21 September - Oates Rides Across Canada

In 1928, J Graham Oates became the first person to cross Canada on a motorcycle fitted with rubber tires 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 TT racer. In 1927 Oates moved to Canada. Wartime comrade Charles Brown, representative of the then-struggling Castrol oil brand, agreed to sponsor the trip. The Trans-Canada Highway wasn’t yet complete, s...