Imagine riding a nearly 100-year-old, 500cc single cylinder motorcycle for eight to 10 hours a day, not topping speeds above 45 miles an hour, with a partner in your sidecar, over the roughest backroads and byways in America, avoiding freeways and state highways, across the Appalachians, the Rockies and the desert, to end up in Oceanside, California, over 3,000 miles and 17 days later. 

Where do we sign up?

Weeks before the start of the 2023 Motorcycle Cannonball on September 7 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, we talked with Jonas Zahn, a handpicked first-timer in this year’s event, dubbed the most difficult antique endurance run in the world, who was still trying to get 1,000 miles on the 1928 Moto Guzzi Sport 14 he signed up.

“We’re probably the only Moto Guzzi,” he guessed — spending every night for weeks putting the 95-year-old machine together with Team 36 in his Wisconsin-based, Peg Leg Speed Shop.

The hardest part of the Motorcycle Cannonball, held every two years on vintage motorcycles -- some of which have competed every year since the start in 2010 -- is just getting to the starting line. 

Another challenge? Not knowing the turn-by-turn route until the morning before each stage. And then making it on time to each destination city for the special press event waiting every evening. 

Add in handicaps for the sidecar, the 500cc and three-speed engine, plus one for being an amputee — Jonas lost his right leg in a hit-and-run motorcycle accident in 1999 — and the challenge to some sounds nearly impossible. 

But two things Jonas absolutely loves more than anything are antique vintage motorcycles and cross-country motorcycle adventure touring -- also two things he hasn’t done in “such a long time.”

In his younger years, he crossed the country eight times – over 380,000 miles – on a 1978 BMW Airhead. 

This time, riding a machine with basically no suspension is going to be more physically grueling – hence why he looked to KLIM Motorcycle gear to keep him safe and comfortable in any weather along the way. He feels blessed with an incredible team, wife and family behind him, and for landing sponsors he never anticipated just by asking. 

Not only does he believe he, the 95-year-old 500cc motorcycle, "Renata" and sidecar partner, Brenda Kuhl,will make it across the country, he thinks they can win.

KLIM: Take us back to the first time you heard about the Motorcycle Cannonball?

Jonas: It was October of 2021. It was just happening at that time, and I thought, Wow, two things I absolutely love are antique vintage motorcycles and cross-country motorcycle adventure touring, and I can do them together. This is crazy. I know how expensive those machines can be. This is a pipe dream. It'll never happen. And my wife said, ‘You know, the first step is you have to apply.’ So I actually had to write an essay to the Motorcycle Cannonball organization and tell my story about why they should let me in the race. And I got accepted. I was like, OK, that’s step one. Step two is you're going to need a motorcycle. So I started doing my homework.

KLIM: That's such a great story. Big thanks to your wife! So what did your research uncover?

Jonas: It’s very, very expensive and very rare, and very hard to maintain and hard to get parts. Even these American machines are very expensive. So I thought, Well, I've got to start researching other possibly reliable machines that the parts are either easy to make or easy to acquire. 

And I came across a machine I really liked – it was 1000cc V-twin Matchless, which is made in England. I can manage that. It was down in Georgia. And the week I decided I was going to buy it, I called the dealer and they already sold it. 

Coming back to the drawing board, I came across Moto Guzzi. And I've always known about Moto Guzzi. I've just never been a passionate Moto Guzzi enthusiast. So I learned about the company and learned about the bike and ultimately decided that’s the bike for me, because they made 4,500 of them. Parts are reasonably plentiful compared to something a little older. And one thing one of the owners did, at 29, he rode one of those motorcycles from Italy to the Arctic Circle and back, which was over 3,000 miles.

I thought, All right. If they're boasting the durability and reliability of this motorcycle in the 1930s with that kind of riding when none of the roads are paved, this is a machine I can work with. It's a 500cc single cylinder. And the one I have has a sidecar. It's heavy and it's work. It's working really hard to top speeds over 45 miles an hour.

KLIM: Wow. OK, so that was step two, securing the bike. And I guess now step three is the race? 

Jonas: Step three I would say is preparing the bike. I've heard so many times — the hardest part of Cannonball is getting to the starting line.

"KLIM Women's Outrider Pant, they are so comfortable! Extra protection on knees and hips!" - Brenda

KLIM: Sounds like work’s cut out for you.

Jonas: Yes, well, first of all, there was the wait. I paid for the machine in February. And I didn't get it till June of last year. That was painstaking – waiting for it to get packaged up and sail across the ocean and then get to Chicago and get to customs and all the important stuff. 

But finally, the bike was here. I got it out of the crate, maybe a day after it arrived, and then I think it was the next day in the shop, just me and my wife, Julie, and I said, ‘You need to film this. It was the very first time I'm even going to try starting this motorcycle. Let's see if we can do it in real time.’

Four and a half minutes later and it was running. And I'm just like, ‘Holy smokes. This is incredible.’ So since then, I've been riding as much as we can. I've got hundreds of miles on it. And trying to break stuff. I broke spokes. We lost a part here, a part there. And we worked the kinks out. 

Ultimately, I've upgraded the wheels to modern wheels. So I'm allowed to do only three things on this motorcycle for a Cannonball. Everything has to be original except the lights, the wheels and the brakes. 

