Drawing inspiration from early cross country riders like Erwin "Cannonball" Baker, I am building a 1933 Harley-Davidson VL, which I will ship to the west coast in the fall of 2014 and ride back across the country on US Route 50. I'll be joined by another rider on his 1934 Harley-Davidson VLD, but that will be the extent of my support crew. There will not be any chase trucks or other support personnel. We'll be left with just the tools/parts we can carry, our wits and hopefully a bit of luck to complete the 3000+ mile journey.

One of my main focuses with this project is to carefully document each part of the build and to create a digital archive that future builders can use to learn how to rebuild and maintain these great machines. I feel that is important to capture this information now, in light of the fact that the number of experts is getting smaller each year. My hope is that this build and ride will encourage my generation and those following to get involved with the vintage motorcycle hobby.

Sponsoring this project will provide a host of benefits for your company with the greatest advantage being in the large amount of online advertising that I will provide.  Your company's logo and weblink will be displayed on every online article posted across the five sites listed above.  This will amount to over 50 articles by the time the project is completed and these articles will be available online for many years to come, continuing to provide your company with advertising.  By spreading my articles across multiple websites, I've further insured that they will always be available for future vintage motorcycle enthusiasts.  Already this project is topping the Google search for "1933 Harley-Davidson VL" with 6 out of 10 listings linking back to my articles.  Further adjustments in keywords, tags, etc will also allow this project to dominate searches for more general terms like "Harley-Davidson Restoration" and "Harley-Davidson VL".  

By becoming a sponsor, you will benefit from increased web traffic from users who are actively searching for information on vintage motorcycles.  If you want to market your products or services to vintage motorcycle enthusiasts then this is exactly the type of web traffic that will help you achieve your goals.  Unlike traditional forms of online advertising, where you pay by the month or by the impression, your logo/weblink will be displayed for the life of these articles.  Taking in to account that I'm posting these articles on established websites, they should be available well into the future.

Besides online advertising, there are also a number of other benefits that you will receive as a sponsor.  Your logo will be displayed on the motorcycle for the entire cross country ride allowing it to be seen by hundreds of people in person.  This motorcycle will be stopping for gas every 100 miles as I make my way across the United States and I am sure that a 1933 Harley-Davidson will draw a crowd at each stop..  The ride will also be covered in a series of print articles for American Iron Motorcycle Bagger magazine, so your logo will be seen in photos of the motorcycle used in the various articles.

All donated parts, clothing, gear, etc will be reviewed at the completion of the trip in individualized articles.  Sponsors will be allowed to choose which venue they would like to use for publishing their review article, whether that be their own website or choosing from one of the print and digital options that I can provide.  The cross country ride has long been used as a way to validate the quality of motorcycle related products and I intend to continue that tradition with this ride.  

For sponsors that manufacture parts specifically for the V-series motorcycles, you'll get the added bonus of being mentioned directly in all articles describing the installation of your parts.  These articles will also include a "shopping list" which will list your website and the parts used, making it easier for prospective customers to order your parts.

Once the motorcycle is completed, it will be professionally photographed.  Those photos will be made available to sponsors for use in their own marketing campaigns. 

If you own a motorcycle dealership, independent shop, museum, etc that is located along the route, this motorcycle would make a great promotional piece for an event at your location. If time allows, I'd be glad to make a stop and answer questions for your customers during my ride across the country. Feel free to contact me to discuss the details of your particular case (panhead_jim@hotmail.com). 

For additional information about the status of this project or to see a complete listing of all my current articles, please check out my project page at:  Rebirth of an American Classic