the real Husky, I think that even under Cagiva they had some winners.
My real hope is that Husky becomes it own brand. What I mean is its own identity. KTM is a great bike. I just think that each brand should have its own design approach.
How about a new Penton?!!

Some times one can only dream.

I think the closest we'll get, are some 50th Anniversary Limited Edition bikes in 2018. Like the '97 125 Six Day and 200 Jack Piner, they had for the 30th.