1933 Harley-Davidson VL Cross-Country Ride documents a 19-day ride from Emerald Isle, North Carolina to San Francisco, California on two pre-war Harley-Davidsons: a 1933 VL and a 1934 VLD. Drawing inspiration from early cross-country riders like Erwin "Cannonball" Baker, the trip was built around the idea of riding a real pre-war Harley-Davidson across America with no chase truck, no support crew, and only the tools, parts, and judgment we could carry on the motorcycles themselves.
The ride was part of a larger effort to build, ride, and carefully document a 1933 Harley-Davidson VL so that future owners and builders would have a practical digital archive to learn from. These ride entries follow the trip day by day, covering route changes, roadside repairs, endurance riding, maintenance on the road, and the realities of long-distance vintage motorcycle travel at old-bike speed. For readers interested in pre-war Harley-Davidsons, early American road travel, and what it actually takes to ride old machines across the country, this collection provides a detailed firsthand record of the experience.
This page also connects directly to the larger Riding Vintage archive. The Harley VIN Decoder helps identify vintage Harley-Davidson engines and model families, while Model Reference 1903–1965 places these motorcycles in their broader factory context. For the machine behind this trip, browse VL Tech & Restoration Guides and the broader Vintage Harley Repair & Workshop Tech archive. To begin the trip itself, start with Day 1: The Journey Begins.