John Penton had a hell of a career, but no one’s perfect. One of his rare flops from his self-titled manufacturing firm was the Mudlark. Originally designed as a trials bike, it was called the “Penton Trials” when it was released. Almost immediately, it was met with poor reviews.
As the story goes, back in ’73, Penton was buying Sachs engines as part of a contract with KTM. For whatever reason, KTM forced Penton to buy lots of 2nd tier engines before they’d allow him to get the top-tier ones for his race bikes. He decided to throw the “B” engines into a trials bike, the production of which he contracted out to an English fabrication firm called Wassel. It wasn’t very good, and it became the Mudlark. On paper, it doesn’t seem so bad – 123cc Sachs engine, 6-speed transmission, 190 pounds and 12 inches of ground clearance. In the real world, however, it flopped. For more information, check out this review by Rick Sieman of SuperHunky. Rick would go on to call this the 3rd worst dirt bike of all time.
Find this Mudlark (VIN: W367ST) for sale here on Craigslist for $4,900 in Sherman, Texas.
This bike-uriousity brought to you by David N!