John Penton, a pioneer of off-road motorcycling and a member of the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, has died at the age of 100. Penton passed away peacefully, just weeks after celebrating his milestone birthday.
Born on August 19, 1925, Penton grew up in Ohio and discovered motorcycling with his brothers after restoring a 1914 Harley-Davidson they found in their barn. His life was first interrupted by World War II, during which he served in the Merchant Marine and later in the U.S. Navy.
After the war, Penton’s focus turned to competition. Riding in the 1948 Jack Pine 500-Mile Enduro on a Harley-Davidson Knucklehead, he saw first-hand how lighter British bikes were beginning to outperform the bigger American machines. The following year he finished second at the Jack Pine on a BSA, sparking his long pursuit of lighter, more agile off-road motorcycles.
Over the following decades, Penton was a regular winner in enduro competition, taking the Ohio State Enduro Championship among other titles, and was voted the AMA’s Most Popular Rider in 1960. Alongside racing, he opened a dealership with his brothers and became a distributor for Husqvarna after his Jack Pine win on the brand in 1966.
The defining moment of Penton’s career came when he approached KTM in Austria with an idea for a lightweight off-road machine. Investing $6,000 of his own money, he backed the first run of prototypes that would become the Penton motorcycles. The bikes were an immediate success, and more than 25,000 were sold in the United States over the next decade, establishing KTM as a force in off-road competition.
Penton also worked to improve rider equipment, collaborating with Alpinestars in Italy to create the iconic Hi-Point motocross boots.
When inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1998, Penton still lived on the family farm not more than a couple hundred yards from where he was born. One of his sons, Jack, became a renowned rider in his own right and competed in 12 ISDE events and was named to the Hall of Fame a year after his father.
In recognition of his lasting influence on motorcycle design, competition, and equipment, John Penton was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1998.
