The California motor bicycle was built by the California Motor Company. The California Motor Company was started by Louis H. Bill in 1901. They were located at 2212 Folson Street San Francisco California until 1904 when they moved to 304 McAllister St, right down the road from the California Automobile Company. The California Motor Company was in business from 1901 until 1905. The California Motor Company is said to have made mostly motorcycles and bicycles. I’m not sure how the California Automobile Company is related. They produced steam, electric and gasoline powered cars around the same time.
The California Motor was designed by Roy Clifton Marks. He holds two patents for this machine, #710,329 for his explosive engine and #710,330 for the carburetor. The patents were both granted Sept 30th 1902. It appears that production may have started in late 1901 or 1902. Its has been said that in 1898 Roy’s motors may have been sold as kits for bicycles, but I have found no proof of this. The earliest ad for the California I’ve been able to locate was published in August 1901. The ad states “The California motor bicycle is the 1902 wonder, LEAVEITT & BILL, 307-309″. A catalogue or brochure about the motor bicycle was released sometime around January 1902. Advertisements for the complete motorbike appeared in local magazines throughout 1902. The Horseless Age mentions the California in its June 1902 issue as well. In july 1902 the Overland Monthly published an article by Louis H. Bill called “The poor mans automobile” which mentions the California and the San Jose’ Motor Cycle Club. The California was advertised as weighing 75 lbs, having a maximum speed of 25mph and a range of 65-85 miles per tank. It used regular “stove gasoline” and dry cell batteries. The engine produced roughly 1 1/2 horsepower and had drip lubrication.
The California motor bicycle uses a duck’s roller front brake, invented by Abram W. Duck and patented in 1897 ( Patent 594,224). An improved version by Louis H. Bill is patented in 1902 (Patent 708,114).The Duck brake company is listed at 335 Broadway, New York City.
On May 16 1903 George A Wyman a well seasoned cyclist left San Franscisco on his California motor bicycle starting a 3,800 mile trip to New York City. He completed the drive in 50 days and became the first person to cross the continent on a motor driven vehicle. George A Wyman was inducted into the motorcycle hall of fame in the year 2000. In 2003 Rif Adams followed along Wymans route as he made a centennial run from San francisco to New York on his own motor bicycle. http://www.angelfire.com/wa3/rif_addams/home.html The story of Wymans ride was published in the first issue of Motorcycle magazine in 1903 and can be found here. http://www.ridetwisties.com/Across%20America%20on%20a%20Motor%20Bicycle.html
The july 1903 issue of the overland monthly mentions a Mr. Glenn Lumbard from making a run from San Jose’, CA to San Francisco in very good time. He was riding a 2 1/2 horsepower California. This was apparently a very popular route for cyclists and motorcycle enthusiasts in the area.
In 1903 or 1904 Consoldated Manafacturing Company bought out the california motor bicycle company. They continued to sell the Yale-California for five years. In 1906 the Consoldated Manafacturing Company displayed a Yale-California motorcycle at the madison square garden motor show. The 1909 Yale-california 3 1/2 horsepower model costs $200 and the 2 3/4 model is priced at $125. The Consolodated Manafacturing Company is listed at 1730 Fernwood ave, Toledo OH.
