Effie Hotchkiss and Riding Across the Country

[Hugh Janus]

On May 2, 1915, these two women departed Brooklyn, New York, for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, aboard a sidecar-equipped 1915 Harley-Davidson F-11 motorcycle. (Harley-Davidson Archives/)

Amid the women’s suffrage movement—five years prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment—daughter-mother duo Effie and Avis Hotchkiss took a journey that would cement them into motorcycling’s history as the first women to take a motorcycle/sidecar across the US and back. On May 2, 1915, these two women departed Brooklyn, New York, for the Panama-Pacific Exposition in San Francisco, aboard a sidecar-equipped 1915 Harley-David­son F-11 motorcycle. According to the 1916 Harley-Davidson Enthusiast, Effie stated, “We merely wanted to see America and considered that the three-speed Harley-David­son for myself, and sidecar for mother and the luggage [were] best suited for the job.”

Not only were these women riding during a tumultuous social movement, but they also faced other problems on their transcontinental expedition. Effie had learned how to ride and repair her motorcycle prior to the trip, but there came a time when improvisation was needed for a roadside fix. After running out of inner-tube spares (which were a necessity considering the horrendous road conditions—the US didn’t start funding federal highway projects until 1916 and beyond), the two settled on an innovative solution for a defunct tire: a blanket. These two women had to cut down a blanket, roll it up, and stuff it into the tire to continue on their way.

When it came to environmental challenges, inclement rainy weather and 120-plus-degree temperatures did not make the underdeveloped roads any easier for the pair. Rain sometimes muddied the roads, and then scorching temperatures welcomed them in California. Harley-Davidson’s coverage reported that Effie also made use of her firearm when both a rattlesnake and coyote crossed their path.

It was in August 1915 that the team made it to the Pacific Ocean in San Francisco, three months after the start of their journey, and by October 1915, they had returned to Brooklyn, reportedly having traveled approximately 9,000 miles in total.

Harley-Davidson’s <em>Enthusiast</em> magazine documented the momen­tous accomplishment of Effie Hotchkiss pouring Atlantic Ocean water into the Pacific. (Harley-Davidson Archives/)

Effie and Avis were not the only female moto-pioneers. Other inspirational women include another sidecar rider, Della Crewe, and her ride from Waco, Texas, to New York City in 1914; the Van Buren sisters, siblings who were the first women to ride their individual motorcycles across the US in 1916; and Bessie Stringfield, who in 1930 was the first African American woman to ride solo across the US. In Motorcyclist magazine (January 1935), Mrs. Rural Murray documented her own 10,000-mile Indian Scout US ride and stated, “Women and girls lived sufficiently restricted lives in those days that my motorcycle riding brought forth much comment.”

Today, female ridership continues to grow, and manufacturers have paid attention, speaking to women on their own terms more than ever. In 2018, the Motor­cycle Industry Council reported that nearly 1 in 5 riders was female, compared to the 1 in 10 figures reported less than a decade prior. This data suggests that women could soon make up one-quarter of owners, the MIC says. Fellow rider and MIC director of communications Andria Yu states: “We’ve seen with our own eyes many more women riders—on the roads, on the trails, on the track, with families, at motorcycling events, forming clubs, and just being part of everyday group rides. Many people in the industry have worked some 30 years to achieve this, and now the data confirms it: More and more women are getting out there and enjoying motorcycles.”

The world has come a long way since Effie and Avis’ sidecar adventure. Their story, and those of the many other historic women who also traversed the continent on two (or three) wheels, is wonderfully uplifting. These women’s fearless, adventurous spirit challenged not only themselves and the motorcycles they rode, but also society’s stereotypes. Female riders today can be inspired by what past counterparts achieved and can further expand on the legacy that was started by some of motorcycling’s wonder women.

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