TWO EARLY AMERICANS

A century ago in the fledgling days of the motorcycle industry, American-made motorcycles led the world in sophistication of design, with several companies producing four-cylinder models for their customers. These sat firmly at odds with the often ricketylooking singles and twins produced by others among the 300 or so US manufacturers of the pre-ww1 era, all but a handful of them destined not to survive the nineteen-teens.

Two manufacturers stood out among the array of Early Americans. Pierce was the first to put a four-cylinder model into production in 1909, but lack of in-house design expertise as well as a high price brought about the company’s demise in 1914. The two Scottish-born Henderson brothers brought their own quite different four-cylinder Model B to the marketplace in 1912, which proved to be a better thought-out design than its Pierce rival, as well as better executed at a lower price. It set standards for others to aim at in the early days of American motorcycling, and it was only because a shortage of materials and components in the run-up to WW1 affected their ability to meet orders, that the Henderson brothers were eventually forced to sell their thriving but undercapitalised company to Excelsior in 1917.

The chance to compare and contrast these two four-cylinder Early Americans by riding examples of each is a unique opportunity brought about by an American expat who has lived in Britain for almost fifty years. He’s the owner of these two very valuable historical artefacts which he insists should be ridden, not only displayed in his extensive private museum – so he kindly invited me to ride both bikes. It’s a unique opportunity that I didn’t need to be asked twice to do. Here is the second part of the hands-on story of these two Early Americans, from a time when the USA led the world in motorcycle design.