June 2 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Walcott to Laramie, WY)

"From Walcott, which I left at 6:30 a.m., it is uphill traveling eastward all the way to Laramie. I passed through the mining town of Hanna, peopled mostly by Finns and Negroes, and past the railroad stations of Edson, Dana, Allen and Medicine Bow. At the place last named I ripped out some more spokes, and after fixing up the damage temporarily, I took to the railroad and followed it, in preference to the road, into Laramie. This was the first place that I really felt enthusiastic from the time I left the coast. Laramie is a big, fine place of nearly 10,000 and is in the greenest country I had seen since I left Sacramento. That is how it struck me, and I felt glad to be there. It seemed as if it was a place where someone lived and where folks could live. It is a fertile country all around there, given over largely to sheep and cattle ranching, and has a natural, civilized look that I did not find anywhere in Nevada, and only in little touches in Utah between big stretches of wilderness. I saw some of the finest baldface, big-horn cattle there that the country produces. This is where Bill

Lovejoy Motorcycle Garage, c.1905

Nye appeared on the horizon of humor, I believe, when he was "sticking" tape for the Laramie Boomerang. I recalled this and could understand that a man might be a humorist living in such a place. I could not revel in the delights of Laramie as I would have liked, for I had troubles of my own to attend to. It was 7:05 p.m. when I got there, and I hunted up the bicycle shop of Elmer Lovejoy. He furnished me with five new spokes and placed his shop at my disposal, for I preferred from the first to do all the repairing to the motorcycle myself."

Community Memorials

602.1 Edison

602.2 Dana

602.3 Hanna

602.4 Medicine Bow - Waypoint Sign and Memorial Plaque

602.4i Bosler Depot

602.4i Rock River Depot

602.5  Lovejoy Garage - Waypoint Sign & Memorial Plaque

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, August 1903, Vol 1 No 3
Ogden, UT to Omaha, NE
May 28 to June 11, 1903

June 1 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Bitter Creek to Walcott, WY)

"After having breakfast in the boxcar restaurant, I left Bitter Creek for Rawlins. In this stretch, about 20 miles from Bitter Creek, I crossed my third desert, the Red Desert of Wyoming. It takes its name from the soil of calcareous clay that is fiery red, and the only products of which are rocks and

G.Wyman

sagebrush, and they will grow anywhere. There is a Red Desert Station on the map, but there is nothing there but a telegraph office, and the same is true of Wamsutter and Creston, the succeeding names on the map. I took a snapshot of the road in the desert near Bitter Creek and wrote on the film: "Who wouldn't leave home for this?" East of Red Desert the road improved considerably, and from Wamsutter to Creston it was really fine.

It was along this fine stretch, just before reaching Creston, that I came to the

G.Wyman

Great Divide and took a picture of the signpost, which marks the ridgeline of the great American watershed. Standing there and facing the north, all the streams on your left flow to the west and all those on the right side flow toward the east, the waters of the former eventually finding their way to the Pacific, and the latter to the Mississippi River. This is the backbone of the continent and it is duly impressive to stand there and gaze at the official sign. It does not mark the exact middle of the continent though, as some have mistakenly thought. It is about 1,100 miles east of San Francisco. I had rather expected to find the continental divide, if I did come across it, on the summit of a mountain, in a very rough piece of country, but it is in a broad pass of the Rockies, that seems more like a plain than a mountain, although a commanding view is obtainable from there. To the north are the Green, Febris and Seminole chains of mountains, and further, in the northwest is the Wind River range, and beyond that again the Shoshone range, while to the south are the Sierra Madres, all escalloping the horizon with their rugged peaks, here green, there shrouded in a purplish veil, and far away showing only a hazy gray of outline. One realizes that he is in the Rockies positively enough.

G.Wyman

From Creston to Rawlins there is nearly 30 miles of downgrade, and, as it is a fairly good highway of gravel, I made lively time over it. After leaving Creston there come Cherokee and Daly's ranch before you get to Rawlins, and it was between these places, both mere railroad points, that I got the picture of the abandoned prairie schooner that was printed in Motorcycle Magazine. Rawlins, where I stopped only for gasoline, is a town of some size, having more than 2,000 population. From there the country becomes rolling again, and after passing Fort Fred Steele, I began to ascend once more. It is a great sheep ranch country all through here now from Rawlins. At Fort Steele there is nothing left but the ruins of abandoned houses. I now follow the old immigrant trail that winds across the River Platte, and am fast approaching the Laramie Plains, over which my route lies to the Laramie Mountains. Beyond Fort Steele I enter White Horse Canyon, which got its name, so the story goes, from an Englishman, one of the sort known in the West as "remittance men," who drank too much "Old Scratch," and, mounted on a white horse, rode over the precipice and landed on the rocks 200 feet below.

