Years ago in rural Tennesee, Steve came across this unique 101. When the skirted Chiefs came out in 1940, the former owner of this beauty wanted one, but couldn’t afford one of the “new” Indians at the time, so he did the next best thing….. he made one. He added skirts to the original 101 fenders, thus Ugly Betty got her start…. We’ve had this old girl in the museum for quite some time, and when the announcement for this year’s Cannonball came out, the guys decided to all r

How to build a 101 in 10 days! Day 1 Start with a good (broken) frame and clean gas tank. And rebuild frontend rocker arms. Go upstairs (where all spare parts are) and gather up front rim, brake drum / hub, and a healthy stack of old spokes. Day 2 Lace up front wheel and make sure you have a good rear wheel (if need be cut off welded sprocket and weld on new sprocket because threads are gone) Day 3 Go back upstairs and find leftover front end parts, fit up, and true front whe

As our 1929 Indian 101 mechanical restoration comes to a close, a few I would like to remember at the starting line next September: You can never get enough time with your family, so when you get that time, it should be enjoyed. Hard work does pay off when the work is done right. Everyone in this hobby can relate, the Cannonball is an ADDICTION!!! Believe it or not, this bike started on the second kick after the rebuild There are still several things left to get this machine

Buck’s Indian is getting started early on their projects this year! Here is Justin’s 1929 Indian 101 Scout that he and his father (Steve) worked on recently. The mechanical restoration included a complete motor and transmission rebuild, as well some front end improvements, front/rear wheel rebuild, and front/rear brake overhaul. The gas tank was repaired and coated and a new set of tires went on to round out this project. Many more things yet to do on the bike to make it

Crossing the finish line at Skamania Lodge with a absolutely breathtaking backdrop. One last day of fun! A few last interviews – thanks JJ (lollipop kid) And the end to another amazing ride! The vision that Lonnie Islam, Jr. had to take museum pieces of motorcycle history and let the world see, learn, enjoy and appreciate their beauty has been one of the greatest adventures that all of us could ever partake in. Steve refers to himself as “not as an owner, but just a caretaker

With only 1 day to go to the finish of yet another epic ride across the US first envisioned by Lonnie Islam Jr, this Cannonball family knows it doesn’t even take a “double dog dare you” with Steve. As we tell the grandkids you’ve got to have fun and lots of it AND be able to laugh with others and at yourself. Life is too short otherwise! So, today instead of riding a dime store pony, Steve got to be a sprint car driver. Rebecca got it on video. Like I said— I cannot control

Ok! So maybe I wasn’t clearly understanding. Nope, I heard right, partially. Justin lost his elephant stool on his rear cylinder intake valve this morning and the valve cover kept slamming up and down. So, they were in search of a hardware store today on the route to get…. not an elephant on a stool (could you imagine if I was sent—crayons would have been a requirement), but just a simple hose clamp to fix it. Jared’s oil tank came apart at the bottom where it was soldered so

The guys went on the Going To The Sun road into Glacier National Park yesterday. They said it was amazing!!!!! I couldn’t go since my ride was too tall and too wide. The guys said they had to watch to keep from hitting the rock face from overhanging rocks and there was no way I could have made it. Next time. Jason and LeeAnn even saw a grizzly bear Everyone made all their miles and were glad they went, but said it was one of those “hold on tight” rides. Between the narrow roa

The cold dampness kept them bundled up on what was one of the most scenic rides yet. The fog hung on the mountains and looked like snow. The guys all made it in with full miles today. Hurray! Jared’s bike was the only one with issues today. His tailpipe bracket broke and needed fixed before it fell off. So Steve told them to see if they could find a piece of barbed wire. Sure enough, they did and the repair was made. Thus, the farmers fix. Steve gathered a little extra in cas

When riding down the road and you hear that sound, you should probably stop and look to see if you’ve lost anything. Steve and Ziggy were riding behind the boys and heard that sound. No one stopped. And…….when they stopped at the next gas stop, sure enough, parts were lost…..off of Justin’s bike. His kicker gear and nut were what came off. So, since Jared’s bike was easier to push start, they took those parts off of his and put them on Justin’s until mile 230 for the day whe

