Cannonball 2021

Keith Martin

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VOC Member
Team Norton is looking forward to the Cannonball. We will have four riders this year aboard flat tank Nortons. Richard Asprey, Chris Parry, Stewart Garrison and myself. Stewart is a new rider this year and he has a 1947 B Rapide.
Doug Wothke is riding and he has a 1948 Rapide that I am working on. Doug was going to ride it in the Motorcycle Chase next month but the crankshaft and mains needed more work than he thought. It will not be ready so he smithed to an Indian twin for the Chase.
 

C.Flint

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VOC Member
Thanks Bruce, we are looking forward to the ride! Last time (in 2018), we rode our 1917 Henderson as a tribute to Alan Bedell and had more fun than should be legal. This year, we are taking the 1928 Henderson out for the trip…bigger, heavier, more power so it will be interesting to see difference. You can imagine how fun it is to jump of the ‘50 Comet and then ride the ‘28 Henderson during the week as I put on break-in miles. 4204658E-0E98-49E9-A19D-4DC29D9FC0F1.jpeg
 

vibrac

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VOC Member
A European version of this wonderful adventure would be great.
Just been reading about the Texas solstice rally across Texas sunrise to sun set 880 miles that would translate to the UK. but it would be difficult but not impossible to set the daylight distance allowing for all the proliferation of speed limits here
 

Magnetoman

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VOC Member
The fact a team as well prepared and supported as Keith's indicates how difficult the Cannonball is. This year 20% of the entrants managed to make fewer than one-third the miles, and only 37% managed to cover all the miles.

It's remarkable what things can be repaired when they must be repaired. Fully 75% of the entrants were on Harleys or Indians so if one of them needed a spare part to replace something un-repairable that they didn't have there was a reasonable chance they could find it from one of the others. However, Team Norton's Nortons were the only English bikes in this year's Cannonball, so if they couldn't fix whatever broke, or have a spare (or spare spare, if it broke twice) to replace it, they were out of luck.

Covering ~3400 miles on the Cannonball with a bike that's 90+ years old is nothing like doing the same thing with a few friends and no fixed schedule, let alone on a series of day trips based at your own home. On the Cannonball you must leave early each morning and must arrive at the destination by a certain time late in the afternoon. Then eat, spend whatever time is needed to fix everything that needs to be fixed (in a motel parking lot, at night, possibly in the wind and rain, and with whatever tools and spare parts you have), sleep, pack, and do it all over again thirteen more times.
 
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