Indiana Motorcycle Historical Society

10/05/2023

Pictured is an unidentified motorcycle group in front of the English Hotel on Monument Circle in Indianapolis, Indiana. Two Yale motorcycles are seen in the foreground. Circa 1910's.

Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society

09/18/2023

Fact..

09/18/2023

In this photograph, the grandstand is full of spectators to watch a motorcycle race at the Indiana State Fairgrounds track. The mile-long oval track was built on this site for horse races in 1892. The grandstand was added in 1931. Circa 1950's.

Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society

01/26/2023

Motorcyclism: Life on a Motorcycle

12/23/2022

1909 Newport Indiana Hill Climb.

05/10/2022

On this day, May 10, 1960, Erwin George "Cannonball" Baker, a motorcycle and automobile racing driver and organizer in the first half of the 20th century, died of a heart attack at Community Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, he was 78.

Baker set 143 driving records from the 1910's through the 1930's. His first was set in 1914, riding coast to coast on an Indian motorcycle in 11 days. He normally rode to sponsor manufacturers, guaranteeing them "no record, no money".

In 1915, Baker drove from Los Angeles to New York City in 11 days, 7 hours and fifteen minutes in a Stutz Bearcat, and the following year drove a Cadillac 8 roadster from Los Angeles to Times Square in seven days, eleven hours and fifty-two minutes while accompanied by an Indianapolis newspaper reporter.

In 1924 he made his first midwinter transcontinental run in a stock Gardner sedan at a time of 4 days, 14 hours and 15 minutes. He was so impressed by the car, that he purchased one thereafter. In 1926 he drove a loaded two-ton truck from New York to San Francisco in a record five days, seventeen hours and thirty minutes, and in 1928, he beat the 20th Century Limited train from New York to Chicago.

Also in 1928, he competed in the Mount Washington Hillclimb Auto Race, and set a record time of 14:49.6 seconds, driving a Franklin. His best-remembered drive was a 1933 New York City to Los Angeles trek in a Graham-Paige model 57 Blue Streak 8, setting a 53.5 hour record that stood for nearly 40 years.

This drive inspired the later Cannonball Baker Sea-To-Shining-Sea Memorial Trophy Dash, better known as the "Cannonball Run", which itself inspired at least five movies and a television series.

In 1941, he drove a new Crosley Covered Wagon across the nation in a trouble free 6,517-mile run to prove the economy and reliability characteristics of Crosley automobiles. Other record and near-record transcontinental trips were made in Model T Fords, Chrysler Imperials, Marmons, Falcon-Knights and Columbia Tigers, among others. He is buried at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis. Read more at: IMCHS.net

Photo attribution: Find A Grave

05/10/2022

Submitted photo

05/05/2022

On this day, May 5, 1914, Indiana native Erwin "Cannonball" Baker began the cross-continental motorcycle trip that would influence the way Americans would think of the "big bike" forever more.

Just three months shy of the First World War, Cannonball Baker, wearing leather riding trousers and carrying a one-gallon canteen, mounted his V-twin 1000cc Stutz Indian motorcycle and headed east toward Yuma, Arizona, with a raging sandstorm at his back. To combat thirst, Cannonball used the old Native American method of carrying a small pebble under his tongue.

On the second day of his trip Baker ran out of gas just a few miles short of Agua Caliente, Arizona, and was forced to push his bike in the 119-degree desert heat. Equipped with a Smith & Wesson .38, Baker fought off a pack of dogs in Fort Apache.

Dogs continued to hamper his trip; in Ellsworth, Kansas, a shepherd dog attacked his bike. "This dog seemed to have a great desire for the Goodyear rubber of my front tire," explained Baker. "The dog took a fall out of me which put me in bad shape, as I slid along the road on my elbows and knees. I kept the tire and the dog lost his life."

In all, Cannonball traveled 3,379 miles across the U.S. Due to the poor roads and primitive "cradle-spring" shock absorption of his bike, he rode most of the way standing up. His feat made him a hero.

Photo attribution: Indianapolis News, May 13, 1914 via Newspapers.com

05/04/2022

On this day, May 2, 1915, Effie Hotchkiss and her mother Avis left Brooklyn, New York on the adventure of a lifetime. The mother and daughter duo were bound for San Francisco, California on a new 1915 Harley-Davidson V-twin with sidecar that Effie had recently purchased.

By taking the southern route, they crossed into California enduring temperatures in excess of 120 degrees Fahrenheit, came within feet of a rattlesnake (which Effie handily dispatched with her handgun), and came face-to-face with a coyote which met the same fate as the rattlesnake.

