The Lindbergh Ride, 2022

[danf19]

Gene:
Best of luck and safe travels to all of you !
Will be following your posts !
Dan

[gharper]

My Excelsior Story
Gene Harper
I have been a member of the AMCA since the early 70’s, when my mom and I joined together. In 1983 I joined the Rocky Mtn Chapter in Denver Colorado. In 1984 the Rocky Mtn Chapter hosted the first ever National Road Run and the thrill of riding old motorcycles together with other enthusiasts was born. I acquired the bones of my first Excelsior project from Carl Vandre in Denver in late 1989. At the time I knew absolutely nothing about Excelsior motorcycles!
20 X starter kit 1989.jpg

THE EXCELSIOR "KIT" AS FOUND IN 1989

Shortly after that I connected with Charlie Carter in Orlando FL, former editor of The AMCA Magazine. Charlie was an Excelsior enthusiast through and through, with his favorite Excelsior being the Series 20 models which were produced from 1920-24. Charlie quickly became a great source of information, parts, resources and encouragement on my X projects. During one of our early conversations, Charlie mentioned that the famous aviator, Charles Lindbergh, had a Series 20 X and made a cross country trip on that bike in the early 20’s. That conversation in the early 90’s sparked the idea in my mind that it would be an amazing adventure to retrace Lindbergh’s 1921 trip, riding the same model motorcycle as Lindbergh! Having a few friends join in on the same model motorcycle would be even better! Restoration of the X and retracing Lindbergh’s trip has been my goal for over 30 years and has been the driving force behind my restoration.
Over the course of those many years, I was able to piece together 3 “Series 20 kits”, made up of worn out, broken, rusted and bent parts. Two of those projects were sold to close friends with the stipulation that they must restore the bike and join me on this historic trip. I kept the pieces to build up a 1924 model, because it is the rarest of the “Series 20’s” and also because it has the best upgrades, most of which were made in 1924, just before the model was discontinued. Old parts were straightened, repaired or just made new by myself or others around the world. A few new old stock parts were found as well but many did not fit correctly and needed modification. Fixtures were built for straightening the frame and forks, and I wound up doing that for some of the other guys as well. My goal was to restore the bike and make it as reliable and safe to ride as possible, yet still be an accurate restoration and retain the correct look and feel of the original motorcycle. This required many modifications such as modern seals in the engine and transmission, modern drop center tires and wheels for safety, a slight increase in compression ratio and a new cam for better performance on today’s roads. In addition, the generator was modified to produce 12 volts and be much more reliable than the original. I leaned on many of my friends for help with the things I couldn’t do, such as good welding, machining that was beyond my capabilities and advice on engine building details.
For me, this has been by far the most difficult restoration I have ever undertaken. It’s fair to say that literally every single piece had to be repaired or built new. It seems these motorcycles were ridden until they were completely worn out, then taken apart and scattered to the winds.
The 24 X finally came together in November of 2021 and was fired up for the first time that fall. After many short rides, adjustments and minor modifications, the 24 X is well dialed in and ready for the trip, with almost 500 miles on the odometer by late June. It is a pleasure to ride and I’m looking forward to the trip of a lifetime!

24 Big X 1.jpeg

[gharper]

Lindbergh Ride – Alex Bernhardt

I have been restoring and riding antique motorcycles, as a hobby, for more than 20 years. As a Chicagoan, I was naturally interested in motorcycles made in my home town by Schwinn, under the Excelsior and Henderson brands. I found a 1920 Excelsior, and over the course of 5 years collected parts, and undertook the research necessary to complete the restoration. Then Covid hit and it provided me with the perfect window of time to complete the project.
This has been the most challenging project I have attempted to date. Many of the parts needed to be hand made because no spares exist. You can’t just go to the store to buy the missing pieces. I enjoyed the making; the machining, the welding, and the metal fabrication during this build.
The best part is that after the building work of the project, you have a fun machine to ride. It’s incredibly satisfying to go down the road on a bike you put together yourself.


