The Lindbergh Ride, 2022

[gharper]

On June 19, 1921 an unknown 18 year old farm kid from Minnesota departed Madison Wisconsin for the first leg of a 3000 mile, 7 week long motorcycle trip. He was riding a 1920 Excelsior “Series 20 R” motorcycle. He had just completed his first year of college at the University of Wisconsin studying mechanical engineering. That young man was Charles A. Lindbergh, destined to become famous for completing the first nonstop, solo transatlantic flight in 1927.

Lindbergh #36 resized.jpg

In September of 2022, 4 members of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America will be retracing Lindbergh’s historic 1921 motorcycle trip over the course of 21 days. All four riders will be riding 1920-24 Excelsior Series 20 S motorcycles, virtually the same model motorcycle that Lindbergh was riding, the only major difference being that Lindbergh did not have an electric model, so he had no lights or electric horn. These motorcycles have been painstakingly restored to be as period correct as possible. Some modifications have been made for reliability and safety reasons, but our goal is to still maintain as much of the original the look, feel and performance of the original motorcycles.

If you are interested so far, , follow this thread for more details. From time to time will be posting information on the riders, their machines and how the ride came about. In addition we hope to post daily updates of our ride and details of Lindbergh's original trip as they correspond along the way.

I may have to break things up into short snippets, seems the Forum limits me to 10,000 characters per post.....

[gharper]

After leaving Madison WI on June 19, 1921, Lindbergh arrived in Chicago the next morning, having ridden through Milwaukee WI. Lindbergh met up with 2 college buddies from Wisconsin named O’Connor and Drewery who would accompany him, driving a model T Ford speedster. From there they traveled to Camp Knox Kentucky for 6 weeks of Army ROTC training in a field artillery unit. While stationed there, they made numerous side trips in the area exploring various caves and other interesting sites. After completion of their military training the three men continued traveling south through Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. Lindbergh later wrote, “After missing connections with my father in Jacksonville FL I returned home to Little Falls MN via a more westerly route”. This return trip took them through Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Lindbergh went on to write “I arrived in Little Falls on August 6, 1921 with a motorcycle badly in need of an overhaul.” Excluding the many short side trips made during his stay at Camp Knox, this trip was completed in just 19 days of actual riding, an amazing accomplishment considering the poor condition of most of the roads in those days. There were of course a few delays along the way due to various mechanical issues, numerous flat tires, detours and lots of mud!

The four intrepid souls undertaking the 2022 Lindbergh Ride are all long-time members of the AMCA and hail from different parts of the world. The four riders have become well acquainted due to the common desire to complete their restorations and share this historic ride together. They have been working together for a few years now on their restorations and are all very close to being finished. There has been a friendly competition to see who can get their bike running and sorted out first. One very helpful tool was the use of the WhatsApp program. A private group was created on WhatsApp and has allowed them to share unlimited restoration details with text, pictures, videos and drawings as well as easily call and talk in person, all for free!

Alex Bernhardt from Chicago, Illinois will be riding a 1920 Excelsior. See the May / June issue of the Antique Motorcycle for a great write up on Alex and his bike.

Stewart Maclellan from Belleville Ontario, Canada will be riding his grandfather’s 1921 Excelsior. He is the underdog in my book because he is newer to the restoration process and riding old bikes, plus he has a wonderful family history with the bike. So far, he has proven that he is up to the task! Go Stewart!

Hans Coertse from Pietermaritzburg So Africa will be riding a 1923 Excelsior. Hans has competed in the Motorcycle Cannonball 3 times and was the overall winner in 2014 on a '24 Scout. He is by far the most experienced rider of the bunch.

Gene Harper, from Denver Colorado will be riding a 1924 Excelsior and is the organizer of this ride, sometimes being referred to as the instigator by other members of the group. He and wife Jan completed the 2018 Cannonball on the 24 Chief and sidecar and has been riding antique bikes since the late 70's.

