It’s not every day that you meet a motorcycle more than a century old, but here she is. The story starts in 1876, when George Robie, son of a German immigrant , founded a company called the Excelsior Supply Company, specializing in sewing machine parts. Eventually, the company branched into bicycles. Robie’s son, Frederick, was instrumental in the introduction of the company’s first name-brand motorcycle in 1907. Success was instant, and the company soon made a V-twin. An Excelsior was the first motorcycle clocked at 100 mph in the US. That impressive feat was perhaps the inspiration for the acquisition of Excelsior Supply by Ignaz Schwinn in 1912. Alas, the Great Depression was unkind to all but the most robust businesses and Schwinn closed Excelsior in 1931.
Excelsior’s motorcycle dreams were fired by Walter Hechscher, who began customizing De Dion-Bouton single-cylinder engines to install in his own motorcycles in about 1905. These displaced about 21 cu in., enough to propel his bikes to about 35 mph. Excelsior purchased Hechscher’s operation, increasing production to meet strong demand. Later, the engine was enlarged to 30 cu. in. It features an atmospheric intake valve, battery ignition, and belt drive – via a wide leather strap. Here’s a close-up showing how the belt (missing on this example) works against the drive wheel – note the frame zig-zagging around to accommodate its placement. The brakes are rear coaster type. This ‘cycle spent many years in a German museum; it’s missing a few components required to make it run, but the motor is said to have “great compression”.
The front forks supply only modest absorption of road variances, and the rear provides none, so most of the rider’s comfort derives from the slender seat and whatever the tires afford. The seller notes that the tires do hold air but need to be replaced. This exact Excelsior Auto Cycle was presented for sale at Bonham’s in 2016, where it was a no-sale. Another derelict example sold for $29,700 at Mecum about a year ago.
Excelsior innovated the flat gas tank sandwiched between frame rails, a feature that was adopted by other makers in later years. Currently, this Auto Cycle is listed here on eBay, with bidding at $9100, reserve not met. A clue to the reserve is in the Bonham’s listing above, and here in this contemporary listing at Classic Motorcycle Consignments – a cool $45,500. The bike is located in Apache Junction, Arizona, but it would have been manufactured in Chicago. If “Chicago” and “Robie” are familiar to those of you who are fans of architecture – good for you: Frederick Robie’s wife was friends with Frank Lloyd Wright, who built a spectacular home for the young couple, now called the Robie House. Tours are conducted Thursday through Monday, in case you are in the vicinity.
Oh, I’m running, ( cough), This Mike Wolfe goes ape over these, and like any historical piece, it’s going to have a value most uninterested folks, like me, will never understand. I couldn’t imagine even trying to ride one, and far as I’m concerned, it can hang on a wall as an exhibit . Just another example of folks with too much money, imagine that, and not sure where to spend it.
What is amazing, is that in 1911, motorized transportation was still in its infancy, something like this was considered viable transportation. I mean, in 1911, a Kwik Trip wasn’t on every corner, who would ride such a thing? I bet I would have,,,
Howard, someone out there thinks that you are made of money because you’re keyboarding instead of scavaging for bottles and cans. You have no idea how people acquired their wealth. Unless their hand is in your pocket what do you care?
How do you know I’m not scavenging for cans and bottles,,,relax, I don’t have to wonder how people got their wealth, I can pretty accurately guess, grandpa invented the safety pin, the zerk fitting or something to do with Hollywood. These younger buyers couldn’t have possibly amassed the kind of money it takes to pixx away $50grand on a wall hanging. With 20 MILLION millionaires in this country, that’s a lot of hand me downs, I was just a son of a poor carpenter.
The problem , as I see it, it and all these overinflated vehicles, for that matter, sends a wrong message that this is what these things are supposed to be worth, and that, my friend, ( whether you’re my friend or not, figure of speech) leaves out a lot of folks that would like this stuff, but, you know, that new kidney should really come 1st.
Some but not all actually worked for it.
Considering the dirt roads etc. those days it would be a toss up between this bike and a Model T.
The history of this is the price driver here. Sure, whoever buys it will likely posess more $$$ than brains, but I hope they preserve it for future generations to enjoy.