My project during the build: Alex 1.jpg




After the restoration:

Alex's finished.jpg


I look forward to riding cross country with three other Excelsior motorcycles of the same vintage on the Lindbergh ride.

[Steve Swan]

Gene, thank you so much for sharing your passion, enthusiasm, wonderful memories you have and will create. i very much appreciate the dedication and rigorous attention you have given this machine, exploring, unearthing and sharing the history associated with the marque of those who came before us. My very best to you on your journey; i will be following.

[gharper]

My Charles Lindberg Ride story
Hans Coertse
17^th June 2022

Life isn’t a coincidence, but if I look back at the thread of occurrences to have taken place for me to be on this journey, I can certainly conclude that Life is incredible.
Little did I know when I made that phone call late on a Sunday afternoon in 2010, to the club secretary at the AMCA club in the USA what would transpire in the life of this African boy. I had emailed my application for membership to the AMCA just a few days earlier and receive a response email from a very friendly and kind lady clearing up some minor administrative matters with my application and when reading her fresh email, I thought “I will just give her a call” and clear up the outstanding information to my application, so a telephone call followed. Unfortunately, her name is not clear to me anymore, however very friendly and very efficient I do recall. We had some small chat about motorbikes near the end of our call, when she said to me, “….and you are following the Cannonball are you?” to which I replied – “What’s that?” Well, more discussions followed when she explained about the first Cannonball (CB) taking place from Kittyhawk to Santa Monica in California. Well, she got me thinking; coast to coast in America; 16 days on a vintage motorcycle for an African boy.... that sounded like a great challenge!!
At that stage I had done the premier South Africa vintage motorcycle event, the DJ Rally, 10 times and had all the T shirts to show….it was time for a new challenge and the game was on.
Little did I know how important it was for my CB preparation to have undertaken the DJ Rally, which is a 2-day 400-mile event in the form of a regularity trial and when adding a 6500 ft Drakensberg Mountain pass crossing to a single cylinder 1909 Humber 500 cc motorcycle without clutch and gearbox, only a decompressor and peddles to use for starting and hill climbing………16 days across America should be doable and fun?
Well time flies when you are having fun, as we have heard. It was 2011 when I first met Gene Harper during my visit to the Davenport swop meet in August 2011 in preparation for my first CB which was in 2012 and a friendship had grown since then, probably from our common interest in things which seems a little crazy. It was on my third Cannonball in 2016 that I was approached by Gene and his words to me are still clear….” I would like to invite you on the Charles Lindberg Ride”, to which by now a standard response to many things from America probably was “what’s that all about”? Gene went on to explain about the Atlantic Ocean, and the first single handed flight and eventually about a 3500-mile ride which Charles Lindbergh (CL) did in 1921 on an excelsior “….and by the way if you want to join the ride you need a Series 20 Excelsior”. Well that could have been the easy cop out for me, since finding an excelsior in SA would surely be impossible. I set the challenge right back at Gene with, “…. you help me find the motorcycle and I will do the ride with you”!
Well, two visits to Gene in Colorado and many conversations later, together with sending of crates across the Atlantic Ocean (by airfreight), we are now in the final leg of this journey, which for me began in 2016.
The build up to this point has been a wonderful experience, we met as a group of interested participants in the CL ride, at the Wauseon Swop meet in 2018 and agreed on the deal. A WhatsApp group was set up and Alex Bernhardt and Stuart Maclellan joined the group together with a few interested friends. It has been a wonderful experience to participate in a building project in 3 different countries of 4 Excelsiors approximately at the same time, yet each at a different state of completeness. However, we all have the same goal in mind - The 100 yr. commemoration of the Charles Lindberg ride which he undertook form Maddison WI to Little Falls MN.
The preparation and groundwork which Gene had done for me when he packed the project in a wooden box was incredible, but none the less, nothing could have prepared me for the level of detail and quantum of restoration which lay ahead. I am sure I have invested in excess of 2500 hrs and still counting, but who cares about that, especially when you are having fun. With Gene’s negotiations we managed to secure a 3-way deal where I received a series 20 motor from Benjamin Binns in Australia, Benjamin received a Mag Dino and Gene received some dollars………all in a good day’s trading when it works out well for all parties.


