What is the Motorcycle Cannonball?

Not just a trip but a journey for sure, trying to pilot a century old motorcycle across the USA can really test your sanity.

Image that the paved back roads of today would’ve been a godsend to the frontier motorcycle rider.
Consider then the roads of today have become the motorcycles eternal spirit home ridden still as a testament of their fabrication from a great era. The paved roads can also be their undoing with an unbridled path before them, the temptation of speed taxes the machine while pushing their limits further. These machines still have lessons for us and the CB will flush out the weakest little thing that could make you a pedestrian. Test and retest become elements of success in this endeavor. Ultimately, the CB gives us the opportunity of another ride to be ridden, another story to be told, and another lesson to be learned.

What has the Cannonball done?

It has community written all over it.

The CB bares responsible for the resurrection of many machines and like sorcery they have been made whole again. Image the network it takes to revive something 100 years old and you can see it is hard to be anti social with such a task. It is then easy to understand how the CB builds relationships for better or worse.
One really great aspect is the public enjoys the experience of seeing this rolling museum and are genuinely inquisitive to see such a spectacle.
Meeting the different people is rewarding whether it be at a gas station, on the road, or at a stop while experiencing urban and rural USA.
And as riders, support, and staff make their way across the country, it is like one big family with all the emotions included.

Let’s not forget that the Cannonball is hard work for all involved.

You might be having some thoughts of lunacy while on or in your preparation for the CB but remember, there are hundreds of others like you who are doing it for common reasons and their trench is just as tough, wide, and deep. The hard work pays off and there are always challenges but these elements motivate us to resolve this almost obsessed relationship of riding a two wheeled time machine across the country.

The Cannonball is so much more but these are some reminders to why we do it.

Why do I ride the Cannonball?

It has become a way to set goals and try to achieve that goal and be an example to myself. Sometimes we don’t always like what is before us but this event gives me a chance to put my ideas to work and have a really great time with like minded friends who support you as you support them. It is really important to me to be surrounded by positive can do will do attitude. I know how hard the event is and I revel in it because it might just answer some things about myself and those around me. I can’t tell you how many epiphanies I have had while riding on the CB. We all get our zen in different ways and I think the CB has become a wonderful life event for me.

I look forward to seeing everyone in Portland ME and the parts in between to Portland OR.
This is going to be a hard ride that will be rewarded in mysterious ways once again.

Thank you Lonnie Isam Jr. for having an idea.
And thank you Jason Sims for all that you have done to make this continue to happen.

BR
Ryan Allen #29

I’m Adrian Lockrey, also known as Skippy, originally from Australia but a UK resident for more than 20 years.

I’ve always been interested in anything mechanical, ever since an early age when I replaced a head gasket on my Mums car at around the age of 12 years old. All my own work with the help of a Haynes Manual!!

I trained In Australia as a fitter and machinist on the railways. I attended night school to train in industrial electronics, tool making, and even got my motor mechanics certificate.

As a 20 year old apprentice, I won a scholarship to the UK for 6 months. This was where I met my pen friend of 10 years and subsequently married her! Once settled in the UK, I started working in the Machine Tool Industry.

20 years, 4 sons and many grey hairs later, I now own my own CNC machine tool repair company. Skippy’s Machine Tools Ltd is a popular Machine repair and maintenance company that works throughout the UK and occasionally further afield in countries such as Lebanon, India and America.

I also own about 14 triumph Motorcycles from 1903 to 1929, in various stages of refurbishment and several cars also.

I started to make parts to repair my first Triumph bike about 16 years ago. This hobby quickly escalated and soon became a small business, making and machining various parts for vintage Triumph motorbikes. We now make over 700 items for Triumphs dating from 1903 through to 1928. Veteran Triumph Spares has a great customer base and is online. We now sell all over the world and offer advice where possible to fellow Triumph enthusiasts.

This is how I met Arrie (70) and Paul (90) at Beaulieu Auto International Jumble last year.

The guys asked me to come and ride with them in The Cannonball Run 2018 and it barely took a couple of minutes for me to say yes – don’t tell the wife though, she thought it was her idea to let me go!!

We will be riding as a team, proudly called The Coventry T3.

I will be riding my trusty 1925 Model P which has just been finished from a full rebuild.

The bike currently has just 10 miles on the clock so is perfectly suited for the run, as it’s a 500cc, 4.99hp single cylinder. This was also known as the Budget model for Triumph as it is limited to a small amount of nickel plating and lots of black stove enamel paint.

It was still a reliable bike with a 3 speed box and chain driven rear end, with brake pulley rear brakes and expanding front shoe brakes.

I can’t wait to meet you all and admire your bikes at the end of the run, when we all hopefully finish on 2 wheels each!

