[jwfuchs1]

Legendary Excelsior-Henderson motorcycle brand & IP for sale

Just maybe this will be our saving grace since Polaris left us high and dry.

 

[bobzinger]

I had 1950 shares of E-H back in 1999. It was a technologically advanced bike compared to Harley. I was bummed when the Hanlon brothers defaulted before the bike had a real chance to prove itself.

 

[Half_Crazy]

Remember back when Indian (before Polaris) was told by the court that they had to get a proprietary engine by a certain date or they would lose the rights to the Indian name? Indian went with that PowerPlus 100 engine (an EVO with round jugs).
About that same time, EH was bankrupt and on the way out. I really thought Indian would buy all the tooling and engine stock from EH for a song and bingo, proprietary engine already emissions certified.

I thought the EH bikes were cool and was considering one, but figured I'd give them some time in production... glad I did.

You can buy a remanufactured PowerPlus 100 from Blackhawk Motor Works for $3,950.00 (no primary or trans).

There is a version from Crazy Horse Motorcycles (called the "V-Plus) that you can buy in black for $5,400 or in Chrome for $7,400.

The EH Super X was 675 lbs dry. The engine was a single-crankpin 50-degree V with side-by-side connecting rods, 85-cubic-inches, Bore 3.66" and stroke 4.02", chain-driven dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, and fuel injection.

Looks a little Victory-ish, huh? It was designated the V92C...

 

[CrossBuck]

Remember back when Indian (before Polaris) was told by the court that they had to get a proprietary engine by a certain date or they would lose the rights to the Indian name? Indian went with that PowerPlus 100 engine (an EVO with round jugs).
About that same time, EX was bankrupt and on the way out. I really thought Indian would buy all the tooling and engine stock from EX for a song and bingo, proprietary engine.

I thought the EX bikes were cool and was considering one, but figured I'd give them some time in production... glad I did.

You can buy a remanufactured PowerPlus 100 from Blackhawk Motor Works for $3,950.00 (no primary or trans).

View attachment 355593

There is a version from Crazy Horse Motorcycles (called the "V-Plus) that you can buy in black for $5,400 or in Chrome for $7,400.

View attachment 355601

View attachment 355609

The EX Super X was 675 lbs dry. The engine was a single-crankpin 50-degree V with side-by-side connecting rods, 85-cubic-inches, Bore 3.66" and stroke 4.02", chain-driven dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, and fuel injection.

Looks a little Victory-ish, huh? It was designated the V92C...

View attachment 355617

I really liked the PP 100 & 105.."Bottle-Top" engines ,at least from a visual perspective...I also liked that era Indians, particularly the 2010 Bomber models. But OUCH the prices !!

So I wait for perhaps a price drop ?...yeah-right...or a used deal, then...outta business.....again.

So I say Victory...Luv the XR, got one ......outta business....I give up.

 

[Half_Crazy]

I really liked the PP 100 & 105.."Bottle-Top" engines ,at least from a visual perspective...I also liked that era Indians, particularly the 2010 Bomber models. But OUCH the prices !!
So I wait for perhaps a price drop ?...yeah-right...or a used deal, then...outta business.....again.
So I say Victory...Luv the XR, got one ......outta business....I give up.

I feel your pain... Love the Kingpin but Victory dropped it in 2012 and now dropped the brand. Whatever, I still love the bike and I'll run it in the ground and rebuild it until there are no more parts, then I'll pour gasoline over it, strike a match, and make smores.

That PP 100 engine had worse crankshaft scissoring/twisting issues than Harley even had nightmares about, and the failing crankshafts are what killed Indian (again). To fix that many engines under warranty was financial Armageddon.

A few builders have made custom bikes with those engines (the upgraded ones) and they're pretty cool, but having a bike that is built in very limited quantities by a business that could disappear tomorrow is too sketchy for me.

 

[CrossBuck]

I feel your pain... Love the Kingpin but Victory dropped it in 2012 and now dropped the brand. Whatever, I still love the bike and I'll run it in the ground and rebuild it until there are no more parts, then I'll pour gasoline over it, strike a match, and make smores.

That PP 100 engine had worse crankshaft scissoring/twisting issues than Harley even had nightmares about, and the failing crankshafts are what killed Indian (again). To fix that many engines under warranty was financial Armageddon.

A few builders have made custom bikes with those engines (the upgraded ones) and they're pretty cool, but having a bike that is built in very limited quantities by a business that could disappear tomorrow is too sketchy for me.

Agreed, Well, I have a BMW & my Vic XR , I'm 68 so I'm thinking they are my last , till I stop riding altogether.

 

[catwrench59]

I had 1950 shares of E-H back in 1999. It was a technologically advanced bike compared to Harley. I was bummed when the Hanlon brothers defaulted before the bike had a real chance to prove itself.

You and Louie Fenning In Springfield Illinois must have been the 2 big invertors. Of E.H. Louie has or had Bike number 5. He was talking about selling it though. I don't know where you get the technically advanced. The front suspension is a antiquated rocker spring. The heads had issues but other than that the engines ran well. At least according to the only guy I now that had one.

 

[BBob]

The 2000 EH Super X really was a nice feat of engineering. Too bad it was only made for about a year. There's one in a Sci-Fi show called "Badlands". For a while, until someone corrected me, I thought it was a customized Victory but obviously I was wrong. How about that front end on the new version? It really is too bad this didn't take off and stay in production.

How it looked when new...

 

[CCTRudy]

I know a guy who bartered one. I think he did a roof for it.
There was a transmission fix that they all needed. Some guy in Pennsylvania does it. He likes the it a lot and it is a very good looking bike.
Rudy

 

[kaitiff]

The wife and I were looking around to buy a couple bikes and came across EH....I was very excited about them till I saw the writing on the wall. Then I rode my first Vic and knew I'd found a home.. for a while anyways.

If EH gets bought back up and remade I'd def take a look. It would be the closest thing to what I liked about the Vic in the first place.

 

[Half_Crazy]

I know a guy who bartered one. I think he did a roof for it.
There was a transmission fix that they all needed. Some guy in Pennsylvania does it. He likes the it a lot and it is a very good looking bike.
Rudy

Tranny issues... just like the early Victory bikes...

 

[Gossamer]

Maybe Polarassholes will buy it, bring it back, and kill off in Indian in a couple of years because Excelsior sales are great the first few years????

 

[1stVictory]

I read years ago that the 2nd go around of Indian, the Gilroy bikes, were doomed from the beginning because the brand was revived by businessmen instead of biker businessmen. Lots of recalls too. Trying to make a quick buck on the brand name.

Some trivia to share. I was in Sturgis in 1999 and sat on one of the "new" Gilroy Indians. They had a fairly large indoor open space with just 3 or 4 bikes on show.

I sat on one just like the one above. Those Texas longhorn handlebars just didn't feel right to me. No lane splitting with that bike! My buddy had bought a new but "weathered finish" Indian Motorcycle leather jacket somewhere in Canada. It was a top notch jacket. He rode a Hog and I rode a GL1500. There was no clothing being offered for sale at that time. The reason was that the new company hadn't yet obtained the rights to sell any Indian branded clothing. Yet, the branded clothing was available in Canada for whatever reason. Go figure.

 

[iabob]

Maybe Polarassholes will buy it, bring it back, and kill off in Indian in a couple of years because Excelsior sales are great the first few years????

And since Schwinn owned E-H, and had been in business since 1895, Polarass will claim "Heritage since 1895".