The crate as received from America

Hans crate.jpg

Into the shop she goes! Hans wheeling.jpg


I followed the path of undertaking the complete Mechanical restoration at first, after which a complete strip down for painting and plating was required, which unfortunately took approximately 4 months, and added much pressure to the entire project completion date.
Now we find ourselves approaching this milestone all too quickly and the feeling of anxiety from the understanding that we are just weeks away from starting this ride and I have not yet ridden one mile on my restored Excelsior…. Yet….. She is now known as Lily X, named after our second granddaughter, miss Anna Lily. Thankfully covid forced a one-year postponement to the initial date which would have commemorated 100 yrs. of CL’s ride, but I guess 1 year doesn’t matter when you are counting down a hundred and I would never have made the initial anticipated start date anyway, as this is by far the most complex restoration project I have undertaken.


First mechanical build complete – November 2021 hans mockup.jpg



Final assembly nearly complete – Mid June 2022 Hans Posing.jpg


For now, the target is the completion and testing of the project, then shipping in a wooden crate back to the USA again, my aim is to ship at the end of July, which should allow enough time for transit and clearance and start the Charles Lindbergh ride on the 3^rd September.


Out for a test ride on my birthday! 100+ miles and she is running great! Hans astride.jpg

[gharper]

THE MACLELLAN EXCELSIOR
Stewart Maclellan, Belleville Ontario, Canada June 2022

The Maclellan Excelsior is a 1921 Series 20S and has been in the family since the early 1920’s.
Angus Maclellan, my grandfather acquired a 1914 Excelsior S/N 54331, to help him travel the province of Ontario for work. He found that walking around Ontario Canada looking for work was difficult; Canada is a big place. The 1914 Excelsior was replaced by the 1921 Excelsior.
The 1921 Excelsior was most likely purchased in 1923 when my grandfather got married. So, the Excelsior with the sidecar was the family vehicle. Angus Maclellan died in 1964 and never owned a car having lived and worked in Ontario Canada since 1913.
Angus upgraded from the 1921 Excelsior to a 1931 Henderson KJ Streamline model with sidecar which he purchased in 1933. The Excelsior then became a secondary vehicle which my Father and my Aunt drove. My father at the age of 14 would drive his mom to the Toronto city limits, as he didn’t have a license, and then walk to the nearby farmers market with his mom for shopping, leaving the family dog in the sidecar.


Stewart 1.jpg
Maclellan Family & 1921 Excelsior, circa 1930

My father joined the Canadian Military at the age of 17 to support the WWII effort. While he was away and for some unknown reason the Excelsior was taken apart. The Excelsior engine, transmission, headlight, speedometer, generator, side plates, backplates and much of the hardware and linkages were stored in the basement of the house while everything else was stored outside in a shed.

