Indian Prince

This article is about the motorcycle model. For the Indian princes of the Princely States of British India, see Princely state.

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

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

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

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

References

• 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)