If you grew up in the 1980s like we did, then you remember the big Kawasaki ads for the companies KDX Enduro models, starring a bushy-haired fellow named Jack Penton, who, as it turns out, was the man who helped develop them.
Virtual royalty in the off-road world, Penton is the son of American off-road motorcycle legend John Penton, who helped foster the boom of lightweight off-road motorcycles in the 196s and ‘70s. Jack Penton helped establish his family’s motorcycle brand in America before moving over to Kawasaki to get involved in product development. He also later worked for KTM, which was involved with Penton back in the 1970s.
It’s no surprise that Penton was riding at a very early age, and by the time he was 15 he was already competing in the AMA National Enduro Championship where he finished second overall in 1970. With such a tremendous result, John Penton sent Jack overseas to compete at the World level, the International Six Day Trial in Spain. Jack Penton proved he could make the grade as he went on to earn a bronze medal. The very next year, at the Isle of Man, he became the youngest rider ever to win an ISDT gold medal.
Penton continued to excel in the ISDT over the course of his 12 years of contesting the event. He earned six gold medals, three silver medals, and one bronze medal. He was part of six U.S. Trophy Teams, two Vase Teams, and four times served as American Team Captain. Back home, he won 27 class titles in AMA National Enduro competition, international trials qualifiers, and Grand National Cross-Country racing before retiring in the late 1980s.
Penton was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.
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