cc four-stroke, single speed machine with a
leather belt drive. It had a top speed of 3540 mph. This first attempt would not suffice.
Humor me, if you will, but at this point in my
writing I am forced to take a small break and
giggle at the scenario unfolding in my head…
Four chimps in all their ginger glory, standing
around this bike. The first is smiling at his
brilliant creation, awaiting praise from the
others on a job well done. Chimps 2 and 3
pat him on the back and commence telling
stories of the awesomeness that has just
unfolded in front of them. But chimp 4 stands
a bit apart…scratching his head (or whatever
chimps scratch) and pondering. (Number 4
you see…he is the crazy one, the envelope pusher, the
friend that always sees another option…that usually
gets you all in trouble). The other 3 stop and stare at
Number 4, and Number 1 of course has to ask what
the problem is…Number 4 looks up, one eye making
contact and the other trailing up and off to the left (as
usual). He smiles as he raises his arms, lets out a loud
abrupt conglomeration of excited grunts…and begins
flexing his throttle hand. Squealing and grunting
commences, and they all begin exercising those throttle
hands. Back to the drawing board for Excelsior, there
had to be a better way, a faster way. By 1910 they had
introduced an engine configuration they would become
famous for, and continue to produce until 1929, the “X
Series”. This engine was a V-Twin measuring 61 cubic
inches (1,000 cc) and would become the first ever to hit
the century mark. The “Model Big X” was the mainstay
of Excelsior production, sporting an inlet-over-exhaust
V-Twin that was belt driven at first and later had two
speed and three speed gearboxes. Production was
limited in comparison to Indian and Harley, and many of
these models were exported to Europe and Australia.
This era brought about the evolution of sp ring frames,
magneto ignitions, kick starts, spring mounted
seats, improved tires, and heavier/sturdier frames to
accommodate the larger engines. The motorcycle
had become its own entity, no longer a bicycle with
www.thunderroadscolorado.com
December 2015
an engine, but a separate machine with
its own technology. In late 1913 and
early 1914, at what was then its heyday,
motorcycle production suddenly began
to slow to a crawl and production turned
its focus almost entirely to producing
motorcycles for the military.
By the
outbreak of WWI in 1914, the motorcycle
had rapidly progressed into a dependable,
speedy, and relatively inexpensive means
of transportation.
Melanie Schwarte
[email protected]
Thunder Roads Magazine® Colorado 11