Stewart 2.jpg
Angus Maclellan (left) & Donald Maclellan (my father), circa 1942
My father was discharged from the Army in May 1946 and headed for home in Toronto. When he arrived home, he looked for his Excelsior. Not seeing his bike, he asked his Mom, “where are all my bike parts”? The response from his dear Mom was, “you mean all those metal pipes and pieces, I donated them to the metal drive for the war effort”. I can only imagine what my father may have said. My father would later purchase a Harley.
The Maclellan Excelsior, such as it was, remained where it was from the 1940’s until the 1970’s when my Dad and I moved all the Excelsior pieces and the complete Henderson KJ with sidecar to our family home a few miles away. Much of my effort on the antique motorcycles was toward the Henderson KJ as it was more complete, just quite worn out. I always wanted to build the Excelsior and kept all the parts together.
I started gathering Excelsior parts in the 1970’s and there wasn’t a lot of information available at the time for this model, but year over year I picked up a piece or two. When I retired from the airline in 2014, I was able to devote more time in to the actual rebuilding effort.
If you’re in the American Excelsior world and looking for parts and information you will soon come across the name Gene Harper. In June 2018, I visited Gene to gather more information and parts in order to move forward on my project. I had recently acquired a frame and front forks from Sweden so many of the big parts were in hand. Gene mentioned during my visit that he had a plan to follow Lindbergh’s Excelsior ride of 1921 in 2021. Sometime the following year Gene extended an invitation for me to join the group and I was in. I decided that if I didn’t rebuild the Maclellan Excelsior now, it just might not ever get done. Gene has been a tremendous help and is a fine gentleman to deal with and Gene has just the right sense of humor to keep you on your toes.
Much of the bike is original. The major reproduction parts are the fenders, engine covers and tool box. To rebuild the bike, parts have been acquired from Sweden, Germany, South Africa, Australia, Canada and of course the United States. The engine is in final assembly with just the timing to complete and then the final assembly.
With the great support and guidance of Gene Harper and many others, the Maclellan family Excelsior will be on the road in 2022.

Stewart 4.jpgStewart 3.jpg
Maclellan Excelsior Final Assembly Feb 2021, (prior to disassembly for painting and plating)



Stewart 5.jpg

Maclellan Excelsior Final Assembly June 2022

[ihrescue]

This is coming together nicely Gene. A build story and a travel log on an antique motorcycle. What's better than that?

Mike Love

[gharper]

Thanks again guys! I hope that you are all enjoying this story as much as I do. I've written some long stories here and I hope they are being read and enjoyed!

Spent today with Bill setting up the trailer with supplies. Lots of stuff getting packed in here. Hopefully there will be room for the other 3 guys' stuff when I get to Chicago!

One safety item that we added to the back of the trailer to warn the overly anxious drivers that will be chomping at the bit to pass our chase vehicle.


Warning sign.jpg

[gharper]

After what seems like trying to push a string, our event has finally been recognized by the Charles Lindbergh Home and Museum in Little Falls MN. This is where we will end our ride on Sept. 24th, same place ended his ride on Aug 6, 1921.

https://www.facebook.com/search/post...20and%20museum

[Steve Swan]

The house museum is fascinating reading Gene and even more fascinating was Lucky Lindy's life of imperiled celebrity. he fathered 13 kids from 4 different women, Anne Morrow he was married to, the other 3 were secret, 2 of which were sisters. at least 6 are still alive; 2 others of unknown identity.

[Ross]

Gene, A great event and even better we learn great history and watch you lads make some Cheers and good luck.

[LouieMCman]

An epic event that I would love to meet up with during the ride, but unfortunately going out west for most of September. I will be following the ride here, please keep us updated. Have fun and be careful!

[gharper]

This weekend I finally completed the 19 daily routes for our ride! This has been an arduous 10 month project! I used Basecamp to generate turn by turn routes with gas and lunch stops as well as a few interesting attractions along the way. We will be avoiding major cities and highways as much as possible while still trying to stay close to Lindbergh's route. We will each have a Garmin device on our bike, as well one in the chase truck and our photographers truck. Hopefully everyone can stay on the same route, not that the four of us riding should get separated much but who knows! The total mileage has changed a bit, just over 3400 miles. This change is due to slight route alterations and a couple math errors on my earlier summary.

