“For Sale: c1909 California Autocycle. Motor Needs Work.”

It sounded interesting. When I saw it an hour later I was amazed. Not1909, surely? It was the first time I had seen a motorcycle with woodenrims – although common on early American bicycles, they were rarelyused in Australia.

When I got it home, I was still puzzled. But after considerable headscratching, and the discovery of 1902 patent dates on the engine andcoaster rear hub, I was convinced it was very early indeed.Confirmation came from a line drawing in Victor Page’s classic book”Early Motorcycles: Construction, Operation, Service”. The book itselfdates from around 1914, but the drawing of the Yale (California) whichclosely resembled my new find, was in a section labelled “Some EarlyAmerican Motorcycles Which Show a Wide Diversity of Opinion RegardingEssentials of Design Which are Standardized at the Present Time”.

The machine turned out to be a fascinating one. Although the motor had survived a major disaster at some stage (thus the flywheel on the wrong sideand a non-standard crank), in this it kept illustrious company. WhenGeorge Wyman became the first motorist to cross the continental USunder his own power in 1903, his only major mechanical failure was a broken crank!

The California Motor Company of San Francisco was short-lived.Announced in October 1901 to build a machine designed by Roy Marks, twoyears later in October 1903 an announcement appeared to the effect thatthe Kirk Manufacturing Company and the Snell Cycle Fittings Companywere to merge to for The Consolidated Manufacturing Company, and thatthis company, based in Toledo, Ohio, had acquired the rights to theCalifornia motorcycle.

The new machine, to be manufactured on the old machinery which had beenshipped to Toledo, was to be called the Yale -California. The firstYale motorcycle.

Not a very common machine in Australia, but there are a few similarsurviviors in the US. Although my machine has been mucked around withover the years, the original specs were:

Engine: 1 1/2 hp California, Patented R.C. Marks Sept 30, 1902
Lubrication: Oil in separate cup on top of motor
Ignition: Batteries in box above rear wheel, with “Dow-Port” coil intank
Carburettor: California patented wick carburettor in front of tank
Transmission: Direct belt
Frame: Cycle type, with leading link fork
Wheels: Wooden rims for 28×1 1/2 “singles” type tyres
Brakes: Atherton coaster rear, Duck roller brake at front
Tanks: Single tank for fuel, also holding coil and carburettor.
Builder: California Motor Company, 2212 Folsom St, San Francisco
Original Finish: Black frame and tank? Wheel rims with blue centres

Across America on a motorcycle

I’ve often wondered whether I could repeat it: to cross the continentalUS from San Francisco to New York on a gutless motorcycle with woodenwheels. But there are roads now. When George Wyman did it in 1903 therewere only tracks, and he had to retreat to the railway crossties tomake any progress at all. When he completed his 3800-mile journey onthe afternoon of July 6, 1903 he became the first person to cross thecontinent with a vehicle powered by an internal combustion engine. Thestuff of legends.

Roy Marks

All California motors have cast into the crankcase: R.C. Marks, andeither “Patent applied for” or “Pat’d Sept 30, 1902”. The motor waspatented by one Roy Marks, originally of Toledo, Ohio, then San Diegoand later of San Francisco. When the California Motor Company wasformed in 1901it was announced that “.. the immediate purpose of thecompany is the manufacture of a motor bicycle invented by R.C.Marks…” Although there is a restored machine in San Francisco thatpurports to be a Marks motorcycle, I believe it to be an earlyCalifornia. While Marks may have invented the machine, I don’t believehe was a motorcycle manufacturer.

When the California motorcycle was announced to the public in TheCycling Gazette in January 1902, one of its leading features wasdescribed as a “…carburetor that performs its function so well thatit does not cause the gas to deposit soot on the spark plug, and thatwill use gasoline of any quality.”

A short history of the California Motor CompanyThe first reference I have to the California Motor Company appeared inthe motorcycling press in October 1901 [1]. It’s brief enough that wecan reproduce it here in full:

To Make Motocycles in California

The California Motor Co. has been organised at San Francisco with LewisBill, president; J. W. Leavitt, vice president, and J. F. Bill,secretary and treasurer. While automobiles are in view, the immediatepurpose of the company is the manufacture of a motor bicycle inventedby R. C. Marks, formerly of Toledo, Ohio, who with E. E. Stoddard andH. A. Burgess constitute the firm.

I haven’t had a chance to search for company records, but it’s a fairbet the company itself was formed some time around September 1901.Marks filed the first of two patent applications covering the detailsof his motorcycle on September 7, 1901, and significantly Louis H. Billwas one of the witnesses on the application. (Note the spellingdifference: the patent being more “official”, I favour “Louis” as thecorrect version.) No doubt the new company was keen to protect itsintellectual property. In a slightly later piece [3], Leavitt & Bill(“…well known cycle dealers…”) were said to be the principal ownersof stock in the company, and L. H. Bill was described as “…formerlywith the Thomas company”. The company premises were listed at 2212Folsom St., San Francisco.

From the timing of this announcement, we see that if production ofCalifornia “motocycles” (this spelling was widespread in the early daysof the U.S. industry) did begin in 1901, it was very late in the year.By early 1902 the California publicity machine was in full swing and anumber of articles appeared in the motorcycling press [2-4]. The firstillustration I have appeared in The Motor Age early in February 1902[4], corresponding with the release of the first California catalogue.

