Trailer & Tools for the Cannonball

[BoschZEV]

I rode a 1928 Ariel in last year's Cannonball but the timing of an interesting project I'm involved with made it impossible to even consider entering again for next year's. As an aside, similar event is being organized to run from west to east across the bottom of Australia in 2021.

Anyway, last year I took photographs and made notes of the useful features of the various support trailers and of the tools that were being used. Although no single trailer had all the features I thought would be useful for my purposes, all could be incorporated in a 6'x12' enclosed cargo trailer. By "my purposes" I mean either for another Cannonball-type event, or for week-long rides around the southwest with a few friends. I found a used trailer at a good price and spent the last two months customizing it to incorporate all of those features as described in the following thread that begins here:

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...r-design-build

However, if you want to cut to the chase you can start here without missing too much:

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...ild#Post790271

If you're already set with a trailer that serves your needs, the comprehensive list of tools, spares and supplies later in the thread still might be worth checking:

http://www.britbike.com/forums/ubbth...ild#Post790953

I hope those of you who are getting ready for next year's Cannonball find at least some of the information in that thread useful for your own preparations. If you've haven't done the event before, you'll have a very memorable time (and if you've signed up for the event for a second time, are you nuts!?...). Good luck to all of you.

[Peter Cooke]

"As an aside, similar event is being organized to run from west to east across the bottom of Australia in 2021."

Do you have any more info on this? I'm assuming Dave Reidie is involved?

[Rubone]

The "Cannonball" is turning into yet another bad joke. Just get on your old bike and go for a ride....

[BoschZEV]

Do you have any more info on this? I'm assuming Dave Reidie is involved?

I don't,* but I will be speaking with Dave on Tuesday on another matter and I'll try to remember to ask. Meanwhile, the contact information is ipcannonballclassic@bigpond.com

*other than it will start at Busselton Jetty, Western Australia on the Indian Ocean and end 5000 km later in Eden, NSW on the Pacific Ocean.

The "Cannonball" is turning into yet another bad joke. Just get on your old bike and go for a ride....

Sorry, but I disagree. I like to ride my old bikes, and I also like to work on my old bikes. Getting a 90-year old bike across the country while keeping to a fixed schedule is a test of mechanical skill and endurance that in no way is a joke.

[rwm]

The "Cannonball" is turning into yet another bad joke. Just get on your old bike and go for a ride....

You beat me to it. I was going to say " you forgot a medical team, financial planner and a lawyer.

[BoschZEV]

I was going to say " you forgot a medical team, financial planner and a lawyer.

It's easy to take cheap shots, but if you found yourself halfway across the U.S. in a motel parking lot in Pierre, South Dakota with an oval valve guide and lack of compression you'd need those tools or your ride would be over. But, hey, anyone who wants to sign up for Cannonball and ride with minimal backup, go for it.

[fciron]

Different strokes for different folks. (I can't shake the two-strokes, myself. ��)

BoschZEV, if these guys don't want to go on your adventure, you're best off leaving without them. I am always grateful to see how people solve problems and read your write up with interest.

I bought an off-brand competitor of the Honda EU which is nicely functional. I was camped next to a guy with the Honda in October and the 5 db is much bigger than expected and if I might have paid almost twice as much for the Honda of I had heard them side by side before purchasing. I absolutely would go for the Honda of I though I might need it at midnight in a hotel parking lot.

Just for lights and cordless tool charging I think one could run of a battery which was charged by the truck during the day. I'd probably skip air tools entirely on the road there are electric ,(corded) impact drivers and does grinders which could be run from a small generator. I don't think there are quiet air compressors.

My only other suggestion is that you could have hung the Struts for the LED light with self-starting sheet metal screws or pop rivets and saved some awkward Weldon.

Thanks for sharing.

Lewis

[BoschZEV]

if these guys don't want to go on your adventure, you're best off leaving without them. I am always grateful to see how people solve problems and read your write up with interest.

Thanks very much for your post. Unfortunately, it is the internet, after all, which means there will be trolls.

Just for lights and cordless tool charging I think one could run of a battery which was charged by the truck during the day. I'd probably skip air tools entirely on the road there are electric ,(corded) impact drivers and does grinders which could be run from a small generator. I don't think there are quiet air compressors.

I tried to make that list as comprehensive as I could to help anyone preparing for the Cannonball for the first time get ready. I found no such list when I was getting ready for the last one, and it would have helped me had such a list existed at that time. As I wrote in that other thread, the list wasn't just of everything I saw in a catalog, it was tools that actually were used on the Cannonball to keep the 90+-year old bikes going.

