Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run - Old Bikes Hit the Road

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, The Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run has begun. This is a coast-to-coast run of pre-1916 motorcycles starting from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and ending in Santa Monica, California. Dates for the run are September 10-26, 2010. Check out the Cannonball Run website for everything you might want to know about this historic run. (I've noticed that the website can be slow to load or even produce dreaded Internal Server Errors.)

To give you a flavor for what the bikes look like and sound like and how enthusiastic their riders are, I've listed five videos of interviews with Cannonball riders:

• #44 Jon Szalay - 1911 H-D 7A


• #16 Bill Campbell - 1915 H-D Twin


• #15 Buzz Kanter - 1915 H-D Twin


• #47 Ron Mattson - 1915 Indian F-head V-twin


• #89 Cristine Sommer-Simmons - 1915 H-D 11-J

Keep checking the Cannonball Run website for daily updates. Hopefully, we may see some coverage of this event on TV.

Coast-to-Coast on a 95-Year-Old Harley

This story caught my eye. It tells of a coast-to-coast antique motorcycle race, the Motorcycle Cannonball Run, to start September 10, 2010 from Kitty Hawk, NC and end in Santa Monica, CA. One rider plans to ride a 1911 Harley-Davidson Silent Grey Fellow all the way. Here's an excerpt from an article appearing in the Simi Valley Acorn written by Angela Randazzo"

"While the antique motorcycle’s thrust pales in comparison to today’s street bikes capable of speeds in excess of 200 mph, Simi Valley resident Paul Watts, the proud owner of an 11F, is hoping the 95-year-old bike is capable of carrying him across the country." -- Angela Randazzo

Read the complete article.

Antique Motorcycle Ads Gallery - Old Ads with Low Prices

One of my forum members, MadMichael, has a collection of antique motorcycle advertisements that appeared in magazines many years ago. These ads are pretty interesting and reflect the times they appeared. You'll find ads from WWI and WWII and before. There are currently 80 antique motorcycle ads in the collection.

The prices were very low in those days as you'll see. There are many Harley-Davidson ads, a few Indian ads and then some ads for obscure makes. Take a look at my Antique Motorcycle Ads Gallery.

I have just added four motorcycle ads to the collection. They are: 1908 Yale, 1916 Harley, 1924 Harley, and 1932 Harley.

Vintage, Antique, and Classic Motorcycle Pictures

The Motorcycle Views main site has created many galleries of motorcycle pictures. I'll be discussing a few of these over the next few days. To start off, I'll show you the Vintage, Antique, and Classic Motorcycles gallery.

This gallery contains pictures and descriptions of motorcycles manufactured up to and including 1953. Thus, all motorcycles in the gallery will be at least 50 years old.

I'm lumping antique, vintage, and classic motorcycles into this group without regard to the special distinctions that many people may have on what an antique, vintage, or classic motorcycle is. To me, it's any bike more than 50 years old. Add your own comments on the distinctions among these three classes, below.

The picture shown above is a 1929 BMW R63.

Take a look at Vintage, Antique, and Classic Motorcycles.

Old Motorcycles - Picture Gallery

I just released my Old Motorcycles Picture Gallery. This gallery contains pictures and descriptions of motorcycles manufactured up to and including 1953. All motorcycles in the gallery will be at least 50 years old. I'm lumping antique, vintage, and classic motorcycles into this group without regard to the special distinctions that many people may have on what an antique, vintage, or classic motorcycle is. To me, it's any bike more than 50 years old.

Again, I depend on you to help me populate the gallery. Send me a picture and description of your old motorcycle. The submission information is in the Old Motorcycles - Picture Gallery feature.