1917 Indian Powerplus

When I was a little kid, every summer the motorcycles would go past my house along South Dakota Highway 18 heading to Sturgis.  When they started their annual migration to the Black Hills, I knew it was only a matter of time before my Uncle Pat would be showing up on his Harley.  He’d work a few days for my Dad then off to the Rally.  That was my first experience with motorcycles.  I am not a collector or the type of guy who really enjoys restoring old vintage cars and or motorcycles. I am a solid mechanic who can hold his own around the shop and at one time turned wrenches for a living.

I truly love operating old machines.  Ones that require a partnership between man and machine.  Machines that make you work as hard as they do.  I don’t need a check engine light and an OBDII port to tell me something is not running right.  Give me a vague sense of where we are heading, a pair of pliers, a flat blade and a pint and I will get there.

I want to do the Cannonball because of the uniqueness of the event.  The distance traveled, the type of machines competing, and just the disconnect from the digital leash is what makes this so appealing.  This being my first Cannonball I am not sure what to expect.  But you take good people, fun bikes, sprinkle in some hardships and a history lesson, this is my kind of event.