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cyclingday

I'm the Wiz, and nobody beats me!
Harley-Davidson, Indian, Excelsior.
1167823

1167825

Well, at least the bicycle equivalent anyway.
1918 H-D, 1923 Indian, 1927 Excelsior.
 
Yes, they are.
I luckily stumbled on to the Harley Davidson, and I knew, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to be its next caretaker.
Well, one thing led to another, and the Indian was offered to me, because the previous owner thought it would be the perfect stable mate to the H-D.
I was reluctant at first, but then eventually saw the light.
Well, with that acquisition, I knew, that I had to get a Schwinn built Excelsior from the same era, to complete the trifecta from the golden age of the American motorcycle industry.
The interesting thing about these three, is that out of all of them, the Schwinn is the least desirable from a collectibility standpoint, but it’s the only one, that was actually made by its manufacturing namesake.
The H-D was built by Davis Sewing Machine Company, and the Indian was built by the Westfield Manufacturing Company.
The Excelsior was built by, Arnold Schwinn & Company.
Schwinn ceased motorcycle production in 1931.
Indian ceased motorcycle production in 1953.
Harley-Davidson is still going strong.
Although, it hasn’t been easy, they never gave up the fight.
Live to Ride!
 
Here are the big three for me: Harley Davidson, Flying Merkel, Excelsior. The Merkel motorcycle pushed the field with their speed and engineering. They were just too expensive to built and Joseph Merkel apparently wasn't the easiest fellow to work with. One wonders what would have happened if Schwinn or another more well financed firm bought the Merkel brand from Light in 1911?
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