I have a 70-year-old truck that is nowhere near what it was when it started its life. It began life black with a 256 Y block. It now has a complete GM drivetrain. It garners much attention, but I would love to pilot it down a dirt road as it was in 55!
Another wrecked Ford truck.
There’s always someone with something negative to say who don’t even know the story. Take it down the road and you may change your mind. I bought it with the existing Camaro front end but it also had the original anemic 305 and slush box tranny. I bought a crate 1971 LT1 bored .030 over with roller cam and many other goodies. Replaced the slush box with a built B&M crate transmission. It’s a blast to drive. I could’ve taken it back original, but I felt it had gone too far with the front end. I did the truck some good and improved it and hopefully some other gearhead will enjoy it as much as I do in the future.
Haha:- I knew the haters were behind the tree!
Its the owners truck to do as he pleases, no one has to like it except for him/her. Everyone is entitled to their opinion whether positive or negative .
Cooter, that is a cool looking truck. The artwork on the doors really makes it
You are my kind of trucker Cooter. Nice!
total restoration (a decade unless having a machine shop)
survivor?
moderate tinker’n run-a-bout.
Either of these choices has it repercussions, eh?
> Just another example of folks with too much money, imagine that, and not sure where to spend it.
That’s a rather unkind comment I think. I very much doubt this auction is being bid on by anyone who’s “not sure where to spend their money.” There cannot be many of these bikes left, hopefully this one will be restored to running condition by the enthusiastic collector who buys it.
I absolutely agree with your assessment of that comment, Dallas.
A regular commenter here at BF should know that there are fans of every type of motorized vehicle ever made, and something like this is not going to be purchased by someone who doesn’t know what it is and just wants a wall decoration.
It will lose 30% of it’s value if that paint is replaced.
Nice work as always, Michelle! The Robie House reference was great. As a young architecture student, we toured the Robie House and several other FLLW projects in the Chicago area – they’re amazing.
The Depression sure changed a lot of lives and products. It’s hard to imagine what they would be like today if they were allowed to carry on. One thing that bothers me is that Schwinn just made up his mind to close Excelsior one day. It wasn’t losing money or anything else; Schwinn just decided to get out of the game while he was still ahead. The heartbreak is that Henderson, part of Schwinn’s empire, was shut down too.
If I had the means I would certainly be looking intensely at this bike. I’ve been a motorcycle fan all my life and one of these would certainly be welcome at my place. And I would complete it, get it running and I would RIDE it. Maybe the future would see a complete restoration but from what I see now, preservation would be the main event…
I did not know about how Henderson disappeared. Is there a book or document about this history that you can recommend?
One of the best resources I’ve had access to was a book entitled, “Golden Age of the Fours.” My copy is stored away so I can’t name the author at this time. Anyways it tells a lot about 4-cylinder bikes in America. The section on Henderson talks about how the Henderson brothers split, with one starting Ace and the other continuing on and getting absorbed by Schwinn. It’s a good book.
I’m fascinated by the springs in the seat. I can’t comprehend why the beehive and coil are necessary. One in compression and the other in tension working against each other? I get that they were trying to smooth the small bumps and when a doozy hit, have it not bottom out, but there are much simpler ways to do this. Plus there is no rebound dampening, so you would get launched off the seat with a big hit. Art perhaps?
These are a eye catching and functional mechanical pieces. In a window of a vintage store, this would draw people in just to look at it. It never needs to run again to have value.
I worked 10 hours to make $15.00 back in the day. By brain still remembers how seemingly impossible it was to save $500.00. Today kids earn more than that in one hour, so something costing 10x as much is a relative value. Parting with a couple years of my savings for wall art isn’t imaginable to me, but for a person working for a month, perhaps it seems OK.
The Motorcycle Cannonball, a 3500-4000 mile time trial across the United States has featured many different brands of m/c’s from the1909 era on up to the thirties. Very few competitors are millionaires, just people with a passion to keep this stuff running. I see families traveling in a van or small motor home to save the hotel bills and not eating in restaurants to save more. Racing on a budget is still or was a great way to have fun and involve the family
Of course you’d need a reason to own this excelsior, unfortunately I don’t