At 6:10 p.m. I reached Walcott, a "jerkwater" settlement, composed of two saloons, a store and a railroad station. It is made important, though, by the fact that two stage lines come in there. The hotels at places of the sort are generally clean, and they are kept more-or-less peaceable by the policy of reserving an out-building for the slumbers of the "drunks," so I concluded to tarry. I found some interest in automobiles here, and, after inspecting my machine, the natives fell to discussing the feasibility of running automobiles on the stage lines, instead of the old Concord coaches, drawn by six horses, that are now used. One of the stage drivers said that if anyone would build an automobile that would carry 12 or 14 persons and run through sand six inches deep. He would pay from $3,000 to $5,000 for it. I told him to wait awhile. After supper I mended my broken spokes with telegraph wire, and entertained quite a group of spectators, who watched the job with open curiosity. I find a variable reception in this country to my statement that I have journeyed from San Francisco, and am bound for New York. A great many do not believe me, and smile as if amused by an impromptu yarn. There is another class, though, that of the old settlers, the real mountaineers who have had adventures of all sorts in the mountains and the wilderness. These men are surprised at nothing, and they rather nettle me by accepting me and my motor bicycle and my statement with utmost stolidity as if the feat was commonplace. For awhile I thought that this class, too, were unbelievers, but later I learned that as a rule they are the only ones who do believe me, because they are men who believe anything possible in the way of overland journeying."

Community Memorials

601.1 Red Desert

601.2 Wamsutter

601.3 Great Divide

601.4 Creston Siding

601.5 Cherokee

601.6 Daly's Ranch

601.7 Rawlins Gas

601.8 Fort Steele - Memorial Plaque & Waypoint Sign

601.9 Walcott RON - Journey & Waypoint Posters

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, August 1903, Vol 1 No 3
Ogden, UT to Omaha, NE
May 28 to June 11, 1903

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'What's New' to You!"

May 31 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Granger to Bitter Creek, WY)

"Leaving Granger, which is a division town of about 200 people and has one hotel, at 6:30 o'clock in the morning, I found the road to Marston terribly rocky, and I returned to my old love, the crossties, after going half the distance, or about six miles. At Marston I found the old stage road to Green River, and many portions of this are gravelly and fine. Green River is quite a place with a population of about 1,500, but I did not stop there. I pushed on past the famous castellated rocks to Rock Springs, 45 miles from Granger, and, arriving there at 11:45, I stopped for dinner. You always eat dinner in the middle of the day in this part of our glorious country, and if you get up with the sun and bump on a motorcycle over the hallways of the Rocky Mountains, you are ready for dinner at 12 o'clock sharp, and before. At Rock Springs the country begins to look upward again, the elevation there being 6,260 feet, 200 feet more than at Green River. From Rock Springs on, except for one drop of 500 feet from Creston to Rawlins and Fort Steele, there is a steady rise to the summit, about half way between Laramie and Cheyenne. There the elevation is a cool 8,590 feet.

Rock Springs, where I had dinner, is in the district of the Union Pacific Company's coal mines. It is memorable for labor troubles and murders of Chinamen. I had the ends of my driving belt sewed at Rock Springs, and set out again past Point of Rocks, 25 miles east to Bitter Creek. East of Point of Rocks the road Is fairly level, but it is of alkali sand, and when I went over it, it was so badly cut up that in some places I had to walk.

Bitter Creek might well be called Bitter Disappointment. I do not mean the stream of water that the road follows, but the station of the same name. It is one of those places which well-illustrates what I have said about the folly of taking the map as a guide in this country. About one-third of the "places" on the map are mere groups of section houses, while a third of the remainder are just sidetracking places, with the switch that the train hands shift themselves, and a signboard. Bitter Creek belongs to the former class. The "hotel" there is an old boxcar. Yet, if you take a standard atlas you will find the name of Bitter Creek printed in big letters among a lot of other "places" in smaller type. The big type, which leads you to think it must be quite a place, means only that the railroad stops there. The "places" in smaller type are mere sidetracking points. The boxcar is fitted-up as a restaurant and reminds one faintly of the all-night hasheries on wheels that are found in the streets of big cities. The boxcar restaurant at Bitter Creek, however, has none of the gaudiness of the coffee wagons. Still, I got a very good meal there. When I cast about for a place to sleep it was different, but I finally found a bed in a section house. This experience was one of the inevitable ones of transcontinental touring. It was 7:15 o'clock when I reached Bitter Creek Station and it is 69 miles from there to Rawlins, the first place where I could have obtained good accommodations."

Community Memorials

531.1 Green River

531.2 Rock Springs

531.3 Point of Rocks - Waypoint Sign & Posters

531.4 Bitter Creek RON - Waypoint Sign

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, August 1903, Vol 1 No 3
Ogden, UT to Omaha, NE
May 28 to June 11, 1903

May 30 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Evanston to Granger, WY)

"After riding about six miles that day I bumped into a rut and the stem of my handlebars snapped, but there was about an inch of the stem left, and I hammered it down with my wrench into the head tube and managed to make it do. This repair lasted to Chicago. I took to the railroad leaving Evanston, as there has been a new section built there, cutting off some distance and leading through a newly completed tunnel at Altamont, 13 miles from Evanston. 