Bill Maron from Evergreen Colorado will be our support crew, driving the truck and trailer with all our gear, parts and tools and bringing up the rear for us, covering our ass for sure!

John Olsen from Madison WI will be traveling along on his own to photograph and document our journey. John is also a seasoned rider and understands the inevitable "issues" that may arise in a group ride.

The four riders will come together in late August, meeting up in Chicago to load and organize our gear and finalize plans for the trip. From there we trailer to Iowa and make a quick stop at the Davenport swap meet, then on to Madison WI on Friday Sept 2 to pick up our support driver Bill.

The official start of the ride will be Saturday morning, September 3^rd 2022 in Madison WI in front of the Engineering Building at the University of Wisconsin. From there we will retrace Lindbergh’s original trip as best we can. Many of the small towns Lindbergh rode through are now major cities and many of the dirt roads he rode on are now major interstate highways, all being laden with heavy traffic. Because of this, the group will bypass many of these obstacles and attempt to stay on 2 lane back roads as much as possible but still follow the general route. In addition, a few detours will be made along the way in order to take in a few large antique motorcycle museums and some of Americas best motorcycling roads along the way. The official end point will be The Charles A Lindbergh Home and Museum in Little Falls MN, arriving mid-day on Saturday September 24^th, 2022, please come see us if you are in the area! Our route will cover approximately 3400 miles and involve 19 days of riding and 3 rest days, including retracing most of the side trips he made while at Camp Knox KY.

[BigLakeBob]

Sounds great, I'll be following. Best of luck, stay safe and have fun!

[Rubone]

Great stuff Gene! Here's to a great trip!
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[Tom Lovejoy]

very cool, good luck !

[riggpigg]

I wish you nothing but success, good luck. I bet you all will make it just fine.....Awesome Idea...

[ihrescue]

Gene - a great start here on your Lindberg story. I look forward to your updates and all the reaction from our fellow antique motorcycle peers. Nothing like a good serial story. Best of luck as you all finalize plans and logistics. FYI, I posted a promotion and link on the AMCA Facebook page promoting this topic in that venue. Be safe.

Mike Love

[Steve Swan]

Gene, thanks for the story about Lindbergh and what your 4 riders will be up to. Best of luck!

[gharper]

Here is the revised route we will be taking. It deviates in a few places from Lindbergh's route, sometimes to avoid traffic and big cities, but others to catch 2 great motorcycle museums on the way, Wheels Through Time (via the Dragon's Tail!) and the National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa IA. The mileage may change a bit as the route is finalized.

