The most popular was the 1000cc model "J", which was mastered in 1915. In 1922, it was added to the version with a 1200 cm3 engine - so beloved by illegal alcohol dealers (in those days in the U.S. there was a "dry law") for the fact that the motorcycle easily left the politseyskyh cars even with a pram, full of bottles of moonshine. Motorcycles had engines with lower outlet and upper inlet valves (upper valves were driven by long outer rods), brakes only on the rear wheel, front short-lever fork with central spring. In 1925, the bikes were significantly modernized - that's when they received the famous droplet-shaped gas tank, typical for modern Harleys. In 1926, the production of motorcycles with single-cylinder lower-valve engines began as well - however, the share of such motorcycles in the total production volume was always insignificant. Characteristic feature: although the company made racing bikes with single-cylinder overhead valve engines (in their creation was involved Sir Henry Ricardo), it never installed such engines on road bikes out of fear that they would compete with two-cylinder models.
"Indian was a regular rival friend of Harley-Davidson for half a century. At the end of the war, Indian met with the 1000cc Powerplus model, to which the 600cc Scout model was added in 1920. Both motorcycles had two-cylinder V-shaped engines (the first engine of this configuration "Indian" made in 1905) with lower valves, three-speed gearboxes in a separate unit and a characteristic lever front forks with a quarter-leaf cavity as a spring element. In 1924, the outdated Powerplus was replaced by two new models at once: the 1000cc Chip and the 1200cc Big Chip. A year later, a small "Prince" with a single-cylinder lower-valve 350cc engine was added to them, and in 1927 the production program received two more additions. One of them was a 750-cubic meter version of the "Scout", called the "Police Scout". The second was a four-cylinder Ace. "Indian" and "Harley-Davidson" in comparison with all other motorcycle companies in the United States were giants, and almost equal in size - the number of produced bikes ahead was torn out one, the other company - and in the early twenties they concluded a secret agreement: Firstly, the prices for similar models were set the same (you probably noticed how similar were the production programs of the giants), and secondly, the service stations of these two brands from now on were not engaged in motorcycles of any other firms.
The third of the Big Three - Excelsior - was significantly behind the other two in terms of production, although its bikes were probably more advanced in terms of technology. Known since the last century bike company, its first motorcycle was produced in 1907, and in 1910 began production of motorcycles with two-cylinder V-engines. In 1917, it acquired the company "Henderson", which produced four-cylinder motorcycles. These heavy machines were so popular that the company switched to their production - they were always sold under the brand name "Henderson", not "Excelsior". The Excelsior designation was only returned in 1924, when the four-cylinder model was complemented by the Super X designed by Arthur Lemon with a two-cylinder V-shaped 750cc engine with lower outlet and upper inlet valves and a three-speed gearbox in an engine block. This motorcycle, reliable and fast, quickly gained popularity, entered the army and the police in large quantities and damaged a lot of blood to competitors - "Harley-Davidson" and "Indian".
The famous American four-cylinder motorcycles are connected with the name of William Henderson - a supporter of the concept that motorcycles should be designed not by bike, but by car. He started serial production of motorcycles under his name in 1911. They had in-line four-cylinder engine with a working volume of 780 cm3, installed in the frame longitudinally. The output yutapans were lower, while the inlet ones were upper. The torque was transmitted to the rear wheel by chain, the role of gearbox was played by two-speed main gear in the wheel hub. On this motorcycle, Carl Clancy made the first officially registered run around the world, driving 29 thousand miles on the roads of America, Europe, Africa, India and Japan.
Continued in the next part...
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