Motorcycle Cannonball: Grueling Antique Endurance Run

Motorcycle Cannonball Run Founder

Conceived by Lonnie Isam Jr., the Motorcycle Cannonball started as a daydream about cruising America’s backroads to see the “landscape one mile at a time from the saddle of ancient iron with his riding buddies.” Isam passed away in 2017 after a battle with cancer, but his dream lives on as a reality. [Image: Antique Archaeology] 

Transcontinental Odyssey

In 2010, Lonnie Isam Jr.’s dream and “bold sense of adventure” took forty-five like-minded riders on a transcontinental journey from Kitty Hawk, North Carolina to the shores of the Pacific Ocean. That first Motorcycle Cannonball changed the sport of motorcycling forever and set the “standard of endurance” for antique motorcycling. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography] 

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Namesake Run

Part of Lonnie Isam Jr.'s motivation behind the Motorcycle Cannonball was to pay homage to Erwin 'Cannonball' Baker, “the long-distance pioneer, who made history in 1914 by making an eleven-day solo motorcycle run from San Diego to New York.” Isam's logic was that if the riders and machines of the early 1900s could ride across America on primitive roads, then the same was possible today. 

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Rolling Museum

Isam's secondary objective was to motivate antique motorcycle owners to use their machines as they were intended, and not to gather dust in a museum. Isam felt that geriatric motorcycles deserved to be tended and ridden. As Isam stated, “Our forefathers took a great deal of time and ingenuity to build these great machines, and they should be respected for their abilities.” [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography] 

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Legacy Lives On

The Motorcycle Cannonball has run every two years since 2010. Isam passed the Cannonball torch to Jason Sims in early 2017, “confident that Sims understood the heart of the endurance run.” In 2018, the Motorcycle Cannonball took over a hundred riders from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon over the course of sixteen trying days “on a unique journey that many have described as life changing.” [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography] 

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Covert Operations

Handpicked by Isam, and now Sims, the routes for each Motorcycle Cannonball are a closely guarded secret. Selected from a multitude of criteria, the run's starting location, stages, and end points are revealed just prior to each Cannonball. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography] 

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One-On-One

As a highly public affair, the Motorcycle Cannonball has scheduled stops throughout the sixteen-day event. With international participants coming from as far away as South Africa and New Zealand, the logistical planning starts early. Tending to the vintage iron, and in some cases, long-defunct brands mean long nights in the shop preparing the pre-1929 motorcycles for the coast-to-coast challenge. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography] 

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Slow Rider

Only a handful of women riders have conquered the Motorcycle Cannonball. Among the few is the legendary Kersten Heling, General Manager at Doc's Harley-Davidson in Shawano County, Wisconsin. Going a little slower than usual on her 1922 Harley-Davidson, Heling's claim to fame is that in 1995, at age sixteen, she was the youngest person ever licensed to race nitro-fueled drag bikes. [Image: Hemmings Daily]

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Women In the Wind

Cristine Sommer-Simmons is another Motorcycle Cannonball woman of merit. Sommer-Simmons riding 'Effie,' her 1915 Harley-Davidson, is a four-time Cannonballer. Making an impact in the motorcycling world in the 1980s, Sommer-Simmons founded a chapter of the Women’s Motorcycle Association, and in 1985, she co-founded 'Harley Women,' the first motorcycle publication dedicated solely to women riders. [Image: Throttle Gals Magazine]

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Perfect Score

The 2018 Motorcycle Cannonball saw the largest number of women riders in its eight-year history. Among those were Andrea Labarbara on her 1913 Henderson. Labarbara made Cannonball history as the first woman to finish the 3,390 miles in third place with a perfect score by completing each of the route sections without incident or delay. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography]

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Start to Finish

The dedication exhibited by the Motorcycle Cannonball's participants is a testament to the magnitude of the undertaking. Southern California bike builder Shinya Kimura, and 'Spirit of the Cannonball' award winner, holds a special place in the Cannonball ranks. Kimura, on his 1915 Indian, is the only rider to have completed all five Cannonballs on the same motorcycle. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography]

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Test Your Mettle

In early September 2018, over one hundred riders set off on what was considered the most challenging Cannonball to date. The planned Northern route across the United States offered some of the best motorcycling roads in the country, but tested riders and machines with freezing temperatures and elevation. [Image: Antique Motorcycle Club of America]

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Run of the Mill

Motorcycle Cannonball riders average around 250 miles per day, with all the bikes running the same route within an allotted time schedule. All riders try to maintain at least a 45mph average on a trajectory that traverses America on scenic primary and secondary roads. The 2018 Cannonball route had less than 10 miles of travel on interstate highways. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography]

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Competition at Heart

While the Motorcycle Cannonball is an epic adventure that tests rider and machine, it is also a competition. Taking a mechanical toll on machines, riders must correctly navigate a daily route within a given time-frame. The 'winner' for each class is the rider that covers the “most on-route mileage over the sixteen-day run, within each day’s specified time schedule.” [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography]

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Behind the Scenes

It is a monumental accomplishment on the part of the staff who bring the Cannonball runs to fruition. The unsung heroes of the day are the support crews that 'sweep' stranded riders off the highway. Behind the camera, bringing each Cannonball to life is Michael Lichter — pictured here in a thrift-store-find fringe jacket. One might recognize Lichter's from 'Easyriders' magazine, where he has photographed bikes since the mid-1970s. [Image: The Vintagent | Michael Lichter Photography]

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All About the Journey

Perhaps the real unsung hero of the Motorcycle Cannonball is Lonnie Isam Jr. It is hard to say if modest Isam would have accepted the title. After his passing in 2017, his family released the following: "As per his request, there will be no services. Instead, it is suggested you take a ride through the country and recall a man who lived his life for his many friends and the sincere love of antique motorcycles." [Image: Hemmings Daily]

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Advice From the Road

Lonnie Isam Jr. untimely passing reminds us that life is short. Organized run or not, it is probably best to heed Isam's words and get out there for a ride and enjoy the scenery. Better yet, bring along a few like-minded friends, you never know where the road will take you. [Image: Motorcycle Cannonball | Michael Lichter Photography]

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