Photo: Alex Jones
The record for the cross-country Cannonball run on a motorcycle has a new holder, and his name is Alex Jones. The rider from Dallas covered the 2,800-mile (4.506 km) route on a budget and had a claimed average speed of almost 87 mph (ca. 140 km/h) for the entire trip.
The previous Cannonball Motorcycle Record was broken back in April 2019, in 37 hours and 7 minutes. At the time, Adam Frasca rode a 2014 Yamaha Super Tenere XT1200Z. He beat the previous record, set in August 2015, by 1 hour and 42 minutes. Just a month later, another rider completed the same trip in roughly 36 hours on a BMW K1600 GTL.
Meanwhile, Alex Jones's record stands at 32 hours and 52 minutes, which is a significant difference from the old record set by Adam Frasca and broken by Calvin Cote just a month later. Regardless, we should point out, at this time, that this entire thing is extremely dangerous, and people's lives are at risk whenever someone attempts to break the Cannonball record.
As Alex Jones told Road and Track, he bought the 2014 Yamaha FJR1300 for $4,000 with 80,000 miles (ca. 128,748 km) on the clock. He proceeded to fit it with a 7-gallon (ca. 26.48 liters) auxiliary fuel cell to enable an extended range. Other additional equipment includes an unspecified radar detector, a set of unspecified laser jammers, auxiliary lighting, and two phones mounted on the handlebars.
The 144-horsepower sports tourer motorcycle has an inline-four-cylinder engine, a five-speed transmission, and shaft drive. Fortunately for the rider and everybody else on the road, the entire trip was "relatively uneventful," as Jones described it.
As he told R&T, the unspecified auxiliary lighting system failed just as night set in, while wind and road conditions put a strain on the rear tire, which was “nearly bald” on arrival at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. It is unclear for his account, but we can only hope that he started off the trip with brand-new tires and a fresh set of brake pads and rotors, as well as new brake fluid.
The rider also mentioned that the bike's cruise control system also broke down, but that did not stop him and the bike reaching a top speed of about 120 mph (ca. 193 km/h) somewhere along the route.
To validate the record, he supplied Road and Track with notarized statements for starting and ending times, along with hourly screenshots of the GPS he used.
Now, if all that did not sound dangerous enough (it was), the rider only stopped seven times in total, and all his stops were for refueling his bike. Alex Jones used a CamelBak system to stay hydrated, while protein bars were his food of choice for the trip.
The rider claimed to use caffeine pills to bolster his alertness, while eliminating bathroom breaks using a catheter and a condom. Too many details for us, as well.
With that being written, do not attempt to recreate the Cannonball run. If you do want a record on two wheels, try this one instead.
Meanwhile, Alex Jones's record stands at 32 hours and 52 minutes, which is a significant difference from the old record set by Adam Frasca and broken by Calvin Cote just a month later. Regardless, we should point out, at this time, that this entire thing is extremely dangerous, and people's lives are at risk whenever someone attempts to break the Cannonball record.
As Alex Jones told Road and Track, he bought the 2014 Yamaha FJR1300 for $4,000 with 80,000 miles (ca. 128,748 km) on the clock. He proceeded to fit it with a 7-gallon (ca. 26.48 liters) auxiliary fuel cell to enable an extended range. Other additional equipment includes an unspecified radar detector, a set of unspecified laser jammers, auxiliary lighting, and two phones mounted on the handlebars.
The 144-horsepower sports tourer motorcycle has an inline-four-cylinder engine, a five-speed transmission, and shaft drive. Fortunately for the rider and everybody else on the road, the entire trip was "relatively uneventful," as Jones described it.
As he told R&T, the unspecified auxiliary lighting system failed just as night set in, while wind and road conditions put a strain on the rear tire, which was “nearly bald” on arrival at the Portofino Inn in Redondo Beach, California. It is unclear for his account, but we can only hope that he started off the trip with brand-new tires and a fresh set of brake pads and rotors, as well as new brake fluid.
The rider also mentioned that the bike's cruise control system also broke down, but that did not stop him and the bike reaching a top speed of about 120 mph (ca. 193 km/h) somewhere along the route.
To validate the record, he supplied Road and Track with notarized statements for starting and ending times, along with hourly screenshots of the GPS he used.
Now, if all that did not sound dangerous enough (it was), the rider only stopped seven times in total, and all his stops were for refueling his bike. Alex Jones used a CamelBak system to stay hydrated, while protein bars were his food of choice for the trip.
The rider claimed to use caffeine pills to bolster his alertness, while eliminating bathroom breaks using a catheter and a condom. Too many details for us, as well.
With that being written, do not attempt to recreate the Cannonball run. If you do want a record on two wheels, try this one instead.
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