1925 ACE SPORT

What’s Ace got to do with Indian? Rather a lot. William Henderson, the technical brains behind the Henderson Four, had fallen out with Ignaz Schwinn, whose Excelsior company had taken over Henderson in 1917. Henderson found new backers and formed the Ace Motor Company in Philadelphia in 1919, with the first high-performance F-head Aces rolling out for the 1920 season. But then tragedy struck. In 1922 William was killed while test riding his latest creation, the very rapid Sporting Solo model Ace. Ace riders set new cross-country speed records and won numerous hillclimbs, but financial troubles were never far away. In December 1927 Indian purchased the Ace assets and marketed the 1300cc Four as the Indian Ace, and up to 1935 all Indian Fours were essentially Ace, which were essentially Henderson...