My wife Jan and I are very excited to be participating in the 2018 Cannonball!! I’ve wanted to do this since the Cannonball started in 2010 but work and family commitments got in in the way. We will both be retired by the end of this year and the kids have grown up, so we can take the challenge! We will be riding the trusty 1924 Indian Big Chief with Princess sidecar and hope to be the second sidecar rig to complete the Cannonball with a perfect score. I’ve dreamed of riding an antique motorcycle with sidecar across the United States ever since I joined the AMCA at age 13, so I guess it’s time to get busy!
All my antique bikes (well, the ones that run anyway) have sidecars so I’m aware of the demands on rider and machine. I’m confident that we can prepare the Big Chief to make the trip in one piece. Now we need to work on preparing ourselves for the trip!

I completed the restoration of the Big Chief and sidecar in 1990 and we have been riding it since, clocking well over 5000 miles. We made our maiden voyage in Durango Colorado on the Rocky Mtn. Chapter AMCA “DJ” Road Run in July of 1990. The Big Chief has been a very dependable and predictable rig ever since. The only problems over the years have been a leaking fuel tank, broken (stainless steel) spokes and one nasty cylinder crack. We participated in the 2015 Badger Derby Road Run in Wisconsin. The freshly rebuilt Chief was running great the first day and as we rode toward the heart of enemy territory (the Harley Davidson Museum) in Milwaukee, the front cylinder developed a huge crack which ended the road run for us. We limped into Milwaukee and I had to get a ride back home in the sweep vehicle while Jan adorned a friend’s Harley sidecar for the return trip. That was the first time this bike has ever broken down and left us stranded in 26 + years of riding. I guess she has aged quite gracefully, as has Jan and I’m doing OK too, though we all have a few more scratches and dings.

The cylinder issue is being addressed with a new (used) set of cylinders courtesy of Kent Thompson. I’m still searching for another front cylinder to have as a spare. A few fins were repaired, the cylinders bored and re-plated, new guides and valves with intake seals are next. The rest of the engine received a complete overhaul in 2015 just prior to the fateful road run in Wisconsin so things are good there. The fuel tank will also be stripped down and rebuilt to avoid any further leaks.

The only modifications we will be making to the bike are to address safety concerns. We plan to incorporate 19″ drop center wheels with steel spokes and brakes added to the front and sidecar wheels. Other than those modifications, plus the existing Linkert carburetor and 26 style rear brake, the machine will be a stock 1924 Big Chief. The sidecar springs and seat need some updating because these items were all made from scratch in 1990 and they were never quite right.

Looking forward to the ride!!!!

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

I used to be a computer programmer, always admired old machinery – tractors, engines, cars. I saw a BMW club rally in the area once and checked it out to see if they had any old things on display. They did, and they were absolutely beautiful. I decided I wanted to try one. I got started on bikes a bit late (age 27) with the BMW R50 and loved them, managed to turn it into a modest career.

I work at The Daily Rider Motoworks in Burlington VT on a wide range of new and old motorcycles and scooters.

First bike was a 1956 BMW R50 restoration, still have it, ridden it to Wisconsin, Minnesota, Tennessee and more. Active in vintage motorcycle and sidecar racing with the USCRA.
Bob Addis, owner of the 1923 Neracar, writes that his two major inspirations to ride in a Cannonball Endurance Run were first Mark Hill and then Erwin “Cannonball” Baker. Knowing Mark and his passion for old bikes for years, it was startling to Bob to hear Mark rant about the Cannonball in 2012. After reading Cannonball Baker’s amazing article, “How I Crossed America on a Neracar for Less Than $20″, the handwriting was on Bob’s wall – it had to be a Neracar!

If you are considering riding in future Cannonballs, Bob challenges you to read Baker’s article and discover how the Original Endurance Run was done in 1922. Of course, Cannonball Baker was famous for a multitude of cross country records (143?) with vehicles varying from the Stutz Bearcat to a Chevy water tank truck to even Indian motorcycles!

See also Rider #92, Brian Pease’s profile. He’s our partner and spiritual advisor in this insanity.

Someone once said, “I’d rather be a rider for a day then a spectator for a lifetime.” Nothing could be more true.

My name is Jon Dobbs and I love motorcycles. My adventure motorcycling disease started when I left town one day, drove to Alaska, and returned nearly three months and 13,000 miles later. Last September I had the time of my life riding my 1915 Harley Davidson in the 2016 Motorcycle Cannonball. If there was an award for the most inexperienced and unprepared antique motorcycle rider, I certainly would have have the trophy. My girl Jaci was my support crew and we cannot say enough about the Cannonball organizers who worked incredibly hard to put this magnificent race together. Each and every day was an experience better than the last and we made friendships to last a lifetime.

Jared Rinker from Findlay, OH (originally from Romney, WV) is rider #37. He is riding a 1916 Indian Power Plus which is the same bike he rode in the 2016 Cannonball in which he finished with a perfect score (1 of only 16 competitors to do this in 2016). Jared and his wife, Crystal, have three daughters – Jordan, Karter, and Spencer. Jared has a twin brother, Justin Rinker #6, who is also Cannonball competitor. Jared grew up around motorcycles, started riding at age 6, and is a 3rd 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 2nd Cannonball at age 32.