Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/763593
29 www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS nJanuary 2017n by Felicia Morgan AUGUSTA, KAN., SEP. 16— While there is absolutely nothing mundane about the Motorcycle Cannonball, folks are usually surprised to learn that not everything is about miles. Route master John Classen delights in laying out the route to include historical landmarks, museums and points of interest along the way as riders travel the various states. There's a lot of fellowship at the stops, which tends to cement relationships between riders and the communities they visit. For the Race of the Century, it was fortuitous that the route along US-400 took the group through Augusta, since it just so happened that Kelly Modlin, #24, had recently opened the Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum. Kelly's fam- ily and friends, aided by the Wichita Sunshine Chapter of the AMCA, hosted dinner at the museum for the wet, weary riders as they made their way through Kansas. Cannonball rid- ers Terry Richardson (#101) and Bill Page (#10) helped sponsor the dinner. By the time the Cannonballers arrived for dinner at the Twisted Oz during Stage 7, the ravenous throttle jockeys had spent a long day slogging through a nasty Midwest rainstorm. The grateful group bellied up to long rows of tables set up under a canopy to chow down on hot-off-the-grill steaks and all the trimmings. Gift bags with Kansas-centric goodies were offered and a visit through the museum was the topic of discussion for the rest of the trip. Especially interesting was the very rare Indian Super-6 sitting just inside the door. The nostalgic atmo- sphere of the museum was comfortable and inviting and required more than one lap through the place, including the must-see restroom. The 52-year-old Modlin met his wife, Theresa, when he was 15 and she was 13. The couple has been col- lecting old bikes and memorabilia for over 18 years and opening the museum has been a dream for some time. Of the over 70 bikes on display, about 30 percent of them belong to the Modlins. Jerry Ottoway's machines make up an estimated 60 percent of the exhibit and another 10 percent are individuals' bikes. The newest addition was a 741 Indian military engine from around 1944, still in the original shipping crate from World War II, which Kelly procured during the Cannonball. "Here I was sitting in Pennsylvania. I'd already broken down like four times and I was exhausted, I'd just had it, so I was waiting to be picked up when I started talking to a guy at the bar about old stuff," Kelly told T HUNDER PRESS. "He said he didn't have anything nearly as old as ours but he had a few old bikes, plus three Indian engines still in the origi- nal crates and my ears perked up. He asked how long we'd be hanging out, because he didn't live far if I wanted to go to his place and take a look. I told him well, yeah, I'm interested!" Kelly came to fi nd out the guy had a nice collection of bikes and sure enough, there were three war-model engines in their original crates and he was willing to part with one. A deal was struck and Kelly started round- ing up the cash when the guy made a suggestion. "You know, Kelly, you're gonna need your money to fi nish the race. Why don't you go ahead and just take it with you now, then just send me the money when you get back." Kelly was fl abbergasted. "You know, that just proved to me that there's still a trust between bikers. He is really a great guy and meeting him was worth the whole trip, for me." April 2017 will be the fi rst anni- versary for Twisted Oz. An under-con- struction addition will be completed, which will double the square footage of the museum. "I plan to dedicate that space to the '60s and '70s," Kelly shared. "I'm really excited. That area where riders ate dinner? That's all boxed in now; the addition is a winter project, and we'll get it knocked out pretty quick. We're planning a swap meet and bike show; it's going to be an annual thing so come on out and see us." Admission is free. (www.twistedoz.com) 4 TWISTED OZ MOTORCYCLE MUSEUM Kansas meets Cannonball Turning back time "The nostalgic atmosphere of the museum was comfortable and inviting and required more than one lap through the place, including the must-see restroom." The Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum had their hands full as they fed famished Cannonball riders from all over the world Rare and wonderful machines stood at attention as folks crowded in to get a better look