1. A Brief History of
Indian
Motocycles
Will Boutelle,
M.D.
Springfield
Museums
May 8, 2008
2. References
! A Century of Indian. Youngblood, Ed (2001).
! Indian Motorcycle Photo History. Hatfield,
Jerry (1993).
! Golden Age of the Fours. Hodgdon, Ted
(1974).
! Classic Indian Motorcycle Carroll, John
(no date)
! Hendersons, Those Elegant Machines.
Schultz, Richard (1994).
3. Springfield, Massachusetts
! Manufacturing hub from mid-
19th century
! Large pool of skilled labor,
plentiful power, and available
capital
! At least three cars (Duryea,
Knox and Rolls Royce), bicycles
and motorcycles
5. DURYEA
1893 - Brothers Charles & Frank built first car
1895 - Second car, won 1st auto race in USA
(50 miles roundtrip Chicago-Evanston)
1896 - First production run (13 units)
- First auto accident (NYC, Henry Wells
hit bicyclist in his Duryea, went to jail
overnight)
Manufactured at least until
1913 in IL, NJ, and PA
8. KNOX AUTOMOBILE
Built:
! Cars
! Trucks
! Tractors
! Fire engines
quot; Using Knox engines, Springfield
became first mechanized fire dept. in
the United States
20. Steering head of 1909 Indian single.
Note U-joint controls for gas and spark.
21. • Indian always concentrated on police business.
Pictured below is a 1910 two-man patrol V-twin
in Cincinnati.
• NYPD placed their first order in 1903.
26. Eddie Hasha with “big base” 8-valve twin, Sept.
1912, on steeply banked board track.
Photo taken just before an accident killed him,
another racer and six spectators in Newark, NJ
This was the only
time that
Motorcycle racing
ever made the front
page of the NY
Times
29. 1913 Indian twin with spring frame
Major Innovation, but nobody else followed
Note early “buddy seat” hanging off the back
30. Ford Model T:
• Hauled five people
• Kept you dry with top up
• Got cheaper to buy every year
• Killed market for motorcycle as cheap transportation
34. Pancho Villa
• It’s hard to
understand why he
needed electric
starting, with no
place to charge his
batteries for miles
around.
• Two years later,
he was being
chased by General
John J. Pershing
38. 1917 Model O
• First Indian Attempt at a lightweight twin
Cylinders opposed, front and aft
• Harley riders called it the “Model Zero”
due to its low power
39. Erwin “Cannonball” Baker
• Not too bright, but he could stay awake for days
May 1914: San Diego/New York
11 days, 12 hrs, 10 min
August 1915: Canada/Mexico
3 days, 9 hrs, 15 min
1917: 24-hr. record:1534.25 miles
All on Indians
50. Lineage of the future Indian Four Motocycle
Will Henderson, designer of:
• Henderson, 1912-1917
• Ace 1922-1926
• Indian bought out Ace after
bankruptcy
51. 1912 Henderson
• First year of manufacturing
• First motorcycle to drive around the world
(driven by C.S. Clancy)
53. 1917 Henderson
• Company sold to Schwinn Dec, 1917
• Will and Tom Henderson kept on as
consultants, but Will soon left to start Ace
Motorcycle Company
54. Ace Designed by W. Henderson
Sept. 1922: Cannonball
Baker rode Ace LA-NY (3332
miles) in 6 days, 22 hours
and 52 minutes
“World’s Fastest Motorcycle”
129 mph solo, 106 mph
with sidecar
Will Henderson Killed Dec.
1922, while testing the new
Ace on city streets
78. 1949 Scout engine
• Poorly engineered
• Poorly tested
• Bad electrics
• Not a V-twin
• Dealers can’t sell them
• Dealers give up and
turn to Harley
79. When engineering fails, turn to PR
• Erwin “Cannonball”
Baker (who won his
first race in 1909),
pulled out of
retirement to tout the
vertical twin Indian.
1948
• We don’t know who
the “Motorcycle
Queen” was
80. When engineering fails, turn to PR (Part 2)
! Jane Russell
presented with her
own Indian Vertical
Twin, 1948
! No one knows
whether she ever
rode it
81. When engineering fails, turn to PR (Part 3)
! Vaughn Monroe
(who actually
rode motorcycles)
brought in for
photo on Indian
! Not recorded as
to how many
Indians he was
given
82. 1950 Chief
• Same stroke, but bored
out to 80 cubic inches
• Plunger fork 1950-’53
• Except for fork, bored
cylinder and minor engine
& body changes, basically
the same as 1948 Chief
• The dealers had all gone
over to Harley
83. Indian Factory 1952-53
! Assembling the last Indians
! Indian name about to be sold to distributors of English
motorcycles
! Dealers not told of production termination
84. 1947 and 1905 Indians
Not the first and not the last,
but quite a transition over 42 years
85. Last of the Breed
! Indian Factory
1953
! Last non-police
bikes built
! The very last of
1953 production
went to the
NYPD who had
placed their first
order for
Indians in 1903