The smell of creosote would be my constant companion...
George A. Wyman set out on his 200cc, 1.25hp "California" motorcycle from San Francisco, CA on May 16th, 1903; 50 days later he arrived in New York City, NY on July 6th. Mr. Wyman overcome not only some very harsh country, but quite a few mechanical breakdowns along the way. His "motorcycle," more akin to a motorized bicycle of today, was equipped with 28' wooden tires, a front roller break, rear coaster brake, and leather belt-drive. It weighed about 80 pounds and had a top speed of about 25 mph using the gasoline of the day (30 octane) generally obtained from the local pharmacist.
For the first several thousand miles of his journey, Wyman took to the railroad tracks, as it was generally easier to ride on the railroad ties than try to ride on the primitive wagon tracks and roads of that time period. One could only imagine bouncing down the tracks with a tiny amount of suspension travel afforded by the California's leading-link fork suspension and Garford spring saddle. Wyman often stayed in local railroad housing or in meager boarding houses of the day.
Unlike our iron-horses of today, Wyman often found himself pedaling the motorcycle after his engine went belly up. In Illinois, his engine's crankshaft snapped into pieces, and outside of Albany, NY, his engine lost all power. Instead of taking time to fix it, he pedaled to the 150 miles to the finish in New York City. In total, Wyman covered approximately 3,800 miles.
I had a much easier time.
George A. Wyman set out on his 200cc, 1.25hp "California" motorcycle from San Francisco, CA on May 16th, 1903; 50 days later he arrived in New York City, NY on July 6th. Mr. Wyman overcome not only some very harsh country, but quite a few mechanical breakdowns along the way. His "motorcycle," more akin to a motorized bicycle of today, was equipped with 28' wooden tires, a front roller break, rear coaster brake, and leather belt-drive. It weighed about 80 pounds and had a top speed of about 25 mph using the gasoline of the day (30 octane) generally obtained from the local pharmacist.
For the first several thousand miles of his journey, Wyman took to the railroad tracks, as it was generally easier to ride on the railroad ties than try to ride on the primitive wagon tracks and roads of that time period. One could only imagine bouncing down the tracks with a tiny amount of suspension travel afforded by the California's leading-link fork suspension and Garford spring saddle. Wyman often stayed in local railroad housing or in meager boarding houses of the day.
Unlike our iron-horses of today, Wyman often found himself pedaling the motorcycle after his engine went belly up. In Illinois, his engine's crankshaft snapped into pieces, and outside of Albany, NY, his engine lost all power. Instead of taking time to fix it, he pedaled to the 150 miles to the finish in New York City. In total, Wyman covered approximately 3,800 miles.
I had a much easier time.