A history of the Indian Motorcycle company, which for a time was the dominant American motorcycle manufacturer.
Text of A Brief History of Indian Motorcycles
A Brief History of Indian Motocycles Will Boutelle, M.D. Springfield Museums May 8, 2008
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).
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
1893 Duryea, Springfield Mass.
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
Late-Model Duryea
Knox Automobile 1900-1914
KNOX AUTOMOBILE Built: ! Cars ! Trucks ! Tractors ! Fire engines quot; Using Knox engines, Springfield became first mechanized fire dept. in the United States
Indian #268 (early 1903). With engine and gas tank, its a bicycle!
From 1906 Indian catalogue, showing various products: Tandem, triplet, tri-car, tricycle and van
1907: First cataloged twin cylinder Indian. 42 degree angle between front and rear cylinder. All Indian twins through the end retained this angle
1909 Loop Frame - No longer a bicycle with a motor
Steering head of 1909 Indian single. Note U-joint controls for gas and spark.
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.
Indian Factories
1911 Isle of Man TT Race (Britain) ! Indian came in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place
Board track racing Los Angeles 1912 1/3 mile tack, 90 mph
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
1912 Indian with Colonial sidecar made of wicker
1914 Indian with Indian sidecar
1913 Indian twin with spring frame Major Innovation, but nobody else followed Note early buddy seat hanging off the back
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
Oscar Hedstrom, Indians engineering father, retires at age 42 in 1913
Oscar Hedstrom, circa 1913
Hendee Special Electric Starting, but no generator
Pancho Villa Its 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
George Hendee Leaves Indian in 1915. Now both the founders are gone.
Gun Car, 1915 marketed to British army
1919 spring-frame military Indian. Note gas lamp and brass levers.
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
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
Publicity photo of Baker on Indian
Great Motorcycles, bad business
Scout, 1921 Starting to look like modern motorcycle
Scout primary drive -- helical gears in oil bath. Led to the chant,You cant wear out an Indian Scout
1923 Chief First 74 cubic inch motor
1922 Chief with sidecar
Orie Steele Pre-eminent hill climber with trophies, on 1924 Scout
1925 Indian Prince 2nd attempt at lightweight motorcycle
1926 souped up overhead valve Prince (Still didnt sell)
Typical small-town Indian agency of 1920s Dealer and wife in front of showroom
Lineage of the future Indian Four Motocycle Will Henderson, designer of: Henderson, 1912-1917 Ace 1922-1926 Indian bought out Ace after bankruptcy
1912 Henderson First year of manufacturing First motorcycle to drive around the world (driven by C.S. Clancy)
Mr. & Mrs. Will Henderson on 1912 Henderson
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
Ace Designed by W. Henderson Sept. 1922: Cannonball Baker rode Ace LA-NY (3332 miles) in 6 days, 22 hours and 52 minutes Worlds Fastest Motorcycle 129 mph solo, 106 mph with sidecar Will Henderson Killed Dec. 1922, while testing the new Ace on city streets
1927 Indian Ace
Indian Car
Silver Arrow Outboard Motor
Non-motorcycle products fail
1930-1939 Du Pont to the Rescue
Du Pont Letter, 1930
1930 Hillclimber
1932 Scout Pony
1936 Chief (restored 2005)
1936 Chief view from saddle
1938 Four Cylinder restored 1999
1938 Four Cylinder
1939 Traffic car
1941 Military Model 841
Sport Scout, 1941
1941 Chief
1941 Four Cylinder
1947 Chief and Sidecar ! Owned by Jim Seidell ! 3 miles from Chesterfield Center ! Jim owns several other Indians
1947 Chief and wife chief restored 1998 wife in original unrestored condition)
Indians Last Mistake
1949 Scout
1949 Scout engine Poorly engineered Poorly tested Bad electrics Not a V-twin Dealers cant sell them Dealers give up and turn to Harley
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 dont know who the Motorcycle Queen was
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
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
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
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
1947 and 1905 Indians Not the first and not the last, but quite a transition over 42 years
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
