What are you thoughts on Excelsior Henderson...

Yah.. I can tell from that short video that if things had worked out differently I'da had me one of them. They're literally like 'a brother from another mother' to the Vics. Biggest thing that kept me from buying one 20 years ago was my history/experience with another marque I really liked; Moto Guzzi. I freaking loved those things.. but any work needing to be done, or parts, upgrades etc was just too much pain.

 

The Henderson name is similar to the Indian name as it was an original turn of the century brand (#3) that has been resold a few times. Was hoping that Textron would have found interest in and bought the name and restarted it since the name came up for sale a couple years ago.

Amazingly I actually saw one in the wild during a poker run this summer. Talked to the owner of the bike who apparently was the president of the EX owners club. Wish I had gotten his name. Learned a few things from him. They do have a line on parts. Hanlon produced roughly 2500 bikes that were actually sold and when the doors shut their warehouse had enough parts for 2500 more bikes. He told me the owner's group has access to those parts, so he wasn't concerned about availability of parts with so few bikes actually on the road. We talked about the EX and Victory connection. He said it was true that a number of engineers did move to Victory.

Funny I was the first person that day that recognized what that bike was. He stated that if he went to a ride with multiple brands represented, people will talk to him about the bike, but at a mainly HD event (which this was) nobody seems interested. I was on the Challenger that day and told him about my KP. He said that explains the interest in and my recognizing what his bike was.

If I get a chance i'll upload photos later.

 

That was Mike Locklear.

 

Ahh, I had forgotten that these old VHS tapes got shared on YouTube. For anyone who believed the investment money was squandered, take a critical look at this tour around the factory.



0:20 As I mentioned earlier: it's a fancy looking building. People get upset because they had a "museum" in their lobby. Take a closer look: a warehouse tilt-up in the back, with two office buildings on the left and right of the main entrance. The "museum" is nothing but an enclosed patio, bounded in the front and overhead by glass, with the three buildings on the sides and back. The ground is paver stones.

1:05 The factory tour includes the metal prep dipping tanks, robotic welding and paint striping cells, robotic oven line, assembly line, rolling road test stand and crating area.

As you look at it, remember this all came out of nothing but some napkin-back business plans 5 years earlier. The building and everything in it had to be designed, sourced, purchased, installed and 2,000 bikes built. All those salaries had to be paid. It still blows my mind 20 years later.

Also on the channel, the groundbreaking celebration (and others if you're interested):

 

I remember the E-H display at Sturgis in 1999. They had a beautiful set up with their company logo painted semi and lots of merchandise and swag available. Everything was top notch. The best part was the Hanlon's mother wore a name tag that said, "Mom." I too wish they would have made it.
DP

 

Hmm...

Excelsior-Henderson Resurrection, Redux

 

Great link Indy, thank you. I hope they’re successful at bringing E-H back beyond their wildest imagination.

 

Made in India, no thanks.

 

Hmm, doesn't bother me a bit but I understand the sentiment.

One of the reasons I wanted Victory to be successful and I wanted one of their motorcycles was because it was an America v-twin.

Last I remember reading, H-D was around 44% American made to Victory's 88%.

 

I didn’t realize KTM & Husky’s were 48% owned & built by an Indian company, makes it easier for them to export, already have the shipping logistics down with ktm n husky. Unique moment in history with the globalization of everything. A completely home grown product is rare from source of parts, technology , the final assembly & sales.

 

That's why my next bike will be another Vic, Injun, or H-D. Or maybe even an American made E-H.

 

I wonder if a Yamaha dealer would do this transmission fix for an E-H?