It was early morning when I reached the tunnel. It is a mile and a half long. A train passed me and through the tunnel just before I got to it. It takes half an hour for the smoke to get out of the tunnel after a train passes through. I sat down to wait at the station and got to talking to an operator. He calmly informed me that several other trains would be along before long, and that it would not be safe for me to go through the tunnel for hours. Such luck! The only thing for me to do was to follow the trail over the summit through which the tunnel runs. This I did, walking and pushing my bicycle and stopping every few minutes to "breathe" myself. I ascended 300 feet in less than half a mile. I rode down on the other side using both hand brake and the coaster brake. I forsook the railroad after this and followed the road through Spring Valley and Carter to Granger, riding past the famed buttes, or table mountains of the Bad Lands. Bad they are, too. Even the road was marshy and muddy with clayey, sticky mud that just hugged my tires and coaxed them to stay with it. I was going down-grade now from Altamont to Granger. 

It is a great country at

Carter, WY c.1900

Carter, where altitude is 6,507 feet, it is a wonderful sight to see the buttes with seashells on their sides marking the high water mark of a prehistoric flood. Only it is a pity the water would not dry up entirely and give a bicycle a chance. I covered 85 miles on this day and it was one more like the three preceding days. An idea of climbing can be gained by stating that at Evanston the elevation is 6,759 feet, at Altamont 7,395 feet, and at Granger 6,279 feet. There were more round stones the size of baseballs on that piece of trail over the Altamont summit than ever I saw before in my life. At times they all seemed to be rolling around in an effort to get under my tires. If ever I travel through Nevada. Utah and Wyoming again on a bicycle it will be with a railroad track attachment. The telegraph operators at the lonely stations in the deserts have them to travel on back and forth from their homes to their offices. Putting the flanged guide wheels of the attachment on one rail the wheels of the bicycle are kept strictly in place on the opposite rail, and splendid time can be made. With such an attachment and a motor bicycle one could follow the railroad and make 150 miles a day, rain, snow or sunshine."

Community Memorials

530.1 Altamont Tunnel

530.2 Spring Valley

530.3 Carter

530.4 Granger RON - Waypoint Sign

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, August 1903, Vol 1 No 3
Ogden, UT to Omaha, NE
May 28 to June 11, 1903

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'What's New' to You!"

May 29 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Ogden, UT to Evanston Depot, WY)

"I left Ogden on the 29th at 6:10 a.m. S.C. Higgins, who had been my host overnight, rode out of the city with me on his motor bicycle for three or four miles in order that I might not take the wrong road. He is a genuine enthusiast, although well past 40 years of age, I should judge, and he took the liveliest sort of interest in my trip and the success of my undertaking. Mr. Higgins is a machinist, and several years ago he made a motor bicycle for himself. Now he rides an Indian.

It may be said that I splashed out of Ogden. That is the way it comes to me as I now recall it. It had rained for three weeks before I arrived there. The roads in all directions were muddy and the streams swollen. I was now entering the Rockies, and almost as soon as I got out of Ogden I began to encounter mountain streams, which I had to wade across. They were composed largely of melted snow water and were icy cold. At the first one I stopped, removed my foot gearing, took off my leggings, rolled up my trousers, and splashed across barefooted, and, except that the water was too cold, I rather enjoyed it. After going a mile I came to another stream and repeated the undressing performance. I did not enjoy it so much this time. Then the streams began to come along two or three to the mile, and I quit the undressing part and waded across with my shoes and all on. Sometimes the water was knee deep and a couple of times my motor got more cooling than it wanted and I had a job starting it again. In the forenoon of that day I waded more than a dozen of these mountain streams. It is a well watered country this, and it abounds in orchards and farming lands cultivated by Mormon industry. The streams I crossed were racing toward the Weber River as it ran through the Weber Canyon, which extends 140 miles southeast to Granger.

I am following the wagon road now, and 12 miles out of Ogden I enter the Weber Canyon. Turning to the left, I find myself walled-in by the grand granite walls of the canyon that tower upward to the clouds, and I come abruptly upon Devil's Gate, where the waters of the river fall from a great height and thrash around a sharp bend that has been obstructed for ages by a helter-skelter fall of great blocks of stone from above. It is a seething cauldron of water that rushes with insane, frothing fury around or over the obstructions, and one is impressed with the idea that the name is an apt one. A little further on I passed the Devil's Slide, another place well named, where the rocks rise in two

Devil's Slide, c.1900

perpendicular walls, hardly five yards apart, from the floor of the canyon to the mountain summit. It looks as if the stone had been sawed away by man, so sheer are the sides. But these are only a couple of the many wonderful and grandly picturesque phenomena of nature that I encounter from here on for many miles. It is a beautiful country, and the scenes shift from wild and rugged natural grandeurs in the narrow parts of the canyon to pastoral loveliness in the places where the mountain pass broadens and the small but fertile and splendidly kept farms of Mormon settlers are found here and there where the sides slopes to the river. As I go on toward Echo City, 40 miles from Ogden, I get out of the narrow part of the canyon and tilled land becomes more common.

