It has been said that Graham Oates was one of the bulldog breed who once set their mind to a task, however onerous, will see it through. In an action packed career that spanned over two decades, he carved an unique niche for himself in the world of motorcycling.

Also known as Jimmy, Oates was born in 1897 at Douglas, Isle of Man. From birth, Graham suffered from asthma and while a despatch rider in WWI, he was caught in a gas attack, resulting in the loss of his left eye.

After the war, as a motorcycle manufacturer, Graham built a motorcycle he called the Moonbeam and later the Aurora from parts available in England. He rode the Aurora to the 2036 foot summit of Snaefell Mountain and rode in the Wallace Shield Trial, finishing well down the field.  Several machines were then prepared for the 1920 Junior TT, first to be held after the Great War, but the bike failed to qualify. Interest declined in the Aurora and only three machines were known to have actually been built.

Graham moved to Birmingham and went to work first for Dunlop and then for the Burman Brothers as chief tester when they completed development of their 3 speed gearbox. Riding a Massey Arran fitted with a Burman gear box, he crashed in the 1921 Junior TT, but went on to ride a variety of machines, all fitted with a Burman gearbox, in sporting events and long distance trials (including the ACU Six Days Trial) all over England, Scotland and Wales. He rode his last TT in 1924 on a Powell, 170cc two-stroke and finished 8th.

Advised to move for health reasons, Graham accepted a job in Bolivia at the Guggenheim Tin Mines. A lonely life high in the Andes Mountain, he wrote articles about the area which were published in Canadian and American newspapers.

In 1927, Graham arrived in Canada and was employed at Conroy’s Motorcycle shop in Toronto where he met up with a wartime colleague, Charles Dennis Browne, a salesman for Castrol Oil. During a gloriously boozy evening, a publicity stunt was hatched to ride a motorcycle across Canada.  Ariel Motor Co. supplied a 1928 500cc ohv single, twin port Ariel and a Sturgess (Canadian manufactured) sidecar with a specially made, longer body for sleeping, was fitted.

On July 21, 1928, after dipping the rear wheel of Toby into the Atlantic Ocean, Graham set out on his journey across Canada.  On Sept 22, the machine was baptised in the Pacific Ocean at English Bay, Vancouver. This was the First Crossing of Canada on rubber tyres. The ride was 4027 miles and 21 riding days which included many breakdowns and 900 miles on railway ties, a lonely and prolonged test of his mental and physical skills.

Jimmy Oates was elected first president of the British Empire Motor Club

He served as Vice-pres of Overseas Motors, agency for Rudge-Whitworth, Matchless, Coventry Eagle and Ariel as well as radios and the locally produced Johnson outboard motor boats and set a world’s record when he ran an outboard motor boat continuously for 24 hours on Clear Lake, Ontario

In 1931 he drove a Pontiac 6 for over 3000 miles in 7 days (Toronto to Halifax and back) with the oil filler sealed to demonstrate that Castrol lubricants would work efficiently for that length of time. His co-driver was Eric Chitty, a Canadian Champion who later found fame in England as a speedway rider and three times Speedway World Champion.

In 1932, riding an Ariel Red Hunter with Swallow sidecar to Fort Churchill, he was credited with having taken a rubber tyred vehicle further north than any person in the world and the only person to ever reach Hudson Bay on a motor of any descripttagion fitted with ordinary tyres.

Mounted on an Ariel, Graham was a multiple International Six Day Trial medallist between 1933 and 1939.

Oates, with all his riding experience, played a vital role as one of the founders of despatch rider training in WWII and after the war spent considerable time in Germany during the reconstruction of the country.

Graham continued to promote motorcycling, racing and trials wherever he went. He was the founding member of the Manx section of the Vintage Club and instrumental in the organization of a Vintage Rally during TT week.

Graham Oates passed away in 1972, aged 75. He was slight in stature but a complex man, a person with incredible strength of purpose and character.  His achievements should forever rank him amongst the highest in motorcycling’s hall of fame.

In an action-packed career that spanned over two decades, Manxman J. Graham Oates carved a unique niche for himself in the world of motorcycling.

Amongst his many and varied exploits were:

•WWI despatch rider – 1914-1916
•Manx Motorcycle manufacturer – The Aurora – 1919
•ACU Six Days trial competitor – 1920-1922
•TT rider – 1924 Ultra Lightweight TT
•Trans-Canada pioneer – First coast-to-coast trip in Canada – 1928
•Inaugural World outboard motorboat record holder – 1930
•First person to reach the Hudson Bay on a tyred vehicle – 1932
•Multiple International Six Days Trial medallist – 1933 – 1939
•One of the founders of despatch rider training in WWII – 1939

June 1930, on Clear Lake just north of Peterborough, Jimmy Oates, driving a Johnson "Imperial" boat with concave bottom, powered by a Johnson Sea Horse "32", 4-cyl. outboard, set the first ever 12 hour outboard World Record, averaging 21.75 mph running for 12 hours non stop.

Manx motorcyclist and designer Graham Oates remained in historical obscurity until local author Bill Snelling discovered his remarkable story and put it into print in 1993. The first edition sold out quickly, but the book has now been reissued with the inclusion of additional information and many photographs of his life in motorcycling.

Born in 1897 in Douglas Oates was the son of a baker. Independent, resilient and a complex man he could never refuse a challenge.

‘Aurora to Ariel’ is a book about a man and his motorbikes, but also includes interesting details about his army career in both World Wars and his work rebuilding the German road transport system.

A talented engineer Oates soon began to design and build his own machines including the ‘Aurora’, two of which were entered for the 1920 TT. Despite the ‘Aurora’s’ rapid demise he had an uncanny knack of landing on his feet, and from a boozy night in Canada flowed an idea which made history.