When they arrived in the City by the Bay in August, the pair became the first women to ride cross-country on a motorcycle. The Hotchkisses also recounted that while in New Mexico, they had run out of spare inner tubes. The ingenious duo took a blanket from their supplies, cut it down to inner tube length, rolled it and stuffed it into the tire.

Finally, in August, the team dipped their wheels in the Pacific Ocean at San Francisco and became the first women to cross the United States on a motorcycle. Taking a northern route, their return journey included crossing the deserts of Nevada and Utah. Effie and Avis Hotchkiss finally returned to their home in Brooklyn in October of 1915, having traveled approximately 9,000 miles, covering more than one-third of the United States, over five months.

While glad to see the family they had left behind, they were already looking forward to their next trips. In the end it didn’t matter whether they had set out to, they had motorcycled their way into the record books and motorcycling history.

Pictured: Avis and Effie Hotchkiss in Salt Lake City, UT, in 1915. On their pioneering transcontinental motorcycle ride.
Photo attribution: Effie Hotchkiss Trust
Motorcyclism.org

04/22/2022

Indianapolis, Indiana 1956 Photograph by Robert Frank

03/24/2022

Rolling Prairie, Indiana

03/18/2022

Bikers Helping Veterans: Submitted photo

03/18/2022

Motorcyclism - Life on a Motorcycle

02/06/2022

William C. ‘Bill” Cummings Junior was a hero to Central Indiana racing fans as he grew up on Indianapolis’ near west side two miles from Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where he found glory in 1934. Here is Bill Cummings Junior posed on his Harley Davidson motorcycle in 1934.
Photo attribution: Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection

12/24/2021

10/03/2021

On this date, October 3, 1894, Edward J Pennington of Moores Hill, Indiana, applied for a patent for his "Motor Vehicle", notable for its balloon tires. Pennington built and demonstrated his original motorcycle design in Milwaukee in 1895.

Edward J Pennington applies for a patent for his Motor Vehicle

09/20/2021

In this photo, dated 1910, a Central Union Telephone company employee is on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in Marion County, Indiana. The Central Union Telephone Company provided telephone service to New Castle, Indiana and Indianapolis, Indiana in the late 1800's to the 1920's.
Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society

09/05/2021

The six Indianapolis policemen who escorted the Iwo Jima flag raisers through downtown pose on their motorcycles. The war veterans' appearance was part of a nationwide bond drive tour.

A United States Mail truck, which bears an image of the Iwo Jima flag raising on a postage stamp, can be seen in the background.
Photo attribution: Indiana Historical Society @1945

08/14/2021

On this date, August, 14, 1909, the first motorsport event at the newly built Indianapolis Motor Speedway was held, it consisted of seven motorcycle races.

The motorcycle races predated automobile races at the track, under the sanction of the Federation of American Motorcyclists (F.A.M.). Indiana born Erwin G. Baker competed in the ten-mile amateur championship.

This was originally planned as a two-day, 15-race program, but ended before the first day was completed due to concerns over suitability of the track surface for motorcycle use.

According to the Indianapolis Star, the event lacked a large number of entries due to racer Jake DeRosier’s recent accident on the unpaved gravel track and fear on the part of some of the drivers about being badly injured themselves.

Baker, already regarded as a daredevil racer and “rider of great skill and nerve,” took home first place in the event in a time of 11:31 1-5.

Pictured: Starting line of a motorcycle race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, August 14, 1909.
Photo credit: IUPUI Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection.

06/13/2021

On this day in 1917, Alan Bedell left Los Angeles, California on his Henderson motorcycle arriving in New York City (3,296 miles) in seven days, sixteen hours and fifteen minutes later, breaking the record set by "Cannonball" Baker on an Indian Twin.

The Henderson suffered just one flat tire, went through three sets of Champion spark plugs and used three Duckworth chains. Bedell suffered just one crash, which somewhat damaged his knee, on a wet road in Indianapolis and averaged 17.89mph.

Using the stock 3.5gal gas tank, Bedell's only changes to the machine were the addition of a Mesinger air cushion saddle and a Carlton generator to power the original Coffman spotlight.

Unfortunately, the young Californian was not to make or break many more records, as tragically his young life ended a short time later when he fell victim to the influenza epidemic of the First World War.

Photo: Alan Bedell when he set a transcontinental record in 1917.

05/14/2021

On this day in 1914, Hoosier speedster Erwin "Cannon Ball" Baker arrived in New York City after driving over 3,000 miles across the country on his Indian motorcycle. Baker’s run from San Diego to New York City in eleven and a half days shattered the previous transcontinental record set by Volney E. Davis in 1911 by almost nine days.