Every one from 50 miles around was bound for Echo City or Evanston on that day, May 29, to see President Roosevelt, whose train stopped in passing long enough for him to make a speech at all the towns of any size- For this reason there was an unusual amount of travel on the roads, and I was repeatedly forced so far over to the side that I had to dismount to escape an upset. The farmers seemed to think I had no right on the road when they wanted to use it, and several swore as they called to me to get out of the way. One man abused me roundly, and told me I ought to get off the road altogether with my damned "bisickle." I did an indiscreet thing in answering him in kind, and he pulled up his team with the intention of getting off and horsewhipping me or to get a steady position to take a pot shot at me with a revolver. I don't know which - I didn't stop to learn. I let out my motor and quickly got around a bend in the road out of sight, and kept going, so that he did not see me again. I felt that tempers are too uncertain in that part of the country to risk a row with a native. I was alone in the land of the Mormons, and they are famed for the way they stick to one of their clan.

I reached Echo City, a railroad settlement of about 200 persons, and, after eating, pushed right on toward Evanston. East of Echo City the canyon narrows again, and here it is known as Echo Gorge. I had my fill of it, and the echoes of my ride through it lasted for days. The roads were in frightful condition owing to three rainy weeks. In many places it was harder traveling on them than over my friends the railroad ties. In the 80 miles that I rode it is 76 by railroad - between Ogden and Evanston on this day of grace my insides were shaken together like a barrelful of eggs rolling down a mountainside. My shaking-up was received in going uphill, though, for I found by consulting my guide that I had climbed 2,400 feet that day. The elevation at Ogden being 4,301 feet and at Evanston 6,759 feet. At night my back felt as if some good husky man with a club had used it on me heavily. The new belt rim that I had put on in the morning got shot full of holes that day by being punched against sharp rocks at the roadside. It is a strenuous country, and must have been plenty pleasing to the President. I had little chance to revel in the magnificent

Pulpit Rock, Echo City, UT

scenery, but I knew about the Pulpit Rock from which Brigham Young delivered a Sunday sermon during the pilgrimage of the Mormons to their settlement at Salt Lake City, and I had a glance at it as I rode away from Echo City. Sixteen miles east from my luncheon stop I passed the towering sandstone bluffs, with turreted tops naturally formed, that are known as Castle Rocks, and lend their name to a railroad station of the Union Pacific there. If any one got off there, though, you would surely have a spell of wondering what they were going to do, for there is no village of any sort. The day was nice enough so far as temperature was concerned, but the story of what had been in the recent past was told to me just before I got into Evanston by the sight of thousands of sheep carcasses strewn on the hillsides and even right along the sides of the road. They had been killed by snow and hailstorms, only a few days before.

Restored RR Depot, Evanston WY
Room in which Wyman slept

It was 8:35 p.m. when I reached Evanston in Wyoming, just across the State line from Utah, and, although this is a town of something over 2,000 persons, with half a dozen hotels, the place was crowded with visitors. Every cowboy, ranchman, farmer and miner for many miles around had been there to hear the President speak in the afternoon, and at night food was at famine prices and sleeping accommodations simply not to be had. I was not wanted anywhere and I felt the slight in the difference between welcome given to the President and to me keenly. After trying at a couple of hotels and boarding houses I made up my mind that I would have to sit it out. Chairs however, were at a premium, and I stood and watched a poker game at the hotel until midnight, and then strolled over to the railroad station where I found a chair, and in that I bunked, sore as a stone bruise until morning, leaving the town at 6:20 o'clock."

Community Memorials

529.1 Weber Canyon

529.2 Devil's Slide

529.3 Echo City Pulpit Rock Waypoint Sign

529.4 Castle Rock

529.5 Evanston Depot RON - Memorial Plaque, Waypoint Sign and Journey Poster

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Rockies and the Great Divide to the Prairies" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, August 1903, Vol 1 No 3
Ogden, UT to Omaha, NE
May 28 to June 11, 1903

Subscribe to get email updates of our...  
'What's New' to You!"

May 28 - Across America on a Motor Bicycle

(Zenda to Ogden, UT)

"The next morning the ground was so wet that I walked half the way to Ogden.  According to the railroad survey, Ogden, Utah, is 833 miles from San Francisco. I rode on the railroad track fully half the way. What distance I actually covered getting there I cannot say with preciseness owing to having lost my cyclometers, but while there I took a map, and, summing up my detours, I figured it out that I had ridden very nearly 100 miles more than the distance by rail, or about 925 miles.  

