Left motorcycles behind, sold my 1967 XLCH to start a aviation company. I was the owner , pilot, mechanic, accountant, sales person, you name it. Flew corporate jets all over for several corporations. Even flew Chuck Yeager as a passenger one time. My younger partner is taking over now so I can peruse my next career.
“worthless antique motorcycle junkie
Eleven Harleys & two Cushmans later, I think it is a good start. A 1925 JD with sidecar(Rebel), 1928 JDH (Blue J), 1934 & 1935 VL’s (Krazy Krusty & Vickey), 1948 WL (Midnight), 1958 & 1965 Panheads(Green Beast & Old Blue), 1973 shovelhead (Some Assembly Required), 1958 & 1963 Cushman’s(Silver Fox & Little Red). Red really belongs to my wife Susan. Several more are just parts scattered around the barn & shop, a frame here, another sidecar body there, shelfs with engines, etc.etc.
Trucks & cars also. The Queen of the fleet, a 1957 ford Skyliner(Queenie), is Susan’s. 1945 ford 1 ½ ton grain bed truck. 1983 Ranger pick up (Susan’s) 2002 Thunderbird & other late model stuff.
Team #keithkardell
2021 sees Crazy Keith Kardell on another great adventure as he takes on the Motorcycle Cannonball. Crazy Keith will ride a 1923 H-D JD from Michigan where he grew up to Texas where he met his wife Lisa. In the 70’s he began his motorcycle stunt riding career riding Triumphs at drag strips throughout the Midwest. He then perfected how to ski on steel shoes while being pulled by the riderless motorcycle.
Crazy Keith rode Kawasaki’s during the 80’s performing at Dragbike! events across the country. It was during this time that Crazy Keith introduced his famous back-flip stunt. “From a normal riding position with steel shoes on my feet and the throttle locked at 60mph, I lay back on the seat; reach over my head to find the grab-bar at the back of the seat and then kick my feet in the air to throw me in a backwards summersault off the back of the motorcycle. I never let go of the grab-bar as I flip over and end up with my feet on the pavement being dragged by my Harley.”
The 90’s found Crazy Keith riding with the Bartels’ H-D team. Keith contracted with NHRA and performed his stunt show at over 37 NHRA national events from Pomona to Gainesville. Crazy Keith developed a new stunt during the 90’s called bungee skiing. “While skiing on my steel shoes behind the riderless bike with the throttle locked on about 60mph, I grab the end of a 7-foot bungee rope and let go of the bike. The rope unravels and then stretches 21 feet and then I bounce and do some hand-over-hand to catch back up to the bike.”
Keith is married and has two grown children. He has a bachelor’s degree in physics from Michigan Tech and an MBA from the University of Houston. He has worked at Lockheed Martin for over 34 years. Keith became fascinated watching videos of the Motorcycle Cannonball. Keith says “I see camaraderie and I see participants having fun. I like meeting new people and I like catching up with old friends. As a participant of the Motorcycle Cannonball my goals are: 1) safety, 2) be a blessing to everyone I meet and 3) have fun. I am grateful for the support of my family and friends including Dave Rivera, Tommy Sloan, Ralph Camp, Mosley Hardy, the Bartels’ H-D family, the KD Machine family, the Sidewinders and the AMCA Legends chapter. Thank you Lonnie Isam Jr. for dreaming big dreams. And thank you Jason and Lee Ann for the good work you do.”
Visit www.keithkardell.com for links to the Facebook, Instagram and YouTube including Keith’s Cannonball entry video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?
When asked to describe the “nine-year-old” Kyle, he smiles and says, “Picture a kid covered in dirt and grease who was always taking things apart, obsessed with motorcycles and building things.” Somehow the picture he paints is vivid as I watch “Rose” as he is nick-named, dressed in grease splattered shop attire, answer questions while soldering a tail light on a 1927 Henderson Motorcycle.
Most of Kyle’s expertise he says was not learned in school, but on the job…as a young kid doing grunt-work in his Dad’s Sheet Metal Company, to Machine Fabrication Shop Foreman, all the way up to Harley-Davidson Master Technician at Timpanogos Harley-Davidson in Orem, Utah. Kyle received his Harley-Davidson Certification at The Motorcycle Mechanic Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
What makes “Rose” the perfect fit for Legends Motorcycles, besides specializing in sheet metal construction, precision fabrication, tig welding and mechanics, he believes is a good attitude and positive outlook. “Working on antique motorcycles, 1920’s and earlier, means you have to be creative and have an imagination. If I can’t find a part I make it. I can fit a square peg into a round hole and can usually get things done that others can’t.” He says.
