Indian Prince

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The Indian Prince is a motorcycle manufactured by the Hendee Manufacturing Company from 1925 to 1928. An entry-level single-cylinder motorcycle, the Prince was restyled after its first year and discontinued after four years.

The frame and forks of the Prince were revived in 1933 and used with V-twin engines to form the Motoplane and the Pony Scout.

Design and production[edit]

1927 flat-track racer based on an Indian Prince

The Prince was designed by Charles B. Franklin and began production in 1925.[1] It was a single-cylinder motorcycle for beginners[2] and for export.[3] The 1925 Prince gear box was separate from the engine, the frame under the tank has a tube which the tank is bolted too, the gas tank is mounted from underside of tank, front and back it was a wedge-shaped fuel tank. The Prince was redesigned for 1926 with a separate gearbox and a fuel tank similar in shape to that of the contemporary Scout. Both versions used coil-sprung girder forks instead of the leaf-sprung trailing link forks used on the contemporary Chief and Scout. A front brake was added in 1928, the last year of production.[1]

Legacy[edit]

Harley-Davidson began production of their single-cylinder motorcycle for 1926 and continued them until 1934.[4]

In 1933, the Prince frame and forks were revived for use in the Motoplane and Pony Scout V-twin motorcycles.[5][6] The Pony Scout was later renamed the Junior Scout and continued until the beginning of World War II.[5][6] Girder forks were used on the 1934-1942 Sport Scout[7] and on the 1945-1948 Chief.[5]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ a b Wilson 1995, p. 103.
  2. ^ How Stuff Works: 1926 Indian Prince
  3. ^ Girdler 2002, p. 71.
  4. ^ Hatfield 2002, p. 50–51.
  5. ^ a b c Wilson 1995, p. 107.
  6. ^ a b Girdler 2002, p. 97.
  7. ^ Girdler 2002, p. 103.

References[edit]

  • Girdler, Allan (2002) [1997]. The Harley-Davidson and Indian Wars. St. Paul, MN US: Motorbooks International Publishing. ISBN 0-7603-1353-9.
  • Hatfield, Jerry (2002-09-01). "The Flathead Era". In Darwin Holmstrom (ed.). The Harley-Davidson Century. St. Paul, MN USA: MotorBooks International. pp. 47–65. ISBN 0-7603-1155-2.
  • Wilson, Hugo (1995). "The A-Z of Motorcycles". The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle. London: Dorling Kindersley. ISBN 0-7513-0206-6.
  • The Auto Editors of Consumer Guide. "1926 Indian Prince". How Stuff Works. Archived from the original on 3 June 2013. Retrieved 9 March 2014. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)