Just A Car Guy: Cannonball Baker, 8 years after his record setting run with an Indian in 1914, he went from New York to LA on a Ner-A-Car

Saturday, January 31, 2015

Cannonball Baker, 8 years after his record setting run with an Indian in 1914, he went from New York to LA on a Ner-A-Car

Cannonball Baker rode a Neracar from Staten Island, New York, to Los Angeles, California, in the autumn of 1922. The journey of 3,364.4 miles took 174 hours and one minute to complete.

The advertizers publicized the Ner-A-Car's step-through design and its protection from road grime and engine fluids, both of which allowed riders to wear ordinary clothes, including skirts, cassocks, and kilts, while riding the cycle.

It was unique for its hub-center steering and widely acclaimed for its stability from it's low center of gravity.

In October of 1922, Erwin "Cannonball" Baker set out from Staten Island, NY, on a cross-country run to Los Angeles riding a stock 1923 Neracar motorbike. The only modification he made to it was the addition of a crossbar on the handlebars to stiffen them for what he knew would be "the rough stuff" that lay ahead on his journey to see for himself and prove to others just how reliable and economical this scooter-type motorcycle could be and appeal to the masses in the process. There were never any doubts on his part as to whether or not he'd reach Los Angeles. In fact, he was dead sure he would make it. What he wanted to know was just how cheaply it could be done... operating costs totalled $15.70 at the time. It took 48 gallons of gas.

In his own words, the story of how and why he went cross country on at Ner-a-Car http://www.motorcyclecannonball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=268:how-i-crossed-america-on-neracar

"The machine I used was picked off the floor from stock, and nothing special was put on it except a cross-bar on the handlebars to stiffen them for the rough stuff that I knew I would be up against. The machine was fitted with a Corbin-Brown speedometer and was only run enough to make sure that everything was OK, When I started my speedometer registered just 29 miles."