Timeline for the 2022 Lindbergh Ride

Tuesday August 30: I will plan to arrive in Chicago with trailer in tow.
Wednesday, August 31: Hans and Stewart to arrive in Chicago, if not the day before. Final loading of truck and trailer in Chicago at Alex’s shop
Thursday September 1: Trailer to Davenport Iowa for swap meet and display, 3 hour drive.
Friday September 2: Davenport swap meet. Depart afternoon and trailer to Madison WI, 170 miles.
Saturday September 3: OFFICIAL START OF THE RIDE. Unload @ University of Wisconsin for photos and hit the road! Ride to north of Chicago and consider loading motorcycles into trailer due to traffic issues. Total riding miles 123. Arrive at Alex’s shop and regroup as necessary!
Sunday September 4: Trailer to the spot of the Excelsior factory for pictures. Load up and trailer out of Chicago to avoid traffic. Unload in St John, Indiana and ride to Crawfordsville Indiana. Approximate riding mileage: 122
Monday September 5: Ride from Crawfordsville Indiana to Elizabethtown, KY, approximately 222 miles
Tuesday September 6: Loop rides out of Ft Knox KY to Mammoth and Crystal Caves, Lincoln Memorial in Hodgenville and possible tour of Ft Knox Military base. Lindbergh spent 6 weeks training at Camp Knox and riding in the area and we will retrace some of those trips. Approximate mileage: 127
Wednesday September 7: Ride from Elizabethtown KY to Vonore TN. Approximate mileage: 259
Thursday September 8: Vonore TN to Wheels Through Time Museum in Maggie Valley NC via the Tail of The Dragon scenic road. Approximate mileage:111.
Friday September 9, Rest Day in Maggie Valley
Saturday September 10: Maggie Valley to Forsythe GA, 245 miles.
Sunday September 11: Forsythe GA to Blackshear GA: 198 miles
Monday September 12: Blackshear GA to Lake City FL. Meet up with friends from So. Florida: 115 miles
Tuesday September 13: Lake City FL to Dothan AL: 215 miles
Wednesday September 14: Dothan AL to Birmingham Al: 231 miles
Thursday September 15: Rest Day in Birmingham, See the Barber vintage motorcycle museum.
Friday September 16: Birmingham AL to Dixon TN. Meet up with the Music City AMCA Road run. May need to be available to meet with film crew from AMCA and Keith Kizer. 234 miles
Saturday September 17: Dixon TN to Vincennes IN, may be working with film crew for beginning of day. 207 miles
Sunday September 18: Vincennes IN to Pontiac IL. 220 miles
Monday September 19: Pontiac Il to Le Claire IA, via Arsenal Island bridge, lock and dam visitors center. IL. 159 miles
Tuesday September 20: Le Claire Iowa to National Motorcycle Museum in Anamosa Iowa to the Amana Colonies IA. 126 miles
Wednesday September 21: Rest Day in Amana IA. Possible family visit and return to Anamosa?
Thursday September 22: Amana IA to Lansing IA via Dubuque. 185 miles
Friday September 23: Lansing IA to New Prague Minnesota: 191 miles
Saturday September 24: New Prague MN to Little Falls MN, Lindbergh Home and museum for grand finale! May meet up with AMCA chapter members? 132 Miles
Sunday September 25: Trailer to Chicago to unload and part ways, 8 hour + drive. Bill, Denise and Jan head south to Iowa and Illinois.

Total riding mileage, approximately 3422 miles

[Skirted]

Gene,
I just read through this whole thread. Absolutely incredible level of detail from beginning to end. The patience and perserverance needed to obtain the huge amount of research and historical data is nothing short of amazing. Clearly you were put on earth to do this. From the day you found your "kit" you were destined for creating this event and just didn't know it. "No coincidences".
I was thrilled to see you will be in Dickson TN during the AMCA road run. My wife and I will be there and looking forward to seeing you.
God Bless you all, and I'll be following along and praying you have safe, successful history making adventure!

[gharper]

Thanks Skirted!!! I'll look forward tobseringbyounin Dixon, we will be tired and need service our bikes that evening but look us up. We're staying at one of the 3 hotels for the road run.