By this time, the company was said to be “…making deliveries”.The machine as shown at this early date is very much as outlined inMark’s patent applications, and differs most notable from laterproduction Californias in that the front fork is rigid, and the driveis by round – rather than flat – belt. Accessories include the Duckbrake, and a Garford spring saddle. I’m not sure when the sprung frontfork appeared, but a very original early survivor in the US [5] isfitted with the unbraced fork, but with the sprung rocking links.Advertising through 1903 [6-8] used a photograph showing the bracedfork. Strangely little was said about the spring fork in periodadvertising, especially since in the 1906 Yale-California catalogue themakers claimed: “We were the first to use the spring front fork on amotor cycle”.

An amusing omission from this photo is the glass lubricating cup, thatsat on top of the crank case. Perhaps it was too embarrassing to admitto!

A significant event in 1902 was the granting on September 30 of two USpatents: 710,329 Explosive Engine for Motor-Vehicles (filed September7,1901), and 710,330 Carbureter for Explosive-Engines (filed January 2,1902). Although granted to Roy Marks, it seems likely that thesepatents were “company assets” which protected – and gave value to -their successful product.

1903 was a landmark year for the California Motor Company. It was theyear that they “made it” in the motorcycling world, but also the yearthat they ceased motorcycle manufacture for good.

Undoubtedly the biggest event of the year for the company was GeorgeWyman’s success in crossing the continent on his California motorcycle.The publicity generated by this event was huge: not only did it consumepages of the specialist press (for example The Motorcycle Magazine andThe Bicycling World and Motocycle Review both carried extensive reportsover several issues), but the event captured good coverage innewspapers of the day. California advertising made much of the epicachievement, but perhaps more importantly much of the post-rideeditorial comment read like California advertising copy. In thesepioneering days of motorcycling, the California was was in thespotlight.

But the directors of the company did not spend too much time basking inthe glory. Wyman completed his journey in July, and within three monthsa deal had been struck to sell the manufacturing rights of themotorcycle to the newly-formed Consolidated Manufacturing Company basedin Toledo, Ohio. The details were outlined in an article in the October17, 1903 edition of The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review headed”KIRK AND SNELL UNITE: Long Allied They Become One Company and Engagein Big Deal in Motor Bicycles”.

In part the article reads:The factory of the California Motor Company will be closed, theimportant machinery, etc., shipped to Toledo, and with it will go themen who built the machine that has made such an enviable record in theCoast country. L. H. Bill, however, will remain in San Francisco, wherethe California Motor Company will retain the coast agency.The new motorcycle was to be called the Yale-California, and while thefirst models were very similar to the original California, the machineevolved to become the once-famous Yale.

I’m not sure how much of the California Motor Company lived on in SanFrancisco after October 1903. Certainly L. H. Bill maintained a profilein the press, but when talking up Yale-California motorcycles in June1904 [10] his association was given as “C. E. & B. I. Bill”, and atestimonial in the 1906 Yale-California catalogue was addressed to”Messrs. Leavitt & Bill”. Perhaps someone with access to early SanFrancisco trade directories can help out?

Another puzzle: in one 1903 advertisement [8], the address of theCalifornia Motor Company is given as 305 Larkin St, San Francisco. Thesame address is given in January 1902 [3] for The California Handle BarCompany, manufacturers of a rather novel adjustable handle bar.Presumably another of Mr Bill’s cycle-based interests. Were Larkin andFolsom Streets nearby? Do the factories still exist?

So there we have it. In two hectic years the California Motor Companywas founded, built a motorcycle and a reputation, and then sold out. Ifthe history books are anything to go by, the company has essentiallybeen forgotten, despite producing what should be one of the most famousmotorcycles of all time: Wyman’s trans-continental mount. Hopefully the2003 centenary of Wynan’s ride will jog some memories.

References

The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review, 17 October 1901
The Cycling Gazette, January 1902, p 32
The Motor Age, 9 January 1902, pp 29-31
The Motor Age, 6 February 1902, pp 4-5
The Antique Motorcycle, Vol. 28, No. 1, Spring 1989
The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review, 18 April 1903
The Motor Age, 30 April 1903
The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review, 4 July 1903
The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review, 17 October 1903
The Bicycling World and Motocycle Review, 4 June 1904

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Howard Heilman, Yale enthusiast extraordinaire, how helpedout with many of the original references cited here. Other referenceswere found during a fascinating day spent in the reading room at theLibrary of Congress, Washington DC.

Young Floyd Clymer and the Yale-California

American readers will probably be familiar with the name of FloydClymer, dealer, rider and publisher. In July 1916, riding an 8-valveHarley-Davidson, Clymer set World’s Dirt Track records for one hour(83.71 miles) an 100 miles (1 hour 11 min. 45 sec.), and in 1926 he setthe record for the classic ascent of Pike’s Peak. But Clymer is perhapsbest known for his publishing efforts, among which were his “HistoricalScrapbooks”. First published in the early 1940’s, these were among thefirst publications to deal with what we would now call “vintage”vehicles.