A photo of the original 1910 Maldwyn Jones Merkel is projected on the wall. We used an original set of front forks to determine the size of the frame and gas tank.
It had been a dream for years of Lonnie Isam Jr. to assemble a group of pre-1916
motorcycle owners, collectors and enthusiasts and convince them to take
their early vintage machines out of "display only" status and put them on the
road for a grueling coast to coast test of man and machine.
It wasn't until early September 2009 when Lonnie realized that this trip could
become a reality as he was encouraged by the overwhelming support that he was
receiving from so many people in the vintage motorcycle community. Well, here
we are in January 2010 and interest has snowballed and grows
daily.
Lonnie has teamed up with John Classen who has over twenty years experience
with this type of competition and has participated in The Great Race for many
years and has won the title of Champion Navigator in 1984. John will make two
pre run trips and will personally drive the course in order to give good advice
and instructions to the entrants. The proposed course will take sixty five
riders and their early motorcycles 3,320 miles on the back roads from Kitty
Hawk, North Carolina to Santa Monica, California with a starting date of
September 10th.
You can follow our progress as we will periodically update the stages of
restoration that will bring us to Kitty Hawk and then on to the winner's circle
in Santa Monica.
