2016 Cannonball , The Race of The Century

[flathead1930]

yes go get shaky jake and good luck.

[gww]

neither one felt like a cake walk to me. but it was a kick.. hope everyone has a GREAT NEW YEAR.

[duffeycycles]

Thank you Lonnie and all Cannonballers for creating the most exciting thing in our sport.
The AMCA thinks it is doing things to entice young people to old bikes-The Cannonball does this.
It is a hoot for us all!!!!!!

[RichO]

Bob, Look at your new 2015 AMCA calendar. It's not 1920 any longer. Good on ya Cannonballers!

[rtwdoug]

I've done the last 2 CB's, and am signed up for this one. '12 on a stock '28 101 scout, '14 on a '29 JD bobber.
Now Ive bought a pile of '16 powerplus that I have to build into a running bike.
The prices on pre 17 stuff seem to have gone up just because of the CB. I cant plop down 50k for a 'restored' bike that turns out to be a bitsa that some 'expert' restored so a doctor can put it in his office. I have to build a bike that will go 300 miles in a day. every day, for 2 weeks. If you havent tried it, trust me, it aint easy.
Add to this that I'm not a great mechanic, and most of what I learned to fix was because I broke it.
I do agree to a point on the originality of the bike. Brakes dont make it run better, but decent brakes are safer in traffic. I wont run disc brakes, but I will put some sort of a drum front on it.
Tires, well, Ive never run clinchers, but from what I have heard, I dont want to. So I'll run beaded rims.
The PPlus will also be a bit of a 'custom' more of a board tracker style, as I cant spend 1000's on all of the little linkages & doodads to make it 'correct'
It will be 'period modified' with a 16 rigid frame, 16 motor & trans, & 16 forks. Because thats what I have to start with. The rest of it, who knows? That depends on what I can find while scouring the AMCA meets this year.

I wasnt going to do the CB again after this year, because the bikes were just too new, and the challenge 'as a group' wasnt there (my opinion)
Yes, its fun to ride an old bike across the US (Ive ridden them around the world) But, the most fun for me, is the other like minded guys (and gals) that I'm riding with.
Hanging out in the parking lots at night, sharing tools, parts, advice & laughs. Stopping for someone broken along the road (or when Im broken) and looking thru the ditch or a farmers barn trying to find a hunk of wood, beer can, or piece of wire to fix the bike & make it to the end of the day when it can have a proper repair.

So yeah, the bike wont be a 100 point restored piece of 'office art' but for 2 weeks, I will be having more fun than alot of other people.
And that, to me, is what its all about.

Doug

[Shaky Jake]

Well said, Doug. I hadn't seen you post on here before.


Kevin (AKA Twotaildog from Advrider)

.

[Tom Lovejoy]

my hat's off to all the Cannonballers, it's the best fun I have seen in the antique two wheelers. Can't wait to watch it again, and I like the pre 16 again - go Lonnie !

[Slojo]

To clinch or not to clinch (and brake)

First off , thank you Lonnie for maintaining this fantastic event. I have met many great motorcycle people and have seen so much of this increditable country that I would have missed without M/C Cannonball. For the disgruntled purists in this crowd , take a chill pill go easy this is truly a monumental event challenging ALL who are involved.

Now on to business , pure 100 year old motorcycles without improvements or aftermarket components are highly cherished , prized machines. Completely original machines would be irresponsible to run through this type of event. Owners of these original machines have a responsibility to care for them for future generations (put the damn fire out 2014 CB JD rider) . One hundred years ago when Mr. Cannonball Baker was running cross country all these motorcycle and parts were new and readily available including made in United States of America clincher tires , not today. We now are left to make or pay someone to make replacement parts to keep these old machines on the road.

Today tires are supplied by Coker tire company . Thank you Coker. Problem is , a clincher rear tire may run 500 to 1000 miles at best , are manufactured with undersize retaining flaps and have a tendency of falling off during low or lost tire pressure condition (clincher design lacks safety beads and relies on tire pressure to hold the tires on the rim) . Currently clinchers are made in Vietnam and cost riders $750 to set up a bike with a pair of 28 X 2 1/2 white button tread tires tubes and rim straps. Being low production these tires may not be required to meet federal safety standards (and insurance standards) .

While running Sitgreavess pass with modern tires in Cannonball 2010 a blind hairpin turn on a steep sandy switchback could have put me off the cliff in Road runner Coyote fashion. Clincher tires are more likely to fail compared to a modern rubber compound safety beaded tires. If I was to run the pass at a slower pace the single speed bike might not make it to the top . It was necessary to run the pass on modern tires at boil with the over the road gearing.

Modern tires and enhanced (front) braking should be mandatory ask Victor and Steve Barber about clincher tires and Brad Wilmarth about brakes and locomotives. For me , I want to live to talk about my experience not die while trying to experience life.

Safety concerns should be everyone's number one concern , originality to follow closely behind. my opinion

joe

[stevekleincustom]

Thank you Lonnie and all Cannonballers for creating the most exciting thing in our sport.
The AMCA thinks it is doing things to entice young people to old bikes-The Cannonball does this.
It is a hoot for us all!!!!!!

