Avis and Effie Hotchkiss

Avis and Effie Hotchkiss, mother and daughter from Brooklyn, New York, were pioneering motorcyclists who completed a 9,000-mile (14,000 km) round trip ride from New York to San Francisco and back on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle-sidecar combination in 1915.[1]

Avis and Effie Hotchkiss, Salt Lake City, 1915
At Pacific Ocean, 1915

Effie Hotchkiss learned to ride a motorcycle at age 16, after instruction from her brother, and her first motorcycle was a Marsh & Metz. In 1915 she acquired a new Harley-Davidson Model 11-F with a sidecar, the first H-D to feature a 3-speed gearbox. She had an ambition to become the first woman to cross the United States on a motorcycle, and decided to visit the Panama Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. On May 2, 1915, she set out with her mother Avis in the sidecar, who noted, "I do not fear breakdowns for Effie, being a most careful driver, is a good mechanic and does her own repairing with her own tools." The pair took two months to reach San Francisco, and were photographed pouring out a jar of Atlantic sea water they had carried from New York, into the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Beach.[2] The success of their journey made Effie and Avis Hotchkiss the first transcontinental female motorcyclists.[3][4][5]

See also

Notes
  1. Mullins 2003, p. 18.
  2. Somer-Simmons 2009.
  3. Harley-Davidson museum
  4. Miller 2002, p. 186.
  5. American Motorcyclist 2006.

References
  • Somer-Simmons, Chris (2009). The American Motorcycle Girls:1900-1915. Stillwater MN: Parker House. ISBN 978-0-9817270-5-9.
  • "Trailblazers in Women's Motorcycle Riding -- Avis and Effie Hotchkiss", Harley-Davidson museum online, Harley-Davidson, archived from the original on 2012-06-15, retrieved 2012-06-18
  • Miller, Ernestine G. (2002). Making her mark: firsts and milestones in women's sports. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 9780071390538.
  • Mullins, Sasha (2003). Bikerlady: living & riding free!. Citadel Press. ISBN 9780806525198.
  • "True Pioneers", American Motorcyclist, June 2006
  • "Brooklyn Girl Plans Long Motorcycle Trip". Orange County Times-Press. Middletown, New York. April 23, 1915.
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