test

[jmanjeff]

[Chris Haynes]

I like this one from the Vegas auction.

[c.o.]

Did it sell Chris? Wow! Cool bike! Curious to know what the Motorplane went for as well.........

[Chris Haynes]

Did it sell Chris? Wow! Cool bike! Curious to know what the Motorplane went for as well.........

If I heard correctly it went for 22G's. Missing clutch parts.

[c.o.]

Interesting......... I saw that the Vegas ad in Walneck's mentioned that the Motoplane up for bids was the only one in existence. I know they are quite rare, but I don't think it is the only one....

[exeric]

Let's see if this works? This is my 1916 Excelsior.

[c.o.]

Can you tell me you don't grin when you ride it?

[exeric]

Am I right in thinking a Motoplane is a Chief chassis with scout motor ? The logic being, that the buyer could upgrade to a Chief motor when his confidence, and pocketbook grew. I saw a beautiful one at Wauseon about 10 years ago. It was either Rocky Halter's or Robin Markey's bike and it was a "real" original paint motorcycle. Did the Excelsior sell Chris ? Was it called a 1916 or a 1917? There are a few ways of telling the difference. Just like H-D in 1917, Excelsior painted most of the 17's green but the early 17's are gray. 16's have a screw on Schebler and not a 3 bolt, and the frames were transitional with many anomolies. Excelsior didn't throw anything away so you will find 16's with altered '15 frames.

Cory, unfortunately, it's not running right now. There is a leak at the gas fitting and I changed out the Berling mag for a Bosch and then pushed it in a corner. I think it was Floyd Clymer who said; "The Excelsior is a candle that burns brightly. . . But not for very long." I would partially disagree with the last part of his statement becuase the X was a reliable motorcycle under reasonable use. However, it is not of the quality of a Harley Davidson or Indian of 1916. If you get the opportunity to take a close look at an Indian or H-D of that time period you will see the incredible quality of every little piece of their construction. Those bikes are almost like a watch. They both made their own hardware and engineering was methodical and on-going. I think 1916 was the zenith for H-D and Indian because up to that point they had just crested the hill of wealth, success, and sales. It was never going to be that good again for either company. I still think Excelsior was a finely built motorcycle, but not in the league of H-D and Indian. In my opinion. . . . Strictly, my opinion, H-D and Indian have NO rivals for quality in that era or this era. Of coarse technology has surpassed that of 1916 but I defy anyone to point out a mass produced motorcycle that featured so many high quality details in an affordable machine. They could do this because they had the sales to maintain a big engineering staff who specified the finest materials, and demaned the best machine tools to mass produce that quality. Small companies just can't afford that.

Anyways, when it ran, it ran like a raped ape. It made my 1920 Harley look sick. Third gear on clincher tires is scarey and the Excelsior just keeps on pulling. The Excelsior is really a wonderful bike.

[Scott Parker]

The motoplane is a scout 45ci motor in a small pony scout frame. A one year only machine and not many were made making it quite rare. The one in vegas sold as I recall for $ 77,000.00. Mid America Auction does have the results of the auction up on their website. For you pre '16 guys check out the autoped scooter, my Grandpa used to have one just like it.

[exeric]

So that's what a Motoplane is. That sounds like a great combination of motor and frame compared to whatever it was, that I saw at Wauseon.

[Scott Parker]

see the images and results from vegas auction jan. 2009 at http://www.midamericaauctions.com/

[c.o.]

I think the Motoplane is one of the only machines that true die hard 101ers will acknowledge....

[c.o.]

Anyways, when it ran, it ran like a raped ape. It made my 1920 Harley look sick. Third gear on clincher tires is scarey and the Excelsior just keeps on pulling. The Excelsior is really a wonderful bike.

I figured that it would make ya grin! By the way great rendition on why Harley and Indian made it while the others didn't.