Charles Falco was co-curator of the Guggenheim Museum’s record-setting “The Art of the Motorcycle” exhibition whose 20th Anniversary coincides with the 2018 Cannonball, and is the author of “The Gold Star Buyer’s Companion,” now in its 5th edition

My first motorcycle was a Honda 50 when I was 15-1/2, at a time when California allowed someone that age to ride on the street without training or a helmet. Despite crashing that Honda when I was 15-3/4, since then I’ve had an ever-increasing number of motorcycles and have ridden many thousands of miles on modern and classic bikes in over a half-dozen countries.

My teammate on the Cannonball is #66 Tom Hayes, riding a 1923 Harley-Davidson twin

You can follow my restoration of the 1928 Ariel at: