MSTAer and all around good guy, Norm Nelson will be running the Cannonball again this year. Norm tied for second in 2012 but was awarded third because his bike was newer that the guy he tied!!
Day 2 news release below.
PS Couldn't get the picture to copy over. Hopefully the pdf attached will open for you.
The 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball: Day -2 Wednesday, September 3, 2014
The Boys are Back
Greetings HMS Team 23 Supporters, Friends, Family, and Members of the Historic Motorcycle Society (HMS). It is with great pleasure and excitement that we welcome you to HMS Team 23’s running of the 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball! It’s been a couple of years since we interacted, so we’d like to take this opportunity to reintroduce you to the team.
Ladies and Gentlemen, HMS Team 23.
HMS Team 23: 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball Entrants
Team Members: Ed Miller, Bill Robinson, Norm Nelson, Jack Wells, Larry Meeker, Bill Botkin, Chris Alley
Not Picured: John Duss, Rob Goetz
Many of you are aware that in 2012, the above group of guys decided to put a 1929 BMW R11 through the gauntlet of what is known as the Motorcycle Cannonball. Those of you who were with us then will recall a very impressive and respectable 3rd place finish. The ride in 2012 was 3956 miles, and that little R11, affectionately referred to as ‘Schatzi’, tackled every single one of them with Norm Nelson at the controls. As a testament to how much of a challenge it is to ride a vintage motorcycle across the United States, only about one out of every three teams in the 2012 event completed every single mile. Trust
us, that data point is not a reflection on lack of planning or preparation by any participant. This event is a challenge, period.
Upon successful completion of the 2012 Motorcycle Cannonball, and with the fires burning, HMS Team 23 eagerly anticipated an announcement for a 2014 event. They strategized and speculated about the possibilities. What would the route be like? What machines would be eligible? Would the engine class structure remain unchanged? (If you recall, classes were differentiated by engine size. The R11 was a Class II machine due to its 745 cubic centimeter engine displacement. Smaller engine sizes were allocated a Class I status, while larger engine sizes were allocated a Class III status.) Well, late in 2013, it became clear.
The 2014 Motorcycle Cannonball is open to motorcycles built in 1936 or earlier. With the extension to eligible years of manufacture, teams were presented with greatly expanded options as well as advanced technologies that were not available for previous events. Knowing HMS Team 23, we know the selected bike has to be a BMW. Naturally, HMS Team 23 would choose a newer, more advanced and powerful machine to run in 2014. Naturally, this machine would surely exhibit modern advances such as an overhead valve configuration or perhaps telescopic fork front suspension (such as that on BMW’s R12 and R17 of 1935 and the R5 of 1936). Naturally, this year would be easier.
Naturally, these assumptions would be WRONG!
Rather than choose a more ‘modern’ machine with equal or greater power, HMS Team 23 did exactly the opposite. They went older and smaller!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present you ‘Schatzi II’ in original, pre rally condition.
1928 BMW R52: Schatzi II – the 2014 HMS Team 23 Motorcycle Cannonball Entry
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