The second Motorcycle Cannonball Run left Newburgh, New York, on September 7, 2012 with participants from 11 countries across 4 continents anxious to make the 3,956-mile odyssey across these great United States.

According to promoter Lonnie Isam, the endurance ride for pre-1930 antique motorcycles was organized to include this particular vintage since there was such a big progression from the pre-1916 engines that were represented in the first Motorcycle Cannonball run. Lonnie always had a reason for the cut off years he chose and at the time, he’d shared his explanation for the 1929 vintage he chose in 2012.

“Engines got smarter in the 20’s and, for the most part, these motorcycles just don’t get ridden much anymore,” Isam stated. “The Knuckles are still used, but we wanted to keep this run with the antiques. It wouldn’t have been as much of a challenge with the post-30’s bikes with their transmissions and brakes, but to ride cross-country on the pre-1930s will be pretty tough.

This is a great way to help Henderson celebrate their 100^th anniversary, and we’re very excited to be riding with so many of them. We have 17 Hendersons on this run so that will be a lot of fun. I’m sure they’ll give the Indian and Harley guys a run for their money. We’ll still expect a lot of rebuilds like last time but everyone is taking this seriously and they’re all working to get their bikes in good working order. This will be a true endurance test since these bikes weren’t built to be ridden these kinds of miles day after day. It will be a hard ride.”

And he was right. By the time riders had reached the San Francisco checkered flag, 20 riders would be scored with a Did Not Finish. Only two of those were Hendersons.