ACROSS AMERICA BY MOTOR-CYCLE
ACROSS AMERICA
BY MOTOR-CYCLE
BY
C. K. SHEPHERD
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK
LONGMANS, GREEN & CO.
LONDON: EDWARD ARNOLD & CO.
1922
All rights reserved
Made in Great Britain
by Butler & Tanner, Frome and London
PREFACE
A few months after the Armistice of 1918 was signed, when the talk ofeveryone concerned was either when they would be demobilizedor what they would do when they were demobilized, two youngmen were exchanging views on this same subject in the heavy atmosphereof a very ordinary hotel somewhere in London.
One was wondering how near, or how far, were the days when he would seethe old home-folks once again "way back in Dixieland."
The other was wondering what form of dissipation would be best suitedto remove that haunting feeling of unrest, which as a result of threeor four years of active service was so common amongst the youth ofEngland at that time.
"How about getting married?" suggested the one.
Then followed a long pause, wherein the other was evidently consideringthe pros and cons of such a unique proposition.
"Nothing doing," he replied eventually—"not exciting enough, oldman." Another pause—"And when I come to think, I don't know of anygirl who'd want to marry me even if I wanted to marry her." And asif to give a final decision to any proposal of that nature, headded—"Besides, I couldn't afford it!"
"But I tell you what I will do, Steve," said he, "I'll go back with youacross yon herring-pond and have a trot round America."
So that was how it happened.
Two or three months later, when I arrived at New York from Canada,I purchased a motor-cycle and set out to cross the continent to thePacific, and I have it on the best authority that this was the firsttime an Englishman had ever accomplished the trip on a motor-cycle. Ifit is so, I don't wonder at it!
The whole trip, which covered just fifty miles short of 5,000, wasundertaken quite alone, and although spread over about three months,constituted a day or two short of a month's actual riding. For thebenefit of brother motor-cyclists who may be interested in suchdetails I may add that I dispensed entirely with the use of gogglesfrom beginning to end, and except at stops in large towns on the wayI wore no hat. I think that when the motor-cyclist gets accustomed todoing without these encumbrances he will find the joys of motor-cyclingconsiderably enhanced.
The total number of replacements to the engine alone comprised thefollowing: Five new cylinders; three pistons; five gudgeon pins; threecomplete sets of bearings; two connecting rods, and eleven sparkingplugs.
The machine was entirely overhauled