Challenged to complete an historic journey from the East Atlantic to the West Pacific with a motorcycle and sidecar Oates rode triumphantly into the record books. ‘Aurora to Ariel’ recounts how he overcame misfortunes along the way and occasionally spent an uncomfortable night sleeping in his adapted sidecar. Back in the 1930s Canadian roads were of variable quality and sometimes Oates was forced to ride on the rail track through treacherous landscape.

He carried an insatiable hunger for new experiences, particularly during the 1930s which this book fondly recreates, including a second successful Trans Canadian journey in 1932 using a Red Hunter outfit touchingly referred to as ‘Miss Manxland’. Sending weekly reports back to the Isle of Man Weekly Times, and in contact with many Manx emigrants, his faithful companions were a rifle and his fishing gear!

Graham Oates was no ordinary man, indeed some might call him eccentric, but it would be difficult not to have some admiration for his long time girlfriend and future wife who eventually travelled out to Toronto to marry him.

‘Aurora to Ariel’ is a worthy tribute to a quiet Manxman who deserves to be remembered for his remarkable exploits.

J Graham Oates was a motoring pioneer for Ariel during the 1920's & 1930's. He was one of the most famous Arielists during the pre-war era and gained fame from his adventurous exploits on Ariel motorcycles in Canada and England from 1928 to 1932. His first experience on an Ariel was in 1927 in Toronto, Canada where he rode a new 1927 500cc Ariel at a local motorcycle dealer. Shortly thereafter he convinced the dealership to sponsor the first trans-Canada crossing on a motorcycle. Ariel Motors sent him a new 1928 500cc motorcycle and a Canadian sidecar was fitted. He traversed the roads and railways of Canada, going from Nova Scotia to Vancouver on this bike. Because roads were poor or non-existant, about 900 miles of his trip was done on the railroad ties of the Canadian Pacific - a ride that beat up the rider and broke apart the sidecar. West to east Oates traveled 4,100 miles in 21 riding days making his exploits world-famous. To avoid the rough rail lines and muddy roads Oates returned east through the US, not crossing into Canada until Detroit.

Oates' second trip was in 1932 and it was a bit more adventurous. Using a new 1932 500cc Red Hunter with Swallow sidecar, he took a trip from the Isle of Man to England and back to Canada. Oates drove the Ariel outfit further north in Canada than any rubber tired vehicle had been driven. Oates didn't turn around until reaching Hudson's Bay on October 3rd in freezing temperatures. Once south of the arctic weather, Oates continued west across Canada arriving in Vancouver in late October, and returning eastward across the northern US. The total trip covered 12,000 miles on a new Red Hunter ... and all without an engine rebuild!

Ariel sponsored his 1932 trip as well and when he returned they promoted his exploits (and their Red Hunter's reliability) in advertisements in The Motor Cycle.

One of Canada’s earliest trans-continental pioneers was J. Graham Oates who travelled from coast to coast on his 497cc Ariel motorcycle. In 1928 he became the first person to cross Canada on rubber tires.

Oates was born James Walter Graham Oates in 1897 on the Isle of Man. As a teenager he served in WWI as a dispatch rider, both on horse and motorcycle. He was also a motorcycle builder, tester and Isle of Man TT (Tourist Trophy) racer.

In 1927 Oates moved to Canada, during which time he conceived the idea for his epic journey. Wartime colleague Charles Dennis Brown, representative of the then-struggling oil brand “Castrol Oil”, agreed to sponsor the trip in order to bring positive relations to the company. At that time, the Trans-Canada Highway wasn’t yet complete, so Oates had to persuade the Canadian Railway Authorities to grant him permission to use their railway lines to cross the interior.

The Ariel motorcycle selected for the journey was the 1928 497cc twin-port model, shipped from the manufacturer in England to Canada where it was outfitted with a locally-made Sturgess sidecar from Hamilton, Ontario. Upon the arrival of his brand new bike which he named “Toby”, Oates remarked in his journal:

“Days blended into nights but sleep was a secondary consideration to me. Was I not working on my dear little Toby? At last all ready, tyres fitted with great care, kneegrips adjusted just so, handlebars placed to take the strain off my arms and the favourite Terry (saddle) adjusted to a degree for what of the hundreds of miles of spine shattering, body pounding ties of the Canadian railway. Gas, oil and now for the engine, a lusty kick and Toby starts for the first time on Canadian air. But I must take her gently for a few hundred miles in order to settle the bearing surfaces down to their work.”

On July 21st, 1928, Oates departed from Halifax, where he dipped the wheel of Toby in the Atlantic Ocean before venturing westward. During the journey across Canada he encountered many challenges, from poor weather to lodging in his sidecar:

“… and why did I ever think of this confounded across Canada trip? My neck feels as if the hangman had been putting in a little practice on me. My spine I swear will never be the same again and I am cold as well; never mind, I am. Those that have slept in a sidecar with the framework as a mattress probably will agree with me that it needs a big stretch of imagination to include it under the word comfort.”

“My face was giving me a great deal of pain, it having been blistered and peeled by the combined efforts of sun, wind, and rain. It ached and I almost felt like taking a rest instead of a contemplated all night ride.”

Oates regularly encountered mechanical issues, flat tires and difficulties with his sidecar that malfunctioned from the start. He travelled at a leisurely pace, and took many rest days along the way.

Although there were times during his more than 6,400km transcontinental journey that he contemplated the folly of his undertaking, Oates persevered. On September 21, 1928, he approached Vancouver where he was joined for the final leg of his journey by the mayor, Louis D. Taylor. The following day Oates dipped his tire into the Pacific Ocean at English Bay, successfully completing his coast-to-coast quest.