Quick Non Cannonball Comment here..."I Do Not want to change this thread content."
It "appears" that the AMCA Board "thinks" by appointing someone as "Youth Director" and saying that they are in support of an "AMCA Youth Program" that something will actually evolve! Hello! It takes more commitment than that! It takes research, support, guidance and a budgeted financial stake in developing a worthwhile program! None of which I am aware have ever been offered to Matt and Brittany Olsen nor Buck Carson. Also.... Youth Program also sounds akin to "daycare at Church" anyhow. I am not going to tell the many 20-something and 30-something "new members" of our Cherokee Chapter that they are "Youth" They could each toss my 55 year old carcass across the parking lot with relative ease We call our Program " The Future of Our Sport." And I also agree that the past Cannonball did great things to put the AMCA in front of a much younger audience of motorcycle enthusiasts than the not so youthful average age of 59 we have at present."
Gloves back on Folks...Good Thread! Now back to the pro & con rantings on the 2016 Cannonball!

[stevekleincustom]

First off , thank you Lonnie for maintaining this fantastic event. I have met many great motorcycle people and have seen so much of this increditable country that I would have missed without M/C Cannonball. For the disgruntled purists in this crowd , take a chill pill go easy this is truly a monumental event challenging ALL who are involved.

Now on to business , pure 100 year old motorcycles without improvements or aftermarket components are highly cherished , prized machines. Completely original machines would be irresponsible to run through this type of event. Owners of these original machines have a responsibility to care for them for future generations (put the damn fire out 2014 CB JD rider) . One hundred years ago when Mr. Cannonball Baker was running cross country all these motorcycle and parts were new and readily available including made in United States of America clincher tires , not today. We now are left to make or pay someone to make replacement parts to keep these old machines on the road.

Today tires are supplied by Coker tire company . Thank you Coker. Problem is , a clincher rear tire may run 500 to 1000 miles at best , are manufactured with undersize retaining flaps and have a tendency of falling off during low or lost tire pressure condition (clincher design lacks safety beads and relies on tire pressure to hold the tires on the rim) . Currently clinchers are made in Vietnam and cost riders $750 to set up a bike with a pair of 28 X 2 1/2 white button tread tires tubes and rim straps. Being low production these tires may not be required to meet federal safety standards (and insurance standards) .

While running Sitgreavess pass with modern tires in Cannonball 2010 a blind hairpin turn on a steep sandy switchback could have put me off the cliff in Road runner Coyote fashion. Clincher tires are more likely to fail compared to a modern rubber compound safety beaded tires. If I was to run the pass at a slower pace the single speed bike might not make it to the top . It was necessary to run the pass on modern tires at boil with the over the road gearing.

Modern tires and enhanced (front) braking should be mandatory ask Victor and Steve Barber about clincher tires and Brad Wilmarth about brakes and locomotives. For me , I want to live to talk about my experience not die while trying to experience life.

Safety concerns should be everyone's number one concern , originality to follow closely behind. my opinion

joe

Well Stated Joe...Well stated! I have a fairly large collection of pre-17 American iron. Non are suitable for the 2016 Cannonball as they are either completely original, unmolested original survivors or point correct restorations. Either way... they are just too valuable to chance on a joy ride across the continent.

[kneesinthebreeze]

Amen. Re:your 1/1/2015 posting
Thanks Joe for your balanced perspective.
Brad.

[fillibuster]

Amen. Re:your 1/1/2015 posting
Thanks Joe for your balanced perspective.
Brad.

Joe's reality check nailed it.
The chronicles of the Iron Redskin mentioned very little about spare parts or tires or tune-ups along the way for Mr Baker, or for other distance riders during the early decades. Wyman's 1902 (?) trip is most intriguing in this regard, since we probably can't account for ANY dealers on his route that year. But Baker's options for maintenance had to have been there. And I wonder how much trouble he really had, that wasn't allowed a report.

[sirhrmechanic]

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/films/horatios-drive

For those who want to 'experience' the fun of a cross-country drive in 1903, this video from Ken Burns is a must-watch. Put it on a big-screen TV.

Horatio Nelson Jackson was a Vermonter who was the first to cross country in an automobile. It's an amazing journey and if Hollywood's best screen writers an infinite amount of time and an infinite number of typewriters... they could not have come up with a story this good. Ken Burns did it justice.

Cheers,

Sirhr

[AFJ]

Joe's reality check nailed it.
The chronicles of the Iron Redskin mentioned very little about spare parts or tires or tune-ups along the way for Mr Baker, or for other distance riders during the early decades. Wyman's 1902 (?) trip is most intriguing in this regard, since we probably can't account for ANY dealers on his route that year. But Baker's options for maintenance had to have been there. And I wonder how much trouble he really had, that wasn't allowed a report.

Baker's trip on the Neracar gives some details as to the mechanical and riding problems on that trip. The account he made of it is on the Cannonball website. I believe that he did it on a single set of Clincher tires.

Wyman's pioneering trip account on the California bike gives lots of details of the trials and tribulations of the journey. It was reprinted in "Road Rider" magazine about 30-35 years ago. I think I have a copy of it filed somewhere.

Hodgdon's "Golden Age of the Fours" has a chapter on the Oct. 1922 Transcontinental run by Wells Bennett on a Henderson.

AFJ

[Shaky Jake]

http://www.pbs.org/kenburns/films/horatios-drive

For those who want to 'experience' the fun of a cross-country drive in 1903, this video from Ken Burns is a must-watch. Put it on a big-screen TV.

Horatio Nelson Jackson was a Vermonter who was the first to cross country in an automobile. It's an amazing journey and if Hollywood's best screen writers an infinite amount of time and an infinite number of typewriters... they could not have come up with a story this good. Ken Burns did it justice.

Cheers,

Sirhr

I'll second that. I've watched Horatio's Drive twice and I'll watch it again.


Kevin


.