I thought you might like to know more about the other two BMWs that are entered into the Cannonball. Both entries hale from Florida, and both are 750cc bikes: a 1928 R62 and a 1929 R11.

Entry #23, chosen to represent the 1923 entry of BMW into motorcycle production, is Team HMS (Historical Motorcycle Society, a loose knit group of vintage bike fans). Norm Nelson, the rider, is a retired fighter and airline pilot who is not only a vintage bike collector, but last year rode his 1958 Harley Sportster to Alaska and back.

They will be employing a 1929 R11 owned by Jack Wells. Jack, member #1081 of the VBMWMO, has an extensive collection of BMWs, including all of the air cooled singles BMW has produced. Jack just recently won the Prof. Dr. Gerhard Knöchlein BMW Classic Award for preservation and sharing BMW’s history with the public. Jack will also pilot the team’s support vehicle, an 18 wheeler that Jack uses to transport his bikes to shows up and down the east coast and points further when the interest strikes.

Team HMS has nine members in total. Besides Norm and Jack, there is team manager Bill Robinson. He is a member of the Iron Butt Assoc., as well as the BMW club of North East Florida (BMWNEF), the AMCA and a founding member and past president of Riding into History. Larry Meeker is the road manager and another Iron Butt member. Webmaster Alan Singer, an IT specialist and amateur car racer, will oversee the website.

Chief Tech Chris Alley and Tech Neil Fogelberg are charged with keeping the R11 on the road. Alley is a retired Mercedes Benz mechanic who did the wrenching on a 1969 Triumph Trident that completed the 2011 Iron Butt Rally. Fogelberg has spent over 30 years working on Porsches and BMWs. Technical Advisor Ed Miller and Legal Advisor John Duss round out Team HMS. Handy with a lathe, mill and a multimeter, the most interesting bikes to Miller are those that do not (yet) run. Although his day job is as an attorney, Duss is heavily involved in the vintage scene, working at events like Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance or judging at Riding into History.

On the other end of the spectrum from Team HMS, is rider #62, Joe Gimpel, Jr. Joe was fascinated by the 2010 event and, when the 2012 event was announced, determined to join in the fun. He is a capable guy who retired early after developing and patenting a class of quick closing valves for nuclear and steam turbine applications, has restored many vintage autos, such as an air cooled 1929 Franklin, of the type driven by “Cannonball” Baker in a race against the 20th Century Ltd. passenger train on its run from NY to Chicago; a 1925 Bentley GP and a 1934 Graham. Joe is the current president of the AMCA Sunshine Chapter.

In order to participate in the 2012 Motorcycle Cannonball, Joe started searching for a suitable mount. He found it in the collection of well-known BMW collector and dealer John Landstrom, owner of Blue Moon Cycles in Norcross, GA. The 1928 R62 had been in John’s private museum for years, after he bought it from one of Dr. Wernher von Braun’s team members in Huntsville, AL. Now it is apart and soon it will be renovated and ready. Joe has done extensive motor work, to ensure he has every one of the original 18hp available, including new pistons and main bearings, and he has updated to modern seals from the original felt items. The magneto has been overhauled and he turned a new driveshaft.

Joe has long experience with the so-called Airhead BMWs from the 1970s, but those are very modern bikes, especially in comparison to the R62, with their overhead valves, four and five speed foot shifted transmissions and modern niceties like 12V electrics with electric start and centrifugal spark advances. None of that will be on the R62. Its three speed hand shift transmission requires the same right hand, which must also manipulate the air and throttle thumb levers, to grasp the ball end of the shift lever and change gears.