PRELIMINARY Timeline for the 2022 Lindbergh Ride
June 21, 2022

Wednesday, August 31: Hans, Stewart and Gene to arrive in Chicago, if not the day before. Final loading of truck and trailer in Chicago at Alex’s shop
Thursday September 1: Trailer to Davenport Iowa for swap meet and display, 3 hour drive.
Friday September 2: Davenport swap meet. Depart afternoon and trailer to Madison WI, 170 miles.
Saturday September 3: OFFICIAL START OF THE RIDE. Unload @ University of Wisconsin for photos and hit the road! Ride to north of Chicago and consider loading motorcycles into trailer due to traffic issues. Total riding miles approximately 150. Arrive at Alex’s shop and regroup as necessary!
Sunday September 4: Trailer to the spot of the Excelsior factory for pictures. Load up and trailer out of Chicago to avoid traffic. Unload in St John, Indiana and ride to Crawfordsville Indiana. Approximate riding mileage: 135
Monday September 5: Ride from Crawfordsville Indiana to Elizabethtown, KY, approximately 200 miles
Tuesday September 6: Loop rides out of Ft Knox KY to Mammoth and Crystal Caves, Lincoln Memorial in Hodgenville and possible tour of Ft Knox Military base. Lindbergh spent 6 weeks training at Camp Knox and riding in the area and we will retrace some of those trips. Approximate mileage: 100
Wednesday September 7: Ride from Elizabethtown KY to Vonore TN. Approximate mileage: 220
Thursday September 8: Vonore TN to Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley NC via the Tail Of The Dragon scenic road. Approximate mileage:175.
Friday September 9, Rest day in Maggie Valley
Saturday September 10: Maggie Valley to Forsythe GA 275 miles. Consider faster route on US HWY 441 S, approximately 240 miles.
Sunday September 11: Forsythe GA to Blackshear GA: 225 miles
Monday September 12: Blackshear GA to Lake City FL. Meet up with friends from So. Florida: 110 miles
Tuesday September 13: Lake City FL to Dothan AL: 200 miles
Wednesday September 14: Dothan AL to Birmingham Al: 225 miles
Thursday September 15: Rest day in Birmingham, See the Barber vintage motorcycle museum.
Friday September 16: Birmingham AL to Dixon TN. Meet up with the Music City AMCA Road run. May need to be available to meet with film crew from AMCA and Keith Kizer. 225 miles
Saturday September 17: Dixon TN to Vincennes IN, may be working with film crew for beginning of day. 200 miles
Sunday September 18: Vincennes IN to Pontiac IL. 212 miles
Monday September 19: Pontiac Il to Le Claire IA, via Arsenal island bridge, lock and dam visitors center. IL. 160 miles
Tuesday September 20: Le Claire Iowa to National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa Iowa to the Amana Colonies IA. 126 miles
Wednesday September 21: Rest Day in Amana IA. Possible family visit and return to Anamosa?
Thursday September 22: Amana IA to Lansing IA via Dubuque. 196 miles
Friday September 23: Lansing IA to New Prague Minnesota: 185 miles
Saturday September 24: New Prague MN to Little Falls MN, Lindbergh Home and museum for grand finale! May meet up with AMCA chapter members? 130 Miles
Sunday September 25: Trailer to Chicago to unload and part ways, 8 hour + drive. Bill, Denise and Jan head south to Iowa and Illinois.

Total riding mileage, approximately 3,450 miles

[gharper]

How the 2022 Lindbergh ride came about

Shortly after I acquired the bones of my first Excelsior project from Carl Vandre in 1987, I connected with Charlie Carter in Orlando FL. At the time Charlie was the editor of The AMCA Magazine and did an outstanding job in that capacity for many years. Charlie was an Excelsior enthusiast through and through, with his favorite Excelsior being the Series 20 models which were produced from 1920-24. Charlie quickly became a great source of information, parts, resources and encouragement on my X projects. During one of our early conversations, Charlie mentioned that the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, had a Series 20 X and made a cross country trip on that bike in the early 20’s. He also spoke fondly of the late Ted Hodgden and his love of Brand X as well. In fact, Ted Hodgden restored Charles Lindbergh’s 1920 Excelsior after seeing it in horrible condition while on display in the Henry Ford Museum. That conversation with Charlie in the early 90’s sparked the idea in my mind that it would be an amazing adventure to retrace Lindbergh’s 1921 trip, riding the same model motorcycle as Lindbergh! Having a few friends join in on the same model motorcycle would be even better! Restoration of the X and retracing Lindbergh’s trip has been my goal for over 30 years and has been the driving force behind my restoration.
As time went on, I acquired numerous other Excelsior projects but the dream of someday retracing Lindbergh’s trip on a Series 20 Excelsior never went away. I researched the trip on and off for many years and acquired a lot of great details of Lindbergh’s journey. Finally in May of 2019 I decided to stop talking about it and do something! My 24 X project was far from done but still, I thought now was the time to reach out to my network of Excelsior friends and see who was interested, seriously interested! I contacted 15 Series 20 owners that I knew from around the world and told the story of Lindbergh’s trip in 1921, my crazy plan to retrace this route on my X and would they be interested in joining me?
From the beginning I laid out a few hard and fast rules, which I absolutely refused to budge on:

1. This is an invitational ride ONLY, meaning I get to invite who I want and it is not open to the public! For many reasons I wanted to choose who would go on this ride. When you organize a ride, you can invite whoever you want!
2. The only motorcycle allowed on this ride is a 1920-24 61” Excelsior twin, commonly referred to as a “Series 20”. I would not allow any other machines to be ridden!
3. You must build or restore the motorcycle yourself, that way I can be reasonably sure you can keep it going for 3400 miles!
4. You must cover your own expenses and provide your own support for the trip.
5. You must get along and play nicely with the rest of the group.

