Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle

Here is another great motorcycle from the past
just so they never fade into oblivion without
someone remembering just how great they were.
This is the story of the Excelsior-Henderson
bike. While most early motorcycles concentrated
on single or twin cylinders, the Henderson was exclusive
with a four cylinder in-line engine. It was the
brainchild of William and Tom Henderson of Detroit,
Michigan. They manufactured their first bike in 1912
and it sold for $325. Remember that in 1912
a hamburger was a nickel. In 1914 the Henderson was the
first bike to feature another gear, as they introduced
a two-speed transmission. By 1917 they had moved
to a three speed transmission with the shifter alongside
the tank. From 1915 through 1930 the Henderson
was constantly breaking speed and endurance records.
It was also the first motorcycle to circumnavigate the
globe, doing so in 1913 by traveling 18,000 miles in
ten months. On June 13, 1917 Alan Bedell rode a
Henderson from Los Angeles to New York City in
seven and a half days,..a distance of 3,296 miles. Ignaz
Schwinn of the bicycle business, bought the Henderson
Company and moved the plant to Chicago, Illinois. It then
became known as Excelsior-Henderson. In 1920 the new
K Model featured a 79.4 cubic inch engine that put out
28 horsepower and was capable of 90 mph. A favorite of
many police departments was the 1927 'KJ model'
which featured a 40 horsepower engine capable of 116
mph. Excelsior-Henderson was constantly raiding rival
Harley-Davidson for engineers and technicians. Tuesday,
October 29, 1929 was the day the stock market crashed
and the world plummeted into the Great Depression. Excelsior-
Henderson lost an estimated ten billion dollars. Bike sales
for all companies fell off drastically. In the summer of 1931
Ignaz Schwinn closed down the motorcycle plant to keep
his bicycle plant in operation. In 1998 the great brand of
Excelsior-Henderson was attempted to be put back in
business. They sold about 2,000 motorcycles for a price
of $17,950 and went out of business in 1999. Another
great bike was gone.... but not forgotten.