UPRR Depot & Express Office, c.1900

At Ogden I found a pair of new tires and a gallon of lubricating oil waiting for me at the express office. They came from San Francisco, and the charges on the tires were $2.75 and on the oil $1.50. I put on one new tire and expressed the other, with the oil, to myself at Omaha. I got to Ogden at 11a.m., May 28, and spent the day there. I got a new pair of handlebars and put some new spokes in my wheels. While there I met up with S.C. Higgins, who has the other motorcycle in that city of 15,000 inhabitants. I met him at the store of L.H. Becraft - the pioneer cyclist of Ogden and the proprietor of a large bicycle store there. I spent the evening with Mr. Higgins and slept at his house, in response to a pressing invitation."

Community Memorials

528.1 UPRR Express Office

528.2 LH Becraft Bicycle Shop  - Waypoint Sign & Memorial Plaque

528.3 S.C. Higgins RON Remained Over Night

Across America on a Motor Bicycle - "Over the Great Deserts to the Rock Mountains" by George A. Wyman, The Motorcycle Magazine, July 1903, Vol 1 No 2
Reno, NV to Ogden, UT
May 21 to May 28, 1903

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'What's New' to You!"

Has Wyman's 1902 California Been Resurrected?

1902 California
(Click here for more pictures)

The George A. Wyman Memorial Project has been contacted by a private collector who believes to be in possession of 'The' Wyman 1902 California motor-cycle.  This beautifully restored 1902 California was acquired by Dave Scoffone in 2006.  More about that later...but first some background.

Sometime in 1902, George Wyman took possession of a Regular Model California motor-cycle, designed by Roy C. Marks.  This motorized bicycle was manufactured by the California Motor Company located at 305 Larkin Street, San Francisco, CA. (Other reports suggest the CMC facilities were at 2212 Folsom Street)

Aux Tank & Cargo Rack

Farkle behind gas tank

Wyman modified the stock Regular Model California in preparations for its transcontinental journey.  He installed a carrying rack behind the battery box for an auxiliary fuel tank and cargo.  He also fabricated a small triangular storage compartment under the seat post in the area formed by the center frame and rear suspension down strut. (This particular Farkle had not been seen on any other Regular Model California)

It was the first motorized vehicle to make a transcontinental journey across America. Beginning May 16 in San Francisco, this 1.25 horsepower motorized bicycle would climb mountain ranges, cross deserts, motoring over vast prairies and through the industrial heartland of America to finish 50 days later in New York City on July 6, 1903.

After reaching New York City, the motor-cycle was put on display for a few weeks then shipped back to Wyman's home in San Francisco.  There, it was put on display in the Museum at Golden Gate Park for a couple of years.  It whereabouts after that begin to fade from public knowledge.  Wyman reported in a 1958 interview by the Oakland Tribune, to have lost track of it after 1905.  It was rumored to have changed hands several times.  Urban legend has it was purchased by a bar in San Francisco and hung from the ceiling for a time.  Or, it was lost in the great earthquake of 1906.  It disappeared from public view for over 60 years.

Fast forward to the 1970s.  Otis Chandler, publisher of the Los Angeles Time, was a well known collector of motor vehicles.  His motorcycle collection was regarded as one of the finest in existence.  His passion was obtaining rare, often unique specimens and restoring them to near perfect condition.  Otis and his team of scouts would search garages, basements, barns and warehouses for opportunities to add to his marvelous collection.

It was one of these finds that brought Mr. Chandler to a garage in San Francisco. There he found a badly deteriorated 1902 California, rusted out, tires rotted away, parts broken and missing.   He acquired this wreck of a motor-bicycle and was convinced by the seller that it was the 1902 California used by George A. Wyman to ride across America in 1903.  Otis must have had good reason to believe it was Wyman's motor-cycle.  Unfortunately, no account or documentation of that transaction, along with any photographs of the condition of the bike as it was found have surfaced.  Over the next several years, he set about the task of restoring the bike to original 1902 condition.

The restored 1902 California was put on display at the Chandler Vintage Museum of Transportation and Wildlife, in Oxnard, CA.  From time to time it was loaned out to other museums and collection venues.  Here is a couple of press clippings about the 1902 "California."

• Otis Chandler motorcycle collection merits review, Santa Paula Times, March 3, 2000:  "You'll be amazed to see a 1902 California motorcycle that completed the first motorized trip across the United States."
• Show of shows: Rare motorcycle collection smooth riding at California Oil Museum, Santa Paula Times, April 19, 2000:  "Wayman's(sic), a 1902 California, a rarity indeed, is featured at the California Oil Museum where “Rare Motorcycles from the Otis Chandler Collection” is drawing in motorcycle and history buffs alike."

In 1994, Dave Scoffone met with Otis Chandler. As fellow vintage collectors, they share a deep passion for the history of American motorcycles and the significant impact the industry had on the industrial revolution of America. Dave and Otis exchanged many stories about different bikes and their unique history(s) and between the two of them had more than ample historic bikes to share their stories.

Over the years the stories and discussions continued, but there was never a bike trade made between them. Dave only wanted certain bikes that Otis had and visa versa.  It was a friendly sharing of the passion as neither were willing to part with their treasures.

