Inside Excelsior-Henderson

Inside Excelsior-Henderson

SPECIAL CRUISER SECTION

Visiting the Super X shop

TALK ABOUT BEING IN THE RIGHT place at the right time. Six years ago, after quaffing a few cold ones at the Sturgis Rally, Dan Hanlon (in the role of Mickey Rooney) turned to Brother Dave’s Judy Garland and blurted out, “Hey, let’s put on a motorcycle company!” Dave’s wife, Jennie, deserves credit at this point for not immediately padlocking the ice chest and packing the slurry siblings off to bed.

Something like $100 million later, Dan, Dave and Jennie Hanlon have made the most of the current crest of cruiser popularity, resurrecting the grand old Excelsior-Henderson name-

plate, out of circulation since the days of the Great Depression. As of presstime, more than 500 Super X heavyweights had rolled off the assembly line of a brand-new plant in Belle Plaine, Minnesota, not five miles from the old family farm, where 20 years ago the boys cobbled up hot-rods and choppers in a converted chicken coop (true!). If all goes according to script, another several thousand bikes will be built this year.

To celebrate their up-and-running status, the Hanlons invited the press to Belle Plaine, 40 miles southwest of Minneapolis, for a look-see.

First off, gearhead is spoken here.

Brother Dave commutes in a rare Plymouth Superbird musclecar; Brother Dan roars up on a Super X. The company bike lot runs the spectrum from a new TL Suzuki sport-Twin to an authentically bobbed Indian Chief (88 percent of the 200-plus workforce rides bikes, we’re told). Inside the lobby, visitors are greeted by a tasty selection of timeworn Excelsiors and Hendersons, oil pans arranged to catch the droppings.

Behind the lobby, separated by nothing more than glass panes, is the factory floor. Something of a misnomer, really, in that this is more of an assembly plant than a factory.

“There is no engine machining done in-house,” says head of engineering Allan Hurd. “Costs rocket into the $ 1 Os of millions when you start cutting metal.” The bulk of motor parts, we’re informed, are sourced from the industrial Midwest.

Someone asks about the Super X’s domestic content. “Never enough,” jokes Brother Dan. “Not for public consumption,” eludes Brother Dave. Ditto the origin of the brakes and suspension pieces (England’s AP and Japan’s KYB, if you’re interested).

The assembly line itself is impressiveclean, quiet, well-lit and, like the rest of the plant, air-conditioned. Super Xs go from unadorned engine cases to finished bikes in about 15 minutes, and are then ridden onto a rollingroad dyno for brake and engine checks. We saw 59 rear-wheel bhp, down slightly to the new Twin Cam Harley and Moto Guzzi VI1, but ahead of every other V-Twin cruiser. Noting that initial engine tune is conservative, Hurd hints at greater things

to come. “The motor is basically a platform for further work; there’s a fair amount of potential there,” he states matter-of-factly. Just how much potential? “Ah, that would be giving the game away,” he says, though the suggestion of a 100-cubic-incher-bigger than any current production V-Twinhas him smiling wryly.

During an impromptu visit to Brother Dave’s upstairs office, drawings of year-2000 Excelsiors were (accidentally on purpose?) left tacked to the wall. One was the usual “bagger” treatment with leather saddlebags and windscreen; the other was more interesting, a sport-cruiser with a 2-into-1 pipe and what appeared to be a conventional fork. Hurd’s hot-rod?

Break-even point for the fledgling company is “somewhere north of 5000 units per year.” Five hundred down, 4500 to go. David Edwards

CRUISE NEWS:

• How do you improve a Harley-Davidson? You bolt on a set of straight pipes, obviously. But if you’re The Motor Company itself, you need to be more subtle. Witness the nearinvisible changes to the Y2K lineup. All models get new, lower-effort Kelsey-Hayes four-piston brake calipers and one-piece discs; new, longerlasting wheel bearings and seals; and Americanmade, maintenance-free batteries.

• But that’s not all: The FXDX Dyna Sport (above) receives an adjustable, cartridge-style fork and adjustable, gas-charged rear shocks, plus a wider, 150/90-16 rear tire allowed by a new, narrower, carbon-fiber-reinforced belt that is shared

with all Dyna models. The XL1200C Sportster Custom (left), meanwhile, receives a new, 4.4-gallon fuel tank that is retrofittable to all 1982 and later Sportys. All FL models get lighter, hollow-spoke wheels. And the Electra Glide gets a more comfortable seat. As for the Softail models, look for big news coming out of the August dealer show.