I have since added one other rule: No clincher tires allowed!
There was a lot of interest in the ride among the group. For various reasons though most had to say no, it was just too large of an undertaking, in essence, we are doing our own cross country Cannonball ride which is no easy task. Of course, the expense of the trip was a big issue for many, especially those overseas. Others felt they did not have the ability, time or money to build a bike capable of making the trip. One friend, Toby Gossett said, “I don’t want to ride my modern motorcycle that far, why in hell would I want to do it on a 1920 motorcycle?” So, the group slowly dwindled down to 4 riders committed to the endeavor, Hans Coertse, Alex Bernhardt, Stewart Maclellan and myself. Only one problem, none of us had a running motorcycle! Bruce Linsday said he would possibly ride along for part of the trip when we were in his neck of the woods. Bruce is the only one with a running motorcycle, which he restored in 1980! A group of 4 riders is not all bad really, sometimes managing a group ride can be like herding cats. Add to that all the issues with old machinery and it can get cumbersome very quickly.
Our group planned to meet up at the AMCA meet in Wausseon Ohio in 2019. All but Stewart was able to attend. Since it was a small group, we decided to pool our resources and share a support vehicle. One more would tip the balance and a second support vehicle would be needed.
From there, we all settled into the long task of building our bikes, which took a few years to get done! Everything needed close attention! The X is a complicated machine and everything is worn out! These machines were ridden until they absolutely gave up, then disassembled and scattered to the winds.
Alex was the first of the group to get his X running, in early July of 2021 and has since received a Winners Circle award from The AMCA for his restoration with a nearly perfect score! He has since been making modifications for the ride, such as a different carburetor, tires and wheels, saddlebags etc. and working out the many bugs. In November of 2021 I was able to get my 24 X started for the first time and had it judged only once, receiving a Junior First award. As of the end of July I have 550 miles on the odometer and things are well dialed in! Hans first fired his X in June of 2022 and many issues to sort out but has things well in order. August 2, 2022, he shipped the crated X to Chicago with hopes of an arrival at Alex’s shop within a couple weeks. As of August 3, Stewart is still working on the first startup, having carburetor issues right out of the chute. We will be assisting him where we can in hopes of being ready in only 30 days!
Plans have been underway for some time covering all the details needed to make this ride happen. The big one is laying out the actual route we will be taking, then the hotels, rest days and museums to catch along the way. A support vehicle that will handle all our gear and machines, has been set up and will get stocked with spares, tools and supplies. This write up and many more were prepared to post on the AMCA Forum for all to follow along.
Hopefully all will fall in place as we get closer and we can set out on September 3^rd from Madison WI on a trip of a lifetime!

[gharper]