I have a very handy battery-powered impact wrench that I used on the Cannonball, but I also own air tools. If I had a portable compressor anyway, the air tools would take up very little additional space in the trailer at no cost to me since I already own them, and without me having to buy battery-powered equivalents. One time in Montana I needed to remove some metal that was rubbing on the chain and the guy parked next to us fired up his compressor and loaned me his grinder so I could do that. It would have been a lot more effort to remove metal from that location with a file.

I didn't count them, but there were at least a half-dozen teams on the Cannonball with air compressors. They certainly do make a lot of noise, but that noise is lost in the confusion when there are 100 people working on their bikes in the motel parking lot in the evening. Firing one up at 2am is another matter, but sometimes people did fire up their bikes at 2am to check that they ran after having worked on them for the past eight hours. Somehow it's different when you're awakened at 2am by a fellow competitor who has succeeded in getting his bike running, than by some jerk thoughtlessly starting his bike at 7am.

As the measurements in that other thread show, that single 1x2 ft. LED panel over the workbench provides plenty of light shadow-free there, and can be powered for ~4-5 hours from the truck battery before draining it more than it should be. However, if more time than that is needed, or more lights added (e.g. to a pop-up canopy), an additional power source will be required. That could be in the form of a generator or an auxiliary battery.

Adding electric brakes to my trailer is the last thing remaining to do, and I haven't yet decided on the details of the wiring. The trailer will need a battery for the breakaway system, and one thought is to make a tray big enough to hold the battery I use with my DocZ rollers so it could power the lights as well.

My only other suggestion is that you could have hung the Struts for the LED light with self-starting sheet metal screws or pop rivets and saved some awkward Weldon.

It took several attempts with sealant, each time I was "sure" I had fixed it, before I managed to stop a pesky leak from a vent someone had added to the roof using pop rivets. Since drilling holes in the roof to attach the LED panel would have risked a leak directly onto that panel, and from there onto the workbench, that simply wasn't an option. The welding certainly tested my acrobatic skills, but without risk of causing a leak. Risk of causing a fire, yes, but not a leak...

[Peter Cooke]

I don't,* but I will be speaking with Dave on Tuesday on another matter and I'll try to remember to ask. Meanwhile, the contact information is ipcannonballclassic@bigpond.com

*other than it will start at Busselton Jetty, Western Australia on the Indian Ocean and end 5000 km later in Eden, NSW on the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks very much for that.

[jwl]

The "Cannonball" is turning into yet another bad joke. Just get on your old bike and go for a ride....

Nothing at all against the Cannonball but your suggestion works best for me. I don't play well with others. It's my problem though, not theirs.

[Rubone]

Nothing at all against the Cannonball but your suggestion works best for me. I don't play well with others. It's my problem though, not theirs.

And you had quite an adventurous solo ride this year didn't you?

[BoschZEV]

Thanks very much for that.

I won't speak with David until tomorrow afternoon my time but I've received more information that doesn't mention his name so he may not be involved. I used Google maps to plot a route between every location mentioned in the information I have to generate the attached map. The information says the actual route will cover 3100 km / 5000 mi.

Cannonball_Australia.jpg

Note that it crosses the Nullarbor desert which, from what I've read, would mean I'd have to add a 500 gal. tank of potable water to my trailer to have a 50/50 chance of surviving that leg of the trip.

[aumick10]

I have ridden and driven most of that route more than a few times, and I agree with you. Take water.
The furthermost fuel stops are about 220 km, (140 m) but expect it to cost 4-5 times what it is here in the US.

It sounds intriguing, I will consider joining this trip.

[jwl]

And you had quite an adventurous solo ride this year didn't you?

Yes I did. Bad weather back home forced me to cut it a little short. Left the bike at my place in AZ and flew home.
I respect the Cannonballers but that style of riding doesn't appeal to me at all. When I go on a trip I usually leave on a whim and go for it. If I had to line up a mobile machine shop and find someone to chase me I would lose interest before I even took off. But again, that's just me. Riding with 100 + bikes and all the hoopla that goes with it would be too intimidating for me. I envy and respect those who do it though.

[Peter Cooke]

"Note that it crosses the Nullarbor desert which, from what I've read, would mean I'd have to add a 500 gal. tank of potable water to my trailer to have a 50/50 chance of surviving that leg of the trip."

Ha, perhaps not that much but yes, some water will be handy!

As aumick says, the fuel stops are only ~140 miles apart and assuming it's not being run in our summer it shouldn't be to bad.