Henderson meant style, exclusivity, speed, technical innovations, prides and recordings. They were beautiful, very expensive motorcycles, running faster than anything on the road, and resisting how to pass around the Earth.
Henderson's story began in the romantic era of motorcycles. The first Henderson was on the door of the Detroit factory in 1912. He had a four-cylinder in-line engine, one of the novelties of that period, and ran 97 km / h.
Henderson's motorcycles were sophisticated and expensive. They were fast - something fabulous in those times, they were comfortable - although the rear suspension was lacking, they had decent brakes and were very beautiful. But above all, they were very fast. That's why they were the favorites of many police departments.
The Occupation of the Earth on a Henderson
Henderson motorbikes have beaten several records. The first and most important thing was the detour of the planet. Henderson was the first motorcycle to reach the world in 1913, piloted by Carl Stevens Clacy. And this was just the beginning. In the same year, Alan Bendell crossed America from east to west in 7 days and 16 hours, four days faster than the record held by Indian.
Then another Henderson arrived from Canada to Mexico in just 72 hours and 25 minutes. Another record was beaten in 1922 on a track near Washington, when a Henderson made 2,514 km in 24 hours at an average speed of over 100 km / h. This record would remain unshaken for 15 years.
In the book The Ultimate History of Fast Bikes, journalist Roland Brown writes that even Henry Ford, the parent of the American automotive industry, was impressed by Henderson's performance and bought a $ 370 motorcycle. They are said to have requested a discount but would have been denied.
Henderson goes under the umbrella of Excelsior
The production costs of Henderson motorcycles were too high, and in 1917, brothers Tom and William Henderson had to be under the tutelage of Ignaz Schwinn, who owned Excelsior. The production was immediately moved to the Excelsior plant in Chicago. The relationship did not last long, and in 1919 Bill Henderson moved to Philadelphia, where he began working on a new project, which he called Ace. He did not get to see his model on the market. In 1922, while testing him, he suffered a fatal accident.
Subsequently, the project was taken over by two engineers from Excelsior who created the XP4 model. It developed 45 horsepower and reached 208 km / h. The Ace said it was the fastest bike in the world. However, because of the high costs, it could not be produced in series.
Henderson KJ - "Streamline"
Henderson KJ, also known as Streamline, was one of the most sophisticated 20th-century motorcycles. It had a 1301 cc engine that develops 40 horsepower. It reached 161 km / h and the speedometer on the tank was illuminated. He also had brakes on the drum, a three-speed box and weighed 225 kg. However, although it was quite expensive, it could not be sold for profit.
"Gentlemen, today we stop"
Henderson was knocked down by the recession of the 1930s. In the summer of 1931, Schwinn called the heads of departments and said, "Gentlemen, today we stop." Since then, silence has been put on the four-cylinder engine in line. A spark hit in 1993, when Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle was founded in Minnesota. The company has cost about 2,000 new motorcycles, but has also been hit by the economic crisis.
