More specifically the Motorcycle Cannonball is set to roll into Battle Creek this Saturday afternoon.

Antique motorcycles (all models are required to be manufactured in 1929 or earlier) are scheduled to arrive at Battle Creek Harley Davidson, 5738 Beckley Rd., Battle Creek, at approximately 4 p.m. and be on display until 6 p.m. Sept. 11.

Rain or shine, more than 100 vintage motorcycles will begin their trek across the United States on Friday, Sept. 10, in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich.

The riders will venture on to Traverse City before arriving in Battle Creek on Saturday.

Held every other year since 2010 the Motorcycle Cannonball is an ambitious cross country ride that honors the early pioneers of long distance riding on motorcycles.

Due to COVID restrictions last year the 2020 ride was postponed to this year.

After pushing on through Michigan the Cannonball riders will eventually arrive in South Padre Island, Texas on Sunday, Sept. 26.

Before that they will enjoy stops along the way that include Napoleon, Ohio, South Charleston, West Virginia, Pinehurst, North Carolina, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Maggie Valley, North Carolina, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Tunica, Mississippi, and Texarkana and Nacogdoches, Texas.

Lonnie Isam Jr., a resident of Sturgis, South Dakota, first put together an idea of riding antique motorcycles across the country back in 2009. 

From their website at Motorcycle Cannonball they describe how Isam Jr., “wanted to see the scenic American landscape one mile at a time from the saddle of ancient iron with his riding buddies. His main objective was to motivate antique owners to break the stigma of sequestering collectible old relics to museums and the life of oversized dust catchers and to let the old machines spend their geriatric years living as they were intended - on the rode.”

The website continues the Cannonball history by saying, “Our forefathers took a great deal of time and ingenuity to build these great machines and they should be respected for their abilities. Isam Jr., wanted to pay homage to the long distance pioneer Erin “Cannonball” Baker and other historical figures that literally paved the way across the country in the early 1900’s.”

The first Motorcycle Cannonball took place in September of 2010 with a group of 45 riders.

Their journey began in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina and they rode to the shores of the Pacific Ocean.

In 2012, the Cannonball riders, all 77 of them this time, started in Newburg, New York and 4,000 miles later they finished in San Francisco. 

The favorite ride, as voted on by the participants, was the 2018 Cannonball that featured a northernly route from Portland, Maine to Portland, Oregon. 

Greg Allen is a Marshall, Michigan resident, owner of Greg Allen Insurance Agency in that city as well, and along with his girlfriend Christine Risner, he’ll be riding in this year’s event as a sponsor.

He doesn’t own a motorcycle old enough to compete (his is a 1968 BMW), but being on the road with these ancient bikes is a passion of his.

“There will be about 120 bikes,” said Allen. “They will be 1929 or older, with most of the bikes being at least one hundred years old. Many of the riders like to ride in the class of bikes that are one hundred years old. That means you’ll see the single cylinder belt drive bikes, and bikes with bicycle pedals that start them and bikes that may have just a bicycle brake on the back tire to stop them. For safety reasons they all have to have a horn, working headlight and brake light.”

Allen explained that one of the challenges to the journey is the riders don’t know the route.

“In the morning the route is announced 30 minutes prior to departure,” he said. “We get a paper chart right before we leave that tells us the route.”

If all goes well Allen believes the first bikes should be arriving in Battle Creek between 3-3:30 p.m. (the Cannonball website says 4:15 p.m. Exact arrival time is hard to pin down with 100 year old bikes!)

“Mid to late afternoon people should stop by and see us,” he said. “Battle Creek Harley is doing it up nicely for this event. They will have food, vendors and a band. We stay there at the dealership until 6 p.m. and after that we’re all staying at the hotels along Beckley Road. So if people want to see the riders working on their bikes and chat with them, that’s where we will be.”

The following morning, Sunday, Sept. 12, the riders move on to Napoleon, Ohio.

This year’s Cannonball will cover more than 3,800 miles and test the rider’s endurance for three weeks.

“My company, Greg Allen Insurance, is a sponsor of the event, and I’m a riding sponsor,” he said. “My girlfriend...and I are part of the staff, too. We’ve gone through the Road Guardian program which teaches us about crash scene first aid. So we’ll be right there, riding along with the riders.”

Allen got his first taste of Cannonball riding in 2014 when he met up with the riders in Georgia. 

That year’s ride started in Daytona Beach, Florida with a finish line in Tacoma, Washington.

Allen tagged along from Georgia to Missouri and that ignited his passion for old bikes.

He tried and tried to find an old bike that he could afford, but to no avail.

“So I’ve been a sponsor ever since,” he said. “I’m out there on the course with the riders and if I see one on the side of the road I’m supposed to stop and check on them. If they’re broke down, and I have a tool they need, I can hand it to them, but as staff I’m not allowed to work on their bike. But primarily, I check on the riders and do what I can to keep them going.”

Allen said it’s the friendships he’s made that keeps him coming back to the Cannonball.

“Literally I’ve made friends with people from around the world,” he said. “This is an international event. We have riders from Germany, South America, Australia, New Zeeland, and Italy.

“One of our distinguished riders is Pat Simmons from the Doobie Brothers,” he continued. “They’re out on tour right now celebrating their 50th anniversary so he won’t be here this year, but he and his wife have been part of the Cannonball since the start.”

Allen described Simmons as an avid collector of old bikes and a true fan of the open road.

Allen also believes that the Cannonball passing through Battle Creek might be a once in a lifetime event.

“I can’t imagine Cannonball coming back to Michigan for a long time,” he said. “So the opportunity to see a rolling museum is truly a rare opportunity. These are not museum pieces, but actual riding, touring motorcycles.”