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Excelsior frozen in time

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  • RichO
    replied
    What a beauty. You must be a very happy man. Suspended in time. It doesn't get much better than that. happy motori9ng!

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  • Stein.S
    replied
    It took a while, but now the bike is finally at my place. I might ask some questions here when I start understanding and not understanding how this bike is supposed to work. I have some experience with harley J, and first impression of the Excelsior is that it is tecnically very different compared to the Harley I have learned a bit about..
    You do not have permission to view this gallery.
    This gallery has 5 photos.

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  • gharper
    replied
    Indeed Richard, I do remember the blue SX on the DJ!

    One other big advancement from Excelsior in mid 29 was cast aluminum gas tanks. These were used through the end in 31. The right tank was the same for SX and Henderson, so good interchangeability. Indian followed in 1930 and 31 on the Chief but dropped them by 32, probably due to cost. The Excelsior aluminum tanks are not terribly difficult to find, especially the right side (gas only). They are still usually intact and never rust out! The set on my 31 Chief is the same, amazing pieces of work and not corroded at all!

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  • RichO
    replied
    Eric, Gene will remember that Super X when it was blue on the 1987 Colorado road run. It was sold much later to Jeff Roth from Kansas who re-restored it as you see it in the photo at it's coming out party at Davenport many years ago when I took the above photo. It now lives in Germany. I originally got it as a basket in the mid-eighties. It's had a varied and interesting life. It do get around.They are a joy to ride and require little wrenching.

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  • exeric
    replied
    I'm glad you brought up the Super X, Gene. Like Chrysler, Excelsior did innovative things that the 'Big 2' were too conservative to do. Unfortunately, that didn't translate into sales but made for good transportation history. Excelsior, and Henderson had to try harder and work with more limited resources and in those perimeters, I think Excelsior was very successful. The picture is of Rich Ostrander's stunning Super X. When you put that motorcycle in the time period of '29-31 you can see how far advanced Excelsior was in it's last days as a motorcycle manufacturer.

    exf.jpg

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  • gharper
    replied
    You are correct Steve, they did have many innovative features such as:

    Balloon tires in 1920, Harley and Indian waited until 1925.
    7" wide fenders to allow easier removal of mud. Indian adopted this in 22, Harley about 25.
    Compression release attached to the kick starter, advertised as "The easiest starting motorcycle on the market"
    Reinforced "military" fork starting about 1917. Offered as a sidecar option for all 15-19 models. I believe this was developed for the military machines, of which X sold very few to the army, It was a huge improvement but was advertised as The Military Fork probably just for press but was available on all new bikes from 17 ish through 19.
    Hand clutch control, THE BEST FEATURE EVER, from a riders perspective!
    Pre-piped priming system, allowing both cylinders to be simultaneously primed simply by opening a valve.
    Removable lower tank frame tube. This allowed easy removal of the cylinders for the "Annual de-carboning process" by simply removing the fuel tank with the bar attached.
    Spring loaded "Cushion" rear sprocket

    However....... in spite of these innovations they still clung to the rickety keystone frame and sliding transmission with short primary chain all the way through 1924. But then the Super X came out in 25, another first of many things, though the helical geared wet primary was copied from the Indian Scout and Chief. The SX was:

    First true unit construction twin powerplant, for a US motorcycle anyway.
    First production 45" motor. Indian followed in 27, Harley in 29 . This created a