The process of researching Lindbergh’s trip has been just as interesting and challenging as the restoration of the machine.
When Charlie Carter mentioned to me that Lindbergh had a Series 20 X, I began to wonder what if any documentation was available from that trip. I started reading about Lindbergh and discovered most of the writings are about his life after his historic 1927 trans-Atlantic flight, which catapulted him to worldwide fame virtually overnight. However, there are a few references to the motorcycle trip, and mention of “the map”, whatever that map was…. Reading Lindbergh’s books We and The Spirit of St Louis books, he shares the wanderings of his mind while trying to stay awake during the grueling 34-hour flight. He wrote about buying his motorcycle and riding about the Minnesota countryside as well as a brief mention of the trip to Florida. He did say that riding his motorcycle was the closest thing he ever found to flying! Digging a bit deeper I ran across a small publication from the Minnesota Historical Society titled Boyhood on the Upper Mississippi: A Reminiscent Letter by Charles A Lindbergh. This bookcovers his life growing up on the family farm in Minnesota and events leading up to the historic flight. There are a couple photos that appear of him on his Excelsior, which I’d seen printed in a few other places as well. This prompted an exploration of the Minnesota historical society. Online searching revealed a very large photo album with pictures of his early life. Included in that album are about 32 photos of the Florida motorcycle trip and corresponding times at Camp Knox and the surrounding area! Most are not good shots of the motorcycle, many taken from the model T and showing the bike in the distance. However, there are a few very good shots of Lindbergh standing next to or astride his bike. There is even a few of him riding and one he took of the model T while he is riding his motorcycle! I also discovered “the map” as referenced by other authors, was housed there as well. My wife and I traveled to St Paul MN and headed to the MHS library. I anxiously joined the Society in order to gain access to these documents, I was pretty excited to actually get to see these rare documents! We were even prepared with the correct white cotton gloves required to view such items. I went to the reference desk and submitted my request to view the map and photo album and was told to have a seat at the map table, a huge oak table. Shortly, a gentleman came out and said “Sorry, but we can’t let you look at these documents.” When I inquired as to why he said “Well they are in poor condition and we do not want them damaged further. Plus, the map is HUGE, it’s bigger than our map table!” I was really disappointed! He did say that these items were all available online, having been scanned previously. I knew about the photos, which were small, low-resolution images of black and white photos. Higher resolution images were available to purchase. However, I was not aware that “the map” was available in digital format. Turns out the scan of the map is a HUGE file and must be purchased online, cost around $70.00.
So, we walked away a bit disappointed, but hopeful the map would show details of his trip. Purchase and delivery of the map would take about 3 weeks as it turns out.
Our next stop was the Charles Lindbergh Family home and Museum in Little Falls MN, another MHS site. This museum is pretty cool, the family farmhouse is intact and complete with furnishings and appears just as it did when he left the farm for the last time in September of 1921. It even has the family car, a 1916 Saxon, fully restored and parked in the basement garage of the house. Too bad his motorcycle is tucked away in mothballs in the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn MI and not on display here. Entering the museum, we were greeted by the continuous showing of the classic SPIRIT OF ST. LOIUS movie from 1957 starring Jimmy Stewart, as well as any kind of Lindbergh trinkets and books one could ask for. Descending the stairs, I was immediately struck by a framed map hanging on the wall. At about 2 x 3 feet, it was a small copy of the original map which I believe is about 8 x 10 feet in size! JACKPOT, we found “THE MAP”!!!!

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A copy of "THE MAP" at the Lindbergh Home and Museum

