Henderson Motorcycles Big X And Sidechair 1918
The Excelsior motorcycle was produced by the Excelsior Motor Manufacturing Company of Chicago, Illinois from 1907 until 1931, latterly under the ‘Super X’ brand name.
1911 was a landmark year in Excelsior history when the firm was acquired by bicycle maker Ignaz Schwinn, who also purchased the Henderson brand around the same time.
Together with rivals Harley-Davidson and Indian, Excelsior offered a 3-speed transmission from 1915 as well as a new frame with curved top tubing. 1917 saw the introduction of the heavily valanced guards on the V twin. The ‘Military’ olive green was adopted as the livery that year and remained until the blue of the 1920’s. The Excelsior brand, along with Harley-Davidson and Indian, was favoured by the US military as one of the “bikes of choice” for the armed services in WWI.
This magnificent and 100% original bike takes pride of place in the sidecar section of the collection. Acquired from the John Howard collection in Christchurch, this lovely bike has a rich history of use in NZ Veteran circles, as can be seen from the collection of various rally badges on the inside of the chair. Well known Christchurch motorcyclist Basil Chambers was responsible for the bikes exposure around the country.
This motorcycle joined the NZ Classic Motorcycles collection in 2011. It is still registered and travels on a daylight WOF when used around the Nelson region.