SPRINGFIELD, MASS.
HOME OF INDIAN
MOTOCYCLES
CHESTERFIELD
HISTORICAL SOCIETY
WILL BOUTELLE
SEPT. 20, 2007

References
• A Century of Indian by Ed Youngblood 2001
• Indian Motorcycle Photo History by Jerry
Hatfield 1993
• Golden Age of the Fours by Ted Hodgdon
1974
• Classic Indian Motorcycle by John Carroll
(no date)
• Hendersons, Those Elegant Machines by
Richard Schultz 1994

• Springfield, Mass was a manufacturing
hub from mid-19th century
• Large pool of skilled labor, plentiful
power, 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)
1896 First auto accident (NYC, Henry Wells hit
bicyclist in his Duryea, went to jail
overnight)
Mfg at least until 1913 in IL, NJ, and PA

Late-Model Duryea

Knox Automobile 1900-1914

KNOX AUTOMOBILE
BUILT CARS, TRUCKS, TRACTORS
AND FIRE ENGINES
USING KNOX ENGINES, SPRINGFIELD
BECAME FIRST MECHANIZED FIRE
DEPT. IN USA

Springfield Rolls Royce

INDIAN PRODUCTION FIGURES
1901 3
1902 143
1903 376
1904 ?
1905 1000+
1908 3000+
1910 6000+
1913 32000+
1914 25000
1915 21000

Indian #268 (early 1903).
With engine and gas tank, it’s
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 cyl.
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. Here is a
1910 two-man patrol twin in

Cincinatti. 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,
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, Indian’s
engineering father, retires at
age 42 in 1913

Oscar Hedstrom, about the
time of his retirement

Hendee special. Electric
Starting, but no generator.

understand why 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.

1915 gun car, 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

“Cannonball”
Baker. Not too
bright,Diego/Newhe
but York
May, 1914 San
could hrs, 10 min
11 days, 12 stay
awake for days
Aug., 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

1921 Scout
Starting to look like modern motorcycle

Scout primary drive--helical
gears in oil bath. Led to the
chant: “You can’t wear out an
Indian Scout”

1923 Chief. First 74 cubic
inch motor

1922 Chief with sidecar

Orie Steele
Pre-eminent
hillclimber
with
trophies, on
1924 Scout

1925 Indian Prince
2nd attempt at lightweight motorcycle

1926 souped up overhead valve Prince
(Still didn’t sell)

Typical small-
town Indian
agency of
1920’s
• Dealer and
wife in front
of showroom

Lineage of the future Indian Four Motocycle
Will Henderson, designer of:
Henderson, 1912-1917 and
Ace 1922-1926
Indian bought out Ace after bankruptcy

1912 Henderson
First year of mfg.
First motorcycle to drive around the world
(driven by C.S. Clancy)

Mr. & Mrs. Will Henderson on 1912
Henderson Motorcycle

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
“World’s 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
Indian Car

Silver Arrow Outboard Motor

Non-motorcycle Products fail

1930-1939 duPont to the
Rescue

Dupont Letter, 1930

1930 Hillclimber

1932 Scout Pony

1936 Chief (restored 2005)

1936 Chief
View from saddle

1938 Four Cyl. (restored 1999)

1938 Four Cylinder

1939
Traffic
car