Henderson!

gentsvmax · Nov 13, 2021

A 1927 Henderson!
First I heard it, then I saw it and couldn't believe my eyes.
I also wondered if there are replica bikes out there for the fun of the old with new gear.

But nothing looks or sounds like that longitudinal inline 4.
He say's its not a daily rider but its not babied or stored either.

Now here's what I was in the area to assess, and what a surprise. I was told it was just a couple of old trail bikes. Not one but two old Harley's!
One a Whizzer the other looks like a hummer.
True barn finds, as they are in a barn and the property, just north of Coors, is recently acquired.

What a day!

CaptainKyle · Nov 13, 2021

Cool stuff ! The old Hendersons are cool and sound pretty neat. Dale at Wheels thru time fired one up for me . He was a cool guy ! He was like a kid running around starting all the old bikes.

Parminio · Nov 13, 2021

I've never heard of a Henderson. That is one gorgeous bike.

maleko89 · Nov 13, 2021

excelsior Henderson’s made a comeback for a couple years in late 90’s. Yamaha dealer had a Super X and it sat for a long time.

Fire-medic · Nov 13, 2021

I've seen a couple of pre-WWI inline-fours by Pierce, really innovative for the time. They use large dia. tubing for the frame, the engine is a stressed-member, and the frame doubles as gas and oil reservoirs. Pierce was an offshoot of Pierce-Arrow automobiles, the best car manufactured in Buffalo NY. One of the best American racers of all-time, Phil Hill, was an expert on Pierce-Arrows, and he restored them and judged them.

The Excelsior-Henderson revival bike was in need of better, more-professional operators than the Hanlon brothers, apparently. Proof it could be done was the Polaris acquisition of Indian's rights, and then re-introducing them into the market, which caused them to close operations for their other brand, Victory.
https://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/looking-back-at-1998-excelsior-henderson-super-x/
https://ridermagazine.com/2017/09/28/retrospective-1999-2000-excelsior-henderson-super-x/

Wipeout | Twin Cities Business An interesting interview with one of the Hanlon brothers.

Of the modern incantations, only Triumph and Indian have been able to grow their brands into a marketplace presence, sustainable over the long-run.

I've posted on here before about meeting the court-appointed receiver, the attorney who brokered the sale of Indian to Polaris. Ever-since Indian went out of business in 1953, there were numerous attempts to use the Indian name on everything from British motorcycles, to Italian minibikes [Indian Papoose!], and then just clothing and merchandise, not-even motorcycles! Floyd Clymer, a name familiar to older motorcycle enthusiasts, was an importer of various brands over the years to the USA. He made use of the Indian name for bikes not built in the USA, as 'Indians.' Around 1960, he imported Royal Enfields as 'Indians,' 700cc parallel-twins with American model names like Tomahawk, Apache, Westerner and Trailblazer. Not surprisingly, some of those names were later appropriated by other manufacturers for their offerings marketed in the USA [Suzuki, Triumph].
https://ridermagazine.com/2013/04/04/retrospective-indian-royal-enfield-chief-700cc-1959-1961/

I had the predecessor [Triumph TR25W] to this Triumph Traliblazer 250cc [T25T], this is a 1971 Trailblazer, which in this design had a short production run.

desert_max · Nov 13, 2021

Friend of mine at Intel has a garage full of antiques. He rides them all. His “newest” is a ‘47 Knucklehead.

He rides his ‘27 Henderson the most. He visited last month and actually allowed me to putt up and down my street ( long dead end, no traffic ). It felt like a rickety POS, but is actually nicely sorted. Nature of the beast, I guess.

Here’s a shot at work. (My Vmax behind)

His spot is well marked…