Putting oneself through a sleepless high-speed coast-to-coast dash is a Herculean challenge to both mind and body. The men and women who competed in the transcontinental races in the 70’s and 80’s all shared an unequivocable passion: to push themselves to the utter limit of their sport. One racer, George Egloff, stands out to me (and to most of the other competitors) as a sort of icon in the sport of long distance driving….
He raced in one Cannonball and four U.S. Express runs . . . on a motorcycle. Four in total were done solo, with no co-pilot, navigator, or teammate to diffuse the intense monotony. The run might take two whole days, fending off police, weather, and fatigue, with little or no rest. If that’s not enough for you, try the Ironbutt Race on for size. 11,000 miles in eleven days, alone on a motorcycle. George won this race twice. Still not impressed? How about driving 16,000 miles to raise funds for those afflicted with retinitis pigmentosa over the course of 3 months: December, January, and March . Last time I checked that’s winter in the Northern Hemisphere. Unbelievable. I just talked to George, and he said none of his efforts would have been possible without the help of his friend and mechanic Jay Knapp, who not only set-up and modified the bike for each trip, but often rode the bike back to New Jersey, from West to East, when the race was done. I wouldn’t mind a friend like that. Check out this video of George taken from the start of the ‘82 Express and finish of the ‘83 Express. Pretty cool.
(1971-1979) Cannonball Run, (1980-1983) U.S. Express and Races
“We’re sorry, this video is no longer available.”
I, too, get video no longer available…
Think I found the problem…when I head over to YouTube and put in the URL (found from the page source), it makes me log in. After logging into YouTube, I get this message:
“This is a private video. If you have been sent this video, please make sure you accept the sender’s friend request. ”
Needs to be marked public, I’d say.
Shit, sorry people, will get this fixed!
Kudos to George. As a lone rider, he needed skill, tenacity, physical stamina and mental toughness. Truly a unique effort and legacy.
I wonder if he was the inspiration for Lapchick the Mad Hungarian?
Incredibly humble guy, much respect
I am proud to list George as one of my best friends. His outgoing, try anything personality inspired me to try many things I wouldn’t have done on my own. We raced in Baja, we raced at Bonneville, I was present at most of the cross country starting lines; I crewed for him more times than I can remember and there was never a dull moment. He is not as active nowadays, but he always has a laugh for me. His keeps involved in motorcycles with his good friend Perry down in Texes now. The Ride for Sight campaign was amazing, at the the Javits center motorcycle show in NYC, bids were over $100 for the t-shirt off his back. This ride generated huge interest from riders who knew how cold it gets on a bike in January….
Here’s the link to YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mRrsAxGGN68
By the way, I’m not “the” George Egloff. I did ride a BMW for 10 years, but never more than 5 or 6 hours straight. This guy is amazing.
-Georg Brandl Egloff
sitting here showing my dad George Egloff this web site @ this moment I thought you would enjoy his comments…I George enjoyed reliving my life of 29 years ago,and and i’m sure my friend Jay Knapp enjoys the same,knowing my daughter is running the same super slab each week I wish her a safe trip in her peterbilt,thanks George
Does anybody have confirmation of what his best time was? And is this the current record for a motorcycle?
In the first Cannonball race, the one that was depicted in the film “Cannonball Run”, George relayed a Suzuki GS850 across the country in 46 hours. It involved four riders taking turns riding part of the trip. The bike was handed off at various points across the country. That bike is pictured above with “Touch of Class BMW” on the fuel tank mounted on the rear rack. George is here with me now visiting NJ to attend his son Ron’s wedding in PA. He says he held the solo record of 42 hours for some time and isn’t sure if it’s been broken. See the video “George Egloff: The lone rider” above. That video was made at the finish of the 42 hour trip. I rode that bike, a BMW R90S home to NJ after the race. It took me a week to come back across the US. The only bike I didn’t have a hand in setting up was the first Suzuki that ran in the Cannonball. The R90S he set the record with had a 11 gallon fuel capacity in three tanks, a Escort radar detector, oversize tires, customized fairing and some other details my old mind can’t recall. The riding suit George is wearing in the video is a my Refridgawear meat packers suit he borrowed for the ride. This was an era where Tourmaster and such riding apparel was unheard of.
This is Frank Handy, fellow 12-time Iron Butt rider. I’ve ridden with Jay Knapp, and must say that his attitude towards other riders is terrible. Rude often comes to mind when I think about our first encounter. Mechanic he may have been… rude he will always be. -FH
My apologies.. just did more research and I rode with a different Jay Knapp. I don’t think the fellow on this site is the same guy. My apologies for the rudeness I’ve displayed this morning. Wrong guy, sorry. -FH
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Hello, are u I did recently got myself a motorbike and I desperately require some help with a problem i have been experiencing ever since i bought it. I am the type of individual who can get cold quite easy and i cant seem to keep warm enough on my Motorcycle! Do you maybe know how I can i fix this?