In 2005, Otis was quite ill and it seemed time to part with his collection. Dave and Otis discussed the specific bikes that were going to be purchased by Dave but Otis became so ill that the bike negotiations took a back seat. In February of 2006, Otis Chandler died at age 78.

The Otis Chandler Collection was auctioned off by Gooding & Co in October, 2006 and Dave was there.  Although there were seven bikes that Otis and Dave had earlier agreed on, Dave felt very fortunate to acquire three of Otis's prize motorcycle possessions from the auction. Yes, the 1902 California was one of the three and the main prize.

Today, Dave has several rare and vintage motorcycles.  He shows selected pieces

at exclusive events and venues throughout  western United States.  He was delighted to find out about the George A. Wyman Memorial Project and immediately joined as a Wyman Memorial Plaque Sponsor.  We have commissioned a special Wyman Memorial Journey Plaque to accompany the 1902 California while on display.

The George A. Wyman Memorial Project, Inc., would be thrilled if Dave's 1902 California can be authenticated as the Wyman motor-cycle.  And, we are excited to work together with him to help obtain the documentary and photographic evidence necessary. Regardless, it is the finest example of the Regular Model 1902 California yet to be found.  It is priceless in its current state. If proven to be the one ridden by George A. Wyman across America, it will be the antique motorcycle find of the century and truly, a "National Treasure of the First Order!"

"Linking the Past to the Present to Enrich the Future"

Press Coverage...

Dateline April 21, 2016:  Atlas Obscura covers the G.A.Wyman Memorial Project announcement of the 1902 California resurrection.

Found: A 1902 Motorcycle That May Be the First to Make It Across the U.S.

George A. Wyman's bike has been missing for decades.  By Sarah Laskow April 21, 2016

Dateline April 30, 2016:  Road and Track covers the G.A.Wyman Memorial Project announcement of the 1902 California resurrection.
First Motor Vehicle To Cross America May Have Been Found
In 1902, ​George A. Wyman went through hell crossing the continent on a California motorcycle.  By Blake Z. Rong, April 30, 2016

Dateline May 2, 2016:  Popular Mechanics covers the G.A.Wyman Memorial Project announcement of the 1902 California resurrection.
Rediscovering the First Motor Vehicle To Cross America
In 1902, ​George A. Wyman went through hell crossing the continent on a California motorcycle.  By Blake Z. Rong, May 2, 2016

The Merit of Wyman's Performance

George A. Wyman as he Appeared
at the end of his Cross-Continent Ride

By A. NICHOLS JERVIS 

(The following article appeared in The Motorcycle Magazine in November, 1903)

It is doubtful if even those motorcyclists who have followed the story of George A. Wyman's trip across the continent, form San Francisco to New York, which was concluded in the Motorcycle Magazine last month, appreciate fully how exceptionally excellent a performance it was.  Now that the narrative has been completed and a review of the whole trip can be taken, it stands out in its entirety as a supreme triumph for the motor bicycle.  It was not only the most notable long distance record by a motorcycle, but also it was the greatest long trip made in this country by any sort of a motor vehicle.  This is a fact to which attention was not called by Wyman in his story and it is one that should be emphasized.  In fact, Wyman's story was altogether too modest throughout.

No motor vehicle, other than Wyman's motor bicycle, has made the trip across the American continent within 50 days.  Several automobiles, large and small, carrying a couple of men, have made the trip across the continent since Wyman showed the way, but none has done it in so short a time as he did, so that he has the credit not only of being the first to bring a motor vehicle across the continent, but also for holding the best record time for the performance.

In calculating Wyman's time as 50 days the time was taken from the day he left San Francisco until that on which he reached New York, and in this injustice was done, because Wyman left San Francisco late in the afternoon on May 16, and simply crossed the bay to Vallejo, where he stayed the night.  He arrived in New York City early in the afternoon on July 6, and so his total time, counting the morning of May 17, when he left Vallejo, was only 49 days, and even then no allowance is made for nearly half a d on July 6 that he was in New York City.  This is, of course, the total elapsed time.  The time lost by Wyman when he was not riding sums up to 11 days, making his net riding time 38 days, and there were circumstances particularly extenuating about his loss of time.  The records of the automobilists(sic) who have since made the trip from ocean to ocean are not only poorer than those of Wyman, but are much poorer.  Dr. H.N. Jackson, who was the first to make the trip in an automobile, was 63 days in doing it.  He left San Francisco on May 23 and arrive in New York July 25.  He had a car of 20 horsepower.  E.T. Fetch, with a 12-horsepower automobile took 61 day for the trip, leaving San Francisco June 20 and reaching New York August 21.  L.L. Whitman, the third and, up to date, the last to perform the journey, required 73 days with a runabout of five-horsepower.

