1916 Indian PowerPlus

• ENGINE: 61 cu. in. 1000 CC side-valve V-twin
• ENGINE NO: 75H818
• HP: 16

In 1897, George M. Hendee, an accomplished bicycle racer from Mass­achu­setts, founded the Hendee Manufacturing Company to produce bikes. They were initially branded “Silver King” and “Silver Queen” until the name “Amer­ican Indian” was adopted and then shortened to “Indian” in 1898. In 1900, Hendee teamed up with Oscar Hedstrom from Sweden to develop single-cylinder Motor­cycle prototypes in Mid­dle­town, Conn­ecticut. Together, they opened the first factory in Spring­field, Mass­achu­setts in 1901 to create the first Amer­ican Motor­cycle company where they would be produced until 1953. They hired the Aurora Auto­matic Machinery Company to manufacture their engines in 1901, which they did under license until 1907 when they would go on to produce Thor Motor­cycles.

The first Indian motor­cycles with chain drives were sold to the public in 1902 and the pair would go on to produce powerful and reliable vehicles. Hedstrom, a successful racer, broke a new world speed record of 56 mph in 1903 in the company’s first reliability trial and won an endurance race from NYC to Spring­field and back. 1904 would bring the introduction of the signature deep red color and, in 1905, Indian’s first V-twin factory racer. Their reliability and ingenuity would make them the largest motor­cycle manufacturer in the world by 1910, taking the first three places at the 1911 Isle of Man.

In 1913, Indian began supplying the U.S. Army and they turned the majority of their production efforts from 1917 to 1919 to World War I, most models being based on the PowerPlus. In 1914, Erwin “Cannon Ball” Baker set a record riding from San Diego to the East Coast on a PowerPlus. He would go on to ride a 1916 61ci (1000cc) 42-degree V-twin PowerPlus, which became a highly successful roadster and racing bike, remaining in production with few changes until 1924. In 1923, the company changed its name to the Indian Motocycle Company without an ‘r’ in ‘Motor­cycle’ and Indian would continue making its mark, including at the first Daytona 200 in 1937 with a Sport Scout. Indian turned yet again to war production from 1940 to 1945 during WWII and has undergone many changes in name and in location since - from North Carolina, to Minn­esota and Iowa, it is now owned and produced by Polaris Industries. Indian motor­cycles are still widely known and purchased not just for their rich history and classic Amer­ican style, but for their modern technology, craftsmanship, powerful engines, their comfortable touring models and cruisers, and their distinctive sound.

The Indian PowerPlus was produced from 1916 to 1924 by the Hendee Manu­fact­uring Co. and was designed by Charles Gustafson. The PowerPlus was a revolution in Indian design, as the com­pany switched from its orig­inal F-head of 1901 to a side-valve design in 1916. Indian’s new chief engin­eer, Charles Gustafson, had designed the first side-valve motor­cycle built in the U.S. for Reading-Standard in 1907 and knew the layout to have many advantages, including easier con­struc­tion and service, and cooler running of its valves. Cannonball Baker proved the point by winning the Three Flags endurance run on a prototype PowerPlus in Aug­ust 1915, riding from Van ­couver to Tijuana in a record 3 days, 9 hours, and 15 minutes. That was an astounding time for a 1,650-mile trip on dirt roads, and it proved conclusively that the PowerPlus was one tough machine.