My dad owned a Penton Shop in 1972. He took and old Honda 50 in for trade on a new Penton. No matter what he did, he could not get it to run, so he pawned it off on the Yamaha guy to get me a brand-new 1972 MX 80.

My first memory of riding it was in a field behind the house. My stepmother was teaching me how to ride. The bike was a little tall for me, as you can see. I was just doing ovals, learning braking and gears, when next thing I know, the fence jumped out and hit me…or I lost control and hit it. Whatever. Took us a half hour to get the front wheel out from under the fence. What a great bike. I sold it in 1981. What an idiot!