Wyman had a bicycle weighing only 90 pounds with a motor on it of 1-1/4 rated horsepower.  When he lost time by laying-to during a storm it was more excusable than in the case of men with a motor many times more powerful on a car built high enough to chary the rider through ordinarily small floods dryshod(sic), and strong enough to resist the wrenching caused by the corduroy roads of the West.  Another feature of Wyman's feat that adds greatly to the credit of it is that he was alone.  Through all the dreary deserts and mountain fastnesses, he had no companion to cheer and encourage him; no one to join in the laugh and jest that reduces the apparent magnitude of the obstacles; no one to help him pull his machine out of the mud, or lift it over boulders.  Moreover, he had no shelter from the sun and rain and wind, as had all the others, in the form of big umbrellas, and he could not wear a long rubber coat as could those who rode in the automobiles.  He had no one to help him make a repair or an adjustment.  When his ears were frozen, as the were one morning in May, he could not turn over the operation of his bicycle to a companion and give attention to himself.  He had to dismount, and as his vehicle was one that would not stand alone, and there was not a post of building near against which to lean it, he had to carefully shut off his motor, find a suitable place, and carefully lay it down.  He was alone, utterly, drearily alone, with the solitude of the deserts and the mountains and all the strenuousness of his undertaking constantly confronting him.

While the automobiles had some advantage in being better able to withstand the racking strain of rough roads because of greater weight, and better able to push through sandy and muddy stretches because of higher horsepower, the advantages of the motorcycle over the four-wheelers were many and manifest.  Being a single-tracking vehicle, it had a wider range of variation in picking the best part of the roads, or trails, and could often find fair going at the edge of a muddy highway, where the four-wheelers had no choice, but to force the wheels, on one side at least, through the heavy going.  Again, it was possible for Wyman to lift his vehicle bodily from the ground and also to take to the railroad and ride between the ties or over then, which he did for about half the distance travelled.  His greatest delay was that of five days, when he waited at Chicago for a motor crankshaft to be received from San Francisco.  This should not have happened, for there was an agency for the motor bicycle Wyman was using in Chicago, and he reasonably expected to be able to get any part he wanted there.

The contrast between the trip of the motor bicycle and those made by the automobiles stands out sharply when it is remembered what expedients were frequently resorted to by the operators of the four-wheeled cars.  One carried a block and tackle and resorted to its use repeatedly.  The drivers put on big canvas flaps over the tires, or laid canvas strips for the wheels by hand over the desert sand in order to make headway in the desert.  Time and time again they were obliged to call upon men with horses to help them out of the mud or sand holes.  One of them was followed halfway across the continent by a factory expert, who used the railroad trains to go from town to town and thus remain within call when help or repairs were required.  Wyman had help only once during his whole trip, that time being when he was mired near Laramie.  The adaptability to circumstances of the man with a motor bicycle was shown when Wyman, driven from the tracks of one railroad a hundred feet to one side and "toted" his bicycle.  At another time, when driven from the tracks, he walked through a big grain field a mile or two to the highway.  Such things were impossible for the four-wheelers.

On the whole, Wyman's ride and the record he made is one that seems to demonstrate the superiority of the motor bicycle over any other style of vehicle for courier services.  Wyman's bicycle gave out utterly as a motor vehicle at Albany, and he finished by pedalling into New York, travelling over the steep hills of the Hudson River shore.  This would not have been possible for any of those who made the trip in automobiles.  Had their vehicles given out, as Wyman's did, their trip would have been ended there.

It is when the availability of the motor bicycle and the automobile for military service are considered and compared that Wyman's performance stands out in the most superior way.  Even when his motor was giving trouble and he was travelling at his slowest rate, he was doing better than a horse could have done, and his average daily headway was much better than that of any of the big cars.  Great value attaches to the trip because of the data and suggestions it affords to military authorities.  There in no reason why Wyman should not have had an extra motor crankshaft with him.  He could have carried a complete supply of new parts much easier than an automobile than an automobile could.  Allowing that under military conditions it would have been possible to have obtained parts along the road, as all the automobiles did , he still would have had an advantage, because it takes less time to make a repair on a bicycle than on a four-wheeled motor vehicle.  It would seem that in time of war when railroads are not available that two men, each on a light motor bicycle, would be the best possible dispatch bearers.  If there were to on the errand time would be saved because of the assistance one could give to the other in making repairs, and because they would make pace turn and turn about.  In case of serious mishap to either man there would be the other to on on, and if one bicycle was seriously damaged the other could continue, while if both cycles were much damaged the probability is that by rearing one apart the patch the other it could be made fit to complete the journey.


It is not often these days, even during war, that such a long and strenuous journey would be required of any man and vehicle.  Wyman's record stands, however, as a demonstration of what is possible under extremely unusual circumstances.  The demonstration teaches also that much better time will be possible with the experiences of the first attempt to guide.  In whatever way the Wyman trip is viewed, it must be conceded to be a triumphant demonstration of the practicability and many sidedness(sic) of the motor bicycle as well as an everlasting credit to the plucky young man who performed the feat.       