So that's step three – preparing the bike and myself. It's going to be physically grueling. Six to 10 hours a day on a machine with essentially no suspension riding up the rough backroads of the Americas. 

KLIM: How will you know which route to take?

Jonas: We get turn-by-turn instructions every morning on a paper like a rally map. The total route from Virginia Beach to Oceanside that they've laid out for us is over 3,800 miles, which means we're really digging. I think if we just did Google Maps, it's really 2,400 miles point to point.

I have a team traveling with me and we know the cities we're going along the way. But what we don't know is the roads we're taking every day, so that'll be a cool adventure. An adventure within an adventure. 

We're actually going an extra 1,000 miles because we have to take backroads and that's country that not many people get to see, so we're very much looking forward to it.

Jonas: The motorcycle's elevation change. We're going from sea level to across the Appalachians then in the Rockies. We hit 11,500 feet on one test. And then we go down and cross the desert and then we go back to Oceanside, which is sea level. 

The carburetor is going to get re-jetted five to six times or changed out. 

We have to have cold gear, warm gear, rain and sun gear. And some gear to be ready for everything. And that's where KLIM comes in. KLIM’s layering system is really intriguing.

KLIM: And this is technically a race, right?

Jonas: It's an endurance race. So we're not supposed to speed. We're measured; we get a point per mile. So we only compete for part of the stage each day and each day is a stage.

They really want us on the road between about 7 a.m. when they let us out, and each day's planned that we get in by 3 or 4 o'clock. And then in each city every day at whatever time we arrive, there's a two hours where we are on display and get to socialize with people in the crowd.

We're meeting at three of the most historic motorcycle museums in the country. There's major exposure every single day. In the evening, we'll be at some kind of venue for two to four hours. And then in the mornings, we'll be at the hotel, getting ready to go. 

We're encouraged to post on social media throughout the day while we're on the road, but we can't use the GPS on our phones to know where we are. That would be cheating.

So it's on an honor system per mile, and then we get a couple of handicap points – a point for the sidecar, for being a three speed, a point for being under 500ccs and then for me being an amputee. 

KLIM: That’s incredible. What kind of advice are you hearing? 

Jonas: A number of other competitors have told me it's like playing a game. Don't overdo it and push your machine to its limits. If you look at the day, and you've only got 275 miles to go, you have eight hours to do it, why would you push your engine and risk it overheating? Just finish the day because there's no extra points for coming in early.

"KLIM's Mojave Jersey helped today with the hot temps." - Jonas

KLIM: Awesome. How did you get hooked up with KLIM? 

Jonas: One of my friends who I have known for over 20 years said, ‘You're not gonna get anything if you don't at least ask,’ and he hooked me up with KLIM's Motorcycle Athlete and Events Manager, Mark Kincart, but my first intro to KLIM was the snowmobile gear earlier this year. And it was a night and day difference for me. 

KLIM: You said, 'other Cannonball competitors,' so you all share advice and lean on each other?

Jonas: Yes, it's a very friendly community of about 90 teams. 

My attitude is, if I see somebody broke down, I can pull over. If I can help them, I will. But if I can't help them, there's a sweep vehicle that will pick them up and take them to the next stop. And then their teams can get to work fixing their bike.

So that's how it is for most of the riders. A lot of teams will pair or triple up and kind of stick together throughout the day, so we might look out for each other. It all depends on where you're comfortable and how the sidecar is riding, because we're going to be slower than most of the other bikes. 

KLIM: Smooth is fast, right? Talk a little bit about the Peg Leg Speed Shop.

Jonas: It’s the place and the team and the people that I've organized and put together to get through Cannonball. A number of us, those who are very technical and engineering-focused, are already talking about keeping this thing going after Cannonball. We definitely want to do another Cannonball, that's for sure. We're looking out there and realizing there's commercial venture opportunity in vintage motorcycle restoration and repair.

And we obviously have the skills to do this. We're thinking about investing in some cooler tools and things so that we can even do a better job. And we’re having so much fun. It's like, if we could do this and call it work, we should do this and call it work.

KLIM: Exactly. What kind of gear are you wearing?

Jonas: All kinds. For what we're doing, it’s going to keep us comfortable. What we’re doing on a vintage motorcycle on backroads is no different than what I'm going to be demanding of my gear when I’m adventure touring. My favorite gear is the Blak Jak Leather Boot.

KLIM: Another cool part is your sidecar partner, Brenda is wearing KLIM gear, too. 

Jonas: Yes, she's a rider for about 20 years and the Wisconsin ambassador for Stilletos on Steel, a female riders group. She's happy with all of her gear, and she was excited about this KLIM opportunity. 

Brenda and I decided we're not going to try to match our outfits in terms of color. We will each wear what's right for us that day. I mean, she runs cold and I run hot, right? I might be in short sleeves. She might be in leather.

KLIM: As long as you're comfortable and safe. Anything else you want to say?

Jonas: I think you can tell we're really, really excited. This is a really unique opportunity. When I first decided to do this, I thought I was going to be alone. And I wasn't sure how I was going to do everything on my own. But I have this awesome team of people, and I'm very thankful. 

KLIM: Good luck to you and your team! 

Follow the journey with Pegleg Speed Shop and Motorcycle Cannonball for over 17 days starting September 7.

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