Prior to the record-breaking transcontinental run, he won one of the first motorcycle races at the newly-opened Speedway in 1909. NASCAR named Baker its first commissioner at its 1947 founding meeting, where he served until his death in 1960.

Photo of Baker riding atop his Indian motorcycle, courtesy of the IUPUI Indianapolis Motor Speedway Collection.

04/29/2021

Motor Maids at Singing Pines, Nashville, Indiana 1947. Via Frank M. Hohenberger Photograph Collection. Courtesy, The Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana.

03/12/2021

On March 12 in 1882, Erwin "Cannonball" Baker was born in an Indiana log cabin. Cannonball, the cross-country motorcycling pioneer, made over 143 attempts at a variety of long-distance records in the early 1900's. He is estimated to have over five million miles under his belt. Learn more: https://bit.ly/3vsZmz8

Born in an Indiana log cabin in 1882, Baker’s family relocated to Indianapolis when he was just 12 years old. It was there that Baker would learn the machinist trade, and it was also where Baker became known for his athletic prowess in a variety of sports. After proving his skill at racing bicycle...

12/17/2018

Entronuse Motor Cycle Club: Meeting for a motor cycle hill climb event..

04/19/2018

A comical L & L Manufacturing Company of Indianapolis for their Linkert Carburetor. The advertisement is from the American Motorcycling magazine in 1947 • IMCHS.org •

02/08/2018

Erwin George "Cannon Ball" Baker • Indiana Motorcycle Historical Society •

12/14/2017

Doing stunts the normal fashion is hard enough, but the fact that Roger Riddell performed his stunts completely backwards and even mastered them is something incredibly noteworthy. In the 70’s he was the first and the and the only person in the world... Read More: http://bit.ly/2Bmt7bs

Roger Riddell of Martinsville, aka Mr. Backwards is Indiana’s own daredevil stuntrider who is one of a kind. Mr. Backwards got his start in the same era as Evel Knievel doing stunts but soon realized that there was no competing with the daredevil from Montana doing things the normal way. Like his ...

12/14/2017

Patee Bicycle Company officially came into being in 1897 and formally recognized in 1899, however its existence had earlier beginnings. Fredrick Patee, the founder, had a long history with bicycles and in 1895 left his job as secretary of Indiana Bicycle....Read More: http://bit.ly/2dS6exf

Half a year prior to Indian’s entry into the motorcycle world, there was an Indianapolis machine that already had a head start into the motorcycle revolution that was to come. The Patee Motor Cycle*. The machines were already in production and being sold throughout the US with extensive advertisin...

11/05/2017

These innovative geniuses did what many companies back in the day were never able to accomplish. Conquer land, sea and sky.

The Johnson Motor Wheel Company was an interesting late contender in the much crowded motorcycle market in the late 1910’s. Unlike most companies jockeying to create full bore motorcycles from the ground up, the Johnson Motor Wheel Company took a more casual approach to the field. They offered a kit...

08/21/2017

A very short home movie of a few gentlemen in Indianapolis, Indiana riding Harley-Davidson motorcycle's in the snow. Filmed in the 30's and with no sound. • imchs.net

07/17/2017

The Hoosier Hot Shot • Indiana Motorcycle Historical Society •

10/10/2016

1901 Patee Tandem Motor Cycle @ www.imchs.org

06/06/2016

One of our projects titled “Motorcyclism: Indiana’s Motorcycle Heritage” has been chosen as an Officially Endorsed Indiana Bicentennial Legacy Project. We are extremely honored to have the great State of Indiana recognize our endeavors. Thanks everyone. www.LegacyBikersinc.org

05/18/2016

In 1904-1905, the company ventured into motorcycles. More specifically the interesting “America” motorcycle. The engine was made by Thor (Aurora Automatic Machinery Company) and the rest by Great Western. READ ABOUT IT: http://bit.ly/1qsqfQG

The Great Western Manufacturing Company of LaPorte, Indiana was primarily founded by John Lonn and his son Edward Julius Lonn in 1899-1900.

05/16/2016

1952 - Future AMA hall of fame racers Flat Bobby Hill, Al Gunter and Paul Goldsmith in Indianapolis, Indiana www.IMCHS.org

04/30/2016

Time to race @ www.imchs.org

04/29/2016

Indiana Motorcycle History @ www.imchs.org

04/26/2016

Typical riding clothes @ www.imchs.org

04/26/2016

Vintage leather jacket with driver number used for motorcycle hill climbs and racing. @ www.imchs.org