Wyman "Swag" Collection

The Motorcycle Magazine, November 1903, Volume1, Number 6 (Digitized PDF)
The Merit of Wyman's Performance
A contemporary (1903) evaluation of the historic Wyman journey.

Read "The Story Behind the Headlines"

Return to the Across America on a Motor Bicycle page

Size Matters - The 1902 "California" Used by Wyman

The engine size (displacement) of Wyman's California motorcycle matters.  Was it 90cc (5.5 cu.in) or 200cc (12 cu.in).  Both sizes have been widely reported in connection with the Wyman California.  Our research team has been examining this issue to determine the likely displacement of the California that carried Wyman, with all his gear, 3,800 miles across America.

It is unlikely a 90cc displacement would produce 1.25-Horsepower often attributed to his motorcycle.   Here is a quote from an article written for the Wikipedia Motorized bicycle page...

"Other sources state that the Marks engine in the California was only 90 cc in displacement, but a 1901-vintage 90 cc low-compression four-cycle engine running the 30-octane gasoline of the day was unlikely to generate 1.5 horsepower and 25 mph on the California, which weighed some 75-80 pounds, not counting fuel, oil, and rider."  Rafferty, Tod, The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Motorcycles, Philadelphia, PA: Courage Books, page 22.

The motorcycle Wyman used to ride from San Francisco to New York City has been identified as a 1902 California designed by Roy C. Marks, of the California Motor Company.  It could have been a Regular 1903 Model California.  In 1902, Wyman acquired (bought?) a California. He rode it from San Francisco, over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, to Reno and back that summer.  This ride inspired him to attempt a transcontinental journey across the United States.  Since Wyman and the CMC were both in San Francisco, he may have collaborated with the CMC on the project. Either to get the bike he rode to Reno in tip top shape and modifying it for the trip across country.  Or, CMC provided him the latest model in exchange for promotional rights.  (We are conducting research to shed more light on this issue.)

On September 30, 1902, Marks was granted two US Patents for his designs:

1. EXPLOSIVE-ENGINE FOR MOTOR-VEHICLE, US Patent 710,329
2. CARBURETER FOR EXPLOSIVE-ENGINES, US Patent 710,330 (sic)

There is no mention for the displacement of the cylinder volume not occupied by the piston in the description of Marks' design.  This is not unusual, though.  It would be to his advantage to not specify size of the engine, allowing for future size changes of the applied for design. Figure 2, depicts the motor cylinder showing the internal space of the combustion chamber.

An examination of the diagram above indicates the volume of the cylinder, not occupied by the piston, to be about 60% to 65% of the total volume between the bottom of the cylinder and top of the head assembly.  We will use 62.5% in our calculation.

Comparing the Wyman motorcycle with the 1902 California in the Dave Scoffone collection provides the opportunity to examine the relative size differences between motor cylinders.  Even with the slight viewing angle difference the cylinders appear to be identical, right down to the number of heat transfer fins.  A cylinder of 90cc displacement would be noticeably more slender or roughly half the size.

1902 California today and "Snip" of Broken Belt Photo

Dave measured the cylinder of the 1902 California in his collection.  The length from the base of the cylinder to the head assembly is 6 inches.  The circumference of the outside wall at the base of the cylinder, below the heat fins, is 9.5 inches.  The cylinder walls of the patent diagram appear to be 3/8 or 1/2 inches thick, given a 6 inch length.  For our gross calculation we will use 1/2 inch.  

The formula for calculating the volume of a cylinder is:  V = pi r^2 (length),

given the cylinder....

• Length: 6 inches
• Outer circumference:  9.5 inches
• Outer diameter:  3.03 = 9.5 divided by 3.14
• Cylinder wall thickness:  .5 inches
• Inside diameter:  2.03 = 3.03 minus 1 inch for cylinder wall thickness
• Inside radius:  1.015 = 2.03 divided by 2

therefore...

• Volume cylinder:  19.32 = 3.14 times (1.015^2) times 6
• Displacement: 12.08 cu in. = 19.32 times 62.5% of total cylinder volume not occupied by the piston.

It is conclusive to our research team the engine size of Wyman's motorcycle was not 90cc (5.5 cu.in), but 200cc.  Going forward, the Project will refer to Wyman's motor-bicycle as being 200cc, 1.25-horsepower 1902 California motorcycle.

At the SFO Museum

The San Francisco International Airport, SFO Museum is featuring the restored 1902 "California" motor-bicycle believed to be the ridden by George A. Wyman, San Francisco to New York City, 1903.  

The exhibition of Early American Motorcycles is being held February 11 through September 19, 2021, at the San Francisco International Airport terminal, Departures Level 3.

California Motor Bicycle c.1902; California Motor Company, Inc.
Courtesy of Dave Scoffone

Online Exhibition link: https://www.sfomuseum.org/exhibitions/early-american-motorcycles/detail#1

The George A. Wyman Memorial Project, Inc. thanks the Curator of the SFO Museum for inviting the Wyman Project to contribute the historical information and photograph used in the 1902 "California" Exhibition write-up, linked above.