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Excelsior-Henderson to be Reintroduced

I hope I'm wrong, but it has the same "look and feel" of the last Indian revival before Polaris. The product, what you can see from the video, looks to need more time and development and they must have another fork option in mind besides just a springer.

But other than that, good luck to them. :thumbup
 
redtail said:
I hope I'm wrong, but it has the same "look and feel" of the last Indian revival before Polaris. The product, what you can see from the video, looks to need more time and development and they must have another fork option in mind besides just a springer.

But other than that, good luck to them. :thumbup
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Ya, they do seem to have that Gilroy Indian vibe. I think that video is from the failed attempt to bring back the Excelsior-Henderson in the 90's. I'm not sure they even have a new motorcycle yet.
 
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Meh. The only thing they're doing is reintroducing the name.
 
The last time the Excelsior-Henderson name got dragged out, the Hanlon brothers paid themselves and their cohorts outrageous salaries and perks for as long as they could keep it going.

When the investors finally wised-up (and publically 'fessed-up) there wasn't much left. Certainly not enough to go bankrupt and then attempt to survive. As I recall, the word "fraud" was used a lot to describe what might have happened.
 
Hoppalong said:
The last time the Excelsior-Henderson name got dragged out,
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The 90s incarnation? http://www.motorcyclecruiser.com/riding-impression-1999-excelsior-henderson-super-x-motorcycle

Other than the gauges and the fork, not much there evokes a 20s Excelsior Henderson. Excelsior Henderson died in 1931, so it's a whole different thing from Indian which survived into the early 50s, and had many original examples being ridden into modern times. Also more revival attempts than I can count.

Hopefully if EH returns it will make something more interesting than the 90s bike. It would be a shame to revive the nameplate that produced this leading edge bike to produce only Vtwin cruiser clones.


I'm sure enthusiasts would love to see the nameplate making leading edge bikes again the way they did in 1920. Not likely, but at least maybe this time it will pay better homage to the originals.
 
"The convergence of several market factors . . . . ." Blue sky bullshit if I've ever read it. I love the passing panoply of powered bikes but sometimes the unrealistic expectations of blue sky dreamers is often more entertaining.

Sorta' like watching my jet pack or flying car tease me year after year.
 
Hoppalong said:
Right on time to fleece a new batch of suckers.
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:laughing

ok I still have not yet read the link, but that shit was funny.

Edit: yeah I remember the short revival in the 90's and the bike coming outta Minnesota, my bro living in Minneapolis for many years now. I didn't know about the issues and recall the magazines giving positive reviews but Victory was on the way also by then and so much more capable of becoming an alternative to Harley than EH was. Interesting Victim i'm with you and think it would be most excellent to see a more successful campaign of it this time around.
 
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Long blah blah of pomp and history.

Short on actual product.
 
Does anyone actually remember this company? I mean, yea, they were around in the beginning, "innovating" in a fast growing, immature market. But they don't have anywhere near the legacy Indian had.

Better to come out with a new brand completely, and distinguish themselves in some unique way, like Motus does.
 
berth said:
Does anyone actually remember this company?
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Among active riders, probably very few: the company died in 1931.

British RAF pilot CK Shepherd rode a 4-cylinder Henderson across the US in Across American by Motor Cycle just after WW1.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6369026-across-america-by-motor-cycle

Excelsior acquired Henderson to form the company that's being revived. I think the bike in my photo above is a later version of the model Shepherd rode.

The book is available for free download through project Gutenberg.
http://www.gutenberg.org/
 
davidji said:
British RAF pilot CK Shepherd rode a 4-cylinder Henderson across the US in Across American by Motor Cycle just after WW1.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/..., scraps of metal, tin cans) was a necessity.
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Hoppalong said:
And being able to maintain and repair your motorcycle, with whatever you could carry or find in the middle of nowhere (twine, tree limbs, scraps of metal, tin cans) was a necessity.
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The bit where he carved a new wrist pin (IIRC) from a branch was pretty cool.

I think Henderson had the first modernish oiling system in 1920. I think Shepherd's ride would have gone easier if his bike had it.

I couldn't find it just now, but I seem to remember a part where he listed ride stats. "Fell off 115 times. Then I stopped counting."
 
The impression I got from the article was that someone owns the rights to the name, and the IP, but so far that's all they have. They're looking for someone with lots of money to throw at them so they can actually use what they have...
 
Same old twins??? Something different.?? Hope so.

Henderson was a bit different.
 
davidji said:
It would be a shame to revive the nameplate that produced this leading edge bike to produce only Vtwin cruiser clones.
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Yes, this!

For a motorcycle that focused on performance, to have a poor clone of a Vtwin cruiser would be an insult to the original founders.
 
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