Lindbergh presumably made this map sometime before his historic flight in 1927. It has color coded tracings, done in pencil, denoting all different modes of travel. Red (straight) lines indicated flights, green lines indicated train travel, black auto and blue, MOTORCYCLE trips! This small map gave me a teaser of what to expect when the digital copy arrived. I was not disappointed! The small map at the museum is just big enough to make out the details of his 1921 motorcycle trip and others as well.
After receiving the digital copy, I was able to zoom in and see incredible detail. I also had a big paper copy made as well. The map clearly showed his entire route of the trip from Madison WI to Jacksonville Fl and back home to Little Falls MN, well almost…. It also shows the many different routes he took when traveling from Little Falls to Madison while attending College. It’s impossible to know which route he took on his return from Florida, but I suspect he took the shorter, faster route through the NE corner of Iowa. Other information I found later indicates that he made incredible time on the return journey!
The first job was to transpose his original route onto a modern-day map. As suspected, many of the roads he traveled are now major highways. He rode through a number of small towns that are now huge cities, all laden with lots of traffic and distracted drivers. Some of the towns he passed through do not even exist any longer, some having died on the vine, some now under water! Once transposed it showed his entire trip was about 3000 miles long!
Investigating Lindbergh further I discovered that he donated much of his correspondence to the Yale University Library. Knowing that Lindbergh was a good record keeper, I sent a request there for any diaries or logs that he may have made during the trip. That came up empty so I tried the shotgun approach and asked for any correspondence dated June- September of 1921. Once again, JACKPOT! Seems he wrote a number of letters to his mother, mostly while stationed at Camp Knox and he also sent a few postcards to his mother and grandfather as well during the latter part of the trip. These were all available to purchase as scanned copies, which I did. Once the files arrived, I received about 80 pages of handwritten letters and postcards, all in cursive writing done with a pencil.
I spent a lot of time transcribing these letters, some were written in haste and difficult to interpret. Also, the slang of the day took a little figuring too! They were all in Lindbergh’s handwriting in pencil, mostly on small pages emblazoned with the American flag. However, one particularly long letter, about 21 pages in all, was mixed in on letterhead reading: C.A. Lindbergh, 6^th District of Minnesota US House of Representatives Washington DC. This would have been his father’s old letterhead from his days as a US House Representative for Minnesota.

Reading these letters was very interesting at times, but boring at times too! Apparently, he had long periods of down time while at Camp Knox and wrote a lot to his mother. Only a few letters talk much about the motorcycle journey, most of which are an incredible window into the riding conditions of the day. He appears to have made at least the majority of the trip with 2 college buddies who were driving a Model T speedster. They were also in the ROTC program at Camp Knox. Most of these letters are explaining the vaccination process, life in camp, military training etc. There are a few interesting letters talking about local trips he made on his motorcycle to visit Mammoth, Crystal and Onyx caves and Lincoln’s Birthplace Monument. Interesting story about getting wrangled into attending a nighttime Baptist tent revival and their efforts to get away early! Much time was devoted to writing about spelunking the caves. It also appears he was allowed to ride his motorcycle to different locations for military training exercises rather than taking the train or truck caravan with the rest of the troops and he was quite proud to mention that he always got there before the rest of the units when riding his motorcycle
These letters in conjunction with “THE MAP” and snippets of quotes or other writings by Lindbergh himself, paint an amazing picture of three young men traveling together in 1921 from Chicago IL to Camp Knox KY, then south to Jacksonville FL and returning home to Wisconsin and Minnesota. Though difficult to know for sure, the entire route appears o have covered just over 3600 miles!
The main reason for the trip was for the three to attend ROTC training at Camp Knox KY. Once relieved of duty there, they headed south to Jacksonville FL to meet with his father concerning some type of a land deal. That connection was never made and Lindbergh immediately turned around and headed back home “…via a more westerly route”. What is not clear is how long his two buddies with the model T traveled with him. There are no pictures or written references to them or the car after a photo labeled “Somewhere in Georgia”. Letters are not present after southern Georgia, only a few postcards mailed in great haste as he sped through Indiana and Illinois enroute to Madison and Little Falls.

I will share the pertinent letters that cover his motorcycle trips as well as a few photos when we are riding in that area on our trip in September!

[BigLakeBob]

Gene, this is great stuff. Thanks for sharing all your hard investigating work. Keep it coming. Again, good luck with the trip and modern day 'drivers'.

[pisten-bully]

I'm following Gene, thanks for the introduction, history, and background!

[gharper]

Thanks fellas! I'll post more soon. Please share this link with others that may be interested. This thread can be viewed by any non registered member at any time. In addition, a temporary change has been made to the forum settings to allow non registered readers to view images, through Sept. 28 at least.....

[Jon Turney]

Greetings from New Zealand....

I'm enjoying your posts Gene, what an epic trip you guys will be making, I wish you all the best for an amazing adventure.

Jon Turney