A Motorcycle Vacation with Lillian Hauerwas and Ernestine Langenberg
In 1914, two friends took a motorcycle with a sidecar on a week-long trip. Follow along on their 750-mile adventure and get to know an early advocate for women in motorcycling.
Meet Milwaukee rider, Lillian Hauerwas
Hauerwas was 19 years old when she began riding in 1911. Within the next ten years, she covered 56,000 miles over wildly inconsistent road conditions. According to the H-D Dealer, she was the “first girl to handle a motorcycle over the bad roads between Chicago and Milwaukee.”
She was one of the first members and the only female rider in the Milwaukee Motorcycle Club when it was formed in 1913. Hauerwas rode in more than one of the club's annual 3-day rides, known as the Good Fellowship Tour. In 1914 the tour started in front of Milwaukee City Hall. Among almost 250 participants, Hauerwas was the only solo woman rider that year and served as captain for the three sidecar divisions.
A Pioneer for Women Hopping in the Saddle
In a motorcycle magazine Hauerwas wrote:
“...many women regard the motorcycle as complicated and hard to handle, whereas a matter of fact it is just the opposite. If they could be induced to make a trial trip under proper auspices, they would at once gain confidence."
Hauerwas photo album Page1-Side1 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
Hitting the Great Open Road
In September of 1914, Hauerwas and her friend Ernestine Langenberg headed out from Milwaukee on a 1914 model 10-F outfitted with a Rogers sidecar. A few faded pages from a photo album document the places they visited and introduce the people who hosted them during the trip.
A Motorcycle Vacation page 1 (1914) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
Sharing Their Story
Hauerwas wrote about the week on the road for a 1914 issue of Motorcycle Illustrated. The typewritten pages that convey her words about the trip are now in the collection of the Harley-Davison Museum.
Hauerwas photo album Page1-Side2 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
September 19, 1914: The First “Perfect Day” of Riding
Heading out from Milwaukee, Hauerwas and Langenberg enjoyed a picnic lunch along the route and stopped for rope to reattach luggage that had fallen off. In Chicago the women stayed with an aunt and visited H-D® Dealer C.H. Lang and his wife. The next day they rode to Indiana.
Hauerwas photo album Page3-Side1 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
September 21: A Full Day in Lafayette
After a local gave bad advice on a shortcut to Rensselaer, they didn’t arrive in Lafayette until the evening. That night the women revised their route plans so they could spend the entire next day exploring the town. A local H-D Dealer, Mr. Kenny, toured them around the area.
Hauerwas photo album Page3-Side2 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
September 22: Back to Chicago
Departing Lafayette, they got rained upon before stopping for lunch in Rensselaer. Encountering a reporter, a crowd gathered, and the women were kept busy with questions about their machine and their trip. They arrived back in Chicago in the early evening.
Hauerwas photo album Page2-Side1 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
September 23: Rockford, County Fairs and Speed Boats
Late in the morning they left Chicago. It was slow-going through the western suburbs towards Rockford. Spending the next day with local dealer Arthur Johnson, the women took a beautiful ride to the Oregon County Fair. The day ended with a speed boat ride on the Rock River.
Hauerwas photo album Page2-Side2 (1913) by Lillian HauerwasHarley-Davidson Museum
September 25: A Last Day in Madison
Riding into Madison, the women toured around the lakes and the university. In the evening they saw the new State Capitol building that was still under construction. The following morning they visited friends and met local dealer H.H. McDaniel before setting off for home.
Hauerwas next to a motorcycle. (1917) by Harley-Davidson Photo StudioHarley-Davidson Museum
Hauerwas and Langenberg Traveled Over 750 Miles Together
Although infrequently mentioned in motorcycling publications after the 1920s, Hauerwas lived a long life in the Milwaukee area. She passed away at the age of 84 but is remembered in many photographs and articles where she helped write the story of early motorcycling.