In 2016, Kyle rode a 1916 Excelsior Motorcycle on his first Cannonball Run. 2018 will be his second Cannonball Run he will be riding a 1927 Henderson Motorcycle
Ben is a former software engineer who got into motorcycles for the first time with a 1956 BMW R50 which he still owns. He’s ridden that bike from Vermont to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Tennessee, Quebec, and many other places around New England. He’s worked at The Daily Rider in Burlington Vermont since 2010 where he repairs and restores old and new motorcycles and scooters. He also participates in vintage motorcycle road racing on solo and sidecar bikes in the USCRA. He rode in the 2018 Cannonball on Team Arcane with Bob Addis, Brian Pease and Bonnie Pease. That time out he was on Bob’s 1923 Ner-a-Car, the same model Cannonball Baker took across the country. The bike ran well, with only a couple fuel flow issues and a moderate crash along the way. The only fatal casualty of that crash was an iPhone. Top speed of 31mph was something of a handicap, however, considering the race had a tighter schedule than Baker’s original trip. For 2020 Bob and Ben will be fielding another Ner-a-Car, a late model British version with a larger motor and a wider ratio gearbox. Hopefully this time Ben will be able to ride up hills instead of pushing up hills!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMMrkuOGkDM
Jon’s adventure motorcycling started when he left town one day, drove to Alaska, and returned nearly three months and 13,000 miles later. He says that he doesn’t know how his vintage motorcycle interest turned from an obsession to a disease, but he knows the Motorcycle Cannonball is to blame! He first rode in 2016 and said that if there was an award for the most inexperienced and unprepared antique motorcycle rider, he certainly would have taken the trophy! After riding in both 2016 and 2018, he proclaimed “Wow, I don’t think I’ll be doing that again!” and in the next breath asked “What’s next?”
He’s planning the next Cannonball adventure on a trusty ol’ girl, a 1916 Harley-Davidson J.
Jon’s other girl, Jaci, continues to be his support before, during, and after each event and they cannot say enough about the camaraderie and generosity of fellow riders, their teams, and the organizers.
Jared Rinker from Findlay, OH (originally from Romney, WV) is rider #37. He is riding a 1928 Indian 101
Scout. Jared has three daughters – Jordan, Karter, and Spencer. He is also twin
brother to, Justin Rinker #6, who is also a Cannonball competitor and riding an Indian 101. Jared grew up
around motorcycles, started riding at age 6, and is a 3 rd generation Indian rider (preceded by his
grandfather Buck and father Steve). Jared and his family are Indian Motocycle enthusiasts and have a
vintage Indian Motocycle shop (Buck’s Indian). Jared is a Great Race, Cannonball, and The Race of
Gentlemen former competitor. This is Jared’s 3 rd Cannonball at age 34. He is ready for the all new and
exciting boarder to boarder challenge. He received a perfect score in the 2016 and 2018 coast to coast
races on his 1916 Indian Power Plus machine (aka “Lexi”, aka “Slayer of Monsters”, aka “The Silver Bullet”)
My first knowledge of motorcycles began at a very young age from my Mothers Brother (uncle) who raced Harley Davidsons and Vincents in the 40s and 50s. He was into dirt flat track, drag racing and running a Vincent streamliner at Bonneville. He always sent me pictures and postcards of his racing exploits when I was a kid which I still have most of. He also taught my Mother to ride in the early 50s on his Panhead bobber. As a result there was enthusiastic support at home when I first got a new 1965 Honda at 10 years old. Then I moved on to a 1966 650 BSA when I was 15. After a couple years on that it was Several Harley Davidsons including Sportsters, several Panheads and a couple Shovelheads. Some of which I still own, plus several other motorcycles. Over the years these were ridden all over the America. What better way was there to see the country during the gas crisis in the 70s! I have also owned a 33 VL,30 VL and a couple old Excelsiors (single and twin) in the past. Other passions included Model T Fords, Early V8 Fords and a 1929 Great Lakes Biplane that I restored that I enjoyed flying around the country without the conveniences of electric start, radios and electronic navigation. That is why I think the Cannonball fits very nicely into my passions. I chose a 1925 Harley because a basket became available and it was made in the same year that my late Father was born, sort of a commemoration to him and his memory. He would have enthusiastically supported me on such a venture. The 25 JD was a fairly decent rust free motorcycle that someone began a restoration on in the late 60s but had never completed the project, which then sat for years. It had the wrong engine (a 22 J) and very few 25 engine parts except cases. I am in the process of searching out all the correct engine parts to complete this. I like my motorcycles to be as absolutely correct as possible, but absolutely believe in riding them as much as possible. which is what they were meant for in the first place. I hope to include positive updates on this project in the future.