1914 Indian 7hp Board Track Racing Motorcycle Replica

Engine no. 34F015

• Early life of motorcycling
• One of the first Indian Motorcycle racers
• Claimed to be running

In a matter of only 10 years from its humble beginning as simple bicycling company, Hendee Manufacturing became the largest motorcycle producer in the world with its line of Indian single cylinder and twin cylinder motorcycles. It is in 1901 that Hendee Manufacturing managed to finish its first prototype, especially thanks to the hire of Oscar Hendstrom as Chief Engineer and Aurora Automatic Machinery Company for the production. They then became world beaters on the tracks around the globe with a selection of production-based race bikes and one-off factory exotics. The famous Hedstrom engine had an inlet over exhaust valve configuration that was quite powerful in its day although prone to wear from the complicated engine design.

In 1914, one of the popular as well as spectacular attractions was board track racing. Velodromes using long wooden planks for a base made racing somewhat like a Roman circus where spectators could view the entire track from the comfort of their seats. Meanwhile the motorcycle competitors would speed around the highly banked surface on machines that had neither brakes nor throttles. It was equally dangerous as it was fast with speeds reaching 100 mph. In that sense, it was unfortunately not rare to have death of racers and spectators.

As an example of a production based Indian racer, this motorcycle lacks a clutch, gearbox and brakes. Machines such as this bike replicates were push started to roll and were full throttle until the end of the race where the rider would cut out the magneto to stall the engine. The engine is based on Indian's 30.50 cubic inch i.o.e. motor but features ported cylinders. Power is transmitted directly to the rear wheel from the engine. The engine is braced in a conventional Indian loop frame however it is skewed to the front to bring the engine closer to the front wheel thus improving the handling of the motorcycle at high speeds and cornering. Atop the rigid forks, Indian's signature board track handlebars were the rider's center of concentration.
The bike presented here is a replica of those Indian Board Trackers of the time. Seller reports that some parts are original while some others are copies or reproductions, and that the bike is in running condition.