The guys all have a tool roll with a hammer and I love to hear all the answers they give when asked that question. Mine is to be like Doug Wothke. Their most given explanation is, “you see there’s a lot of our buddies that ride Harleys, and when they break down we use the hammer to help them fix it!” In actuality, you would be amazed at how much those hammers are actually used by all the guys who carry them! It was just like Christmas come early when Bartek gave Steve this po

Things are starting to get out of control so it’s lucky they’ll all have a rest day tomorrow in Sturgis. The guys rolled into Sturgis this evening with full miles and on time. They went through the Badlands National Park, saw Mt Rushmore and came through the town of Deadwood. Steve’s adventures today included a wild bronc ride. (I have the hidden camera video) Then, he apparently rode through some bees while trying to take pictures. Yes, I said while riding his motorcycle .

Miles and miles and miles, 314 in all of nothing So, what do you do to overcome boredom–selfies! And, handlebar tag! Steve and Ziggy’s new challenge of tapping grips. Let’s all just pray they don’t end up having a yard sale along the road! They made it to the halfway point today. They are all looking forward to the rest day in Sturgis. You can’t tell it from their enthusiasm or the pace they walk, but you can see the glimmer of hope in all their eyes of all day off WITHOUT ha

The guys had a long day. They had a fuel stop with no fuel and a food stop at lunch with no food by the time they got there Riders were a little panicked. Chris Tibbey rolled in and was out of fuel. Steve saw guys along the road closeby from the Iowa DOH and he went and borrowed fuel from them and gave it to Chris to get him on his way. This evening, about three miles out Steve’s fuel line broke and he borrowed a piece of hose from Ziggy to fix it. The guys all left him to ge

The guys left Bourbonaise, IL and headed to Anamosa to the National Motorcycle Museum. Fingers were crossed that everything was up and in good shape for the day’s ride. Riders are starting to run on fumes themselves. As I walked down the hallway, I heard Peter Arundel say to me, “too many hotels and too many room numbers, I can’t remember mine here!” I chuckled and agreed with him as I headed to mine. I walked down the hall and when I came to 328, I saw that I hadn’t even mad

When we arrived in Bourbonaise, Illinois at 1:30 on Wednesday, I was excited. I wanted to check into our rooms and sneak in a nap since we had worked until 2:42 am on Justin’s bike. No such luck, the cranky desk clerk said absolutely no check in before 3 pm. So I went out to the parking lot, pulled out a lawn chair and worked on the previous blog post. At 3:20, still no rooms. Finally, at 4:15, success! Three rooms and I lugged all the luggage to rooms to discover that I had

It started out like a typical Cannonball morning, the guys rode over to the Holiday Inn Express to pick up their route maps for the day and I went to check out. When I came back out… They were working on Justin’s rear brake linkage. They got a quick repair completed before they had to leave and will work on it more tonight. But he didn’t need to worry too much about them as he started his day with bigger problems. At about mile 20, he ran out of gas That is correct, I said g

This morning, riders woke to heavy rain and Jason Sims delayed the start until he got a road report from the early crew that leaves around 3 or 4 am to run the route to make sure of road conditions. They reported flooding, gravel in the road, washouts, let alone the heavy downpour of rain. Plus, the fact that they were calling for lots more rain, they decided to call it for the day. Riders trailered their bikes and rode with support crews to Jamestown, NY. They were instructe

Well, look what I finally saw —- yes, a MOOSE! Apparently, I’d been looking in all the wrong places. A cool overcast start to day 2 which took the guys from Keene, NH to Binghamton, NY kept them snuggled in their gear and gave them a taste of what’s to come. The guys got to make a stop at Hemmings in Bennington, VT. As the day progressed it took its toll on many bikes and left their riders becoming a part of sweep crew. Justin dropped a magneto at mile 71.5, but they worked u

NH Squirrels 999/Dee Dee 1 That’s the count! Good heavens, I have never in my life seen so many squirrels as I did in New Hampshire. They were darting in and out of traffic and it was quite entertaining to see. I remember that Super Bowl commercial from a few years ago with the cars wrecking and the two squirrels doing the high 5. Well, that was me…..doing the high 5 when the little sucker came out of nowhere. Got him! There I was gawking and lolligagging (as I tell my grandk