Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle

This article is about the late 1990s motorcycle manufacturer in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. For the early 20th Century motorcycle manufacturer in Chicago, see Excelsior Motor Manufacturing & Supply Company. For the English motorcycle manufacturer, see Excelsior Motor Company. For other motorcycle manufacturers named Excelsior, see Excelsior (motorcycle manufacturer).

The Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle Company was founded by Dan Hanlon in Burnsville, Minnesota as Hanlon Manufacturing Company (HMC) in 1993, and thereafter legally changed its name to the Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycle Manufacturing Company. The company set as its mission to design and manufacture premium quality American-made cruiser and touring motorcycles. The company secured the motorcycle names from the past of Excelsior and Henderson previously owned by Ignatz Schwinn of the Schwinn companies, and proceeded to design and manufacture OEM proprietary motorcycles with design originality of the former Excelsior and Henderson motorcycles.

Mr. Hanlon had earlier started several companies and previously was employed with two Fortune 500 companies. He recruited a management team, which included Tom Rootness as Chief Financial Officer, Al Benz as Vice President of Engineering, Allan Hurd as Vice President of Manufacturing, and John LaVoie as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. Mr. Hanlon's brother Dave Hanlon, and his wife Jennie Hanlon, also joined the company. From the time of inception through production, the company secured equity and debt financing of approximately $100 million, which included the new factory and finishing facility. Initially financing came from Mr. Hanlon and his family and friends. As the company grew, public and private debt, and private accredited investors were added to the equity mix, and ultimately the company conducted an IPO (BIGX) during 1997. The stock symbol BIGX was chosen in respect to the former Excelsior motorcycle company that had furnished USA military motorcycles to the World War I effort. The soldiers nicknamed the motorcycles, the "Big X" due to the large x emblazoned on the fuel tank.

New Super X motorcycle

The company had a detailed business plan, and the motorcycle is a new, proprietary original equipment manufacturer (OEM) vehicle, including a new engine, frame, and all related drive and styling components. A significant investment was made in the engineering design and tooling, which encompassed the first five years of the company's operations. The motorcycle is an updated design with styling and engineering being adopted from the earlier Excelsior-Henderson motorcycles from the 1905-1931 timeframe. The 1929 Excelsior Super X is credited among historians as being the first modern-day cruiser motorcycle design.

Factory

During 1997-98, the company constructed a modern state-of-the-art factory in Belle Plaine, Minnesota. The factory was equipped for a capacity of 10,000 motorcycles per year, and, with a few minor assembly and finishing line changes, would have had a capacity of 20,000. The company hoped to achieve full production in the fifth production year. The first calendar (not model year) production year was projected at 4,000 units which would include parts of two model years.

Production

Excelsior-Henderson introduced it first production model, the Super X, in December 1998, and commenced production in Q1 1999. It was a several month later start than the company had projected. The company established approx. 140 existing OEM dealers throughout the United States. The motorcycles averaged an MSRP around $18,500. Via the assembly line, the company produced for retail sale approx. 1900 motorcycles in various configurations; 1161 units in model year 1999, and 720 units in model year 2000. VIN number 0001315 was the last 1999 model produced, and the 2000 model year began with VIN 0001316. In total, the company produced an estimated 1950 motorcycles, which would include motorcycles produced and not designed for retail dealer sales; such as dealer promotional bikes, test prototypes and non-assembly line produced motorcycles.

Market

The company received a significant amount of world wide media coverage from newsprint, television, radio, and magazine articles. The use of the internet was not yet popularized, however the company did benefit from the coverage as it was known at that time. The American motorcycle industry was robust in the 1990s and growing at double digit rates as baby boomers were exploring health and recreation alternatives. The waiting list for a popular Harley-Davidson model was up to two years, and Excelsior-Henderson positioned to capitalize on the growing market and unfulfilled demand. During this same timeframe, additional companies (OEMs and after-market custom bikes) had also decided to enter the industry, with most of them later succumbing. Noteworthy are the Indian Motorcycle revivals, which invested an estimated $240 million, and the Polaris Victory motorcycle launch, which invested an estimated $200 million.

Reorganization

The impending financial market collapse (Y2K and dotcom boom/bust) of 1999-2000 resulted in Excelsior-Henderson having difficulty completing the next scheduled capital infusion, and became an indirect casualty of the financial marketplace. Therefore, on December 21, 1999, Excelsior-Henderson filed for a Chapter 11 reorganization. As an outcome of the process, the company was sold to a Florida investment group, which later filed for reorganization. Production of motorcycles never commenced. Today the motorcycles are highly coveted and considered as among the finest motorcycles built.

There is an official Excelsior-Henderson Motorcycles website which maintains information and links about the company and motorcycles. In addition, a book was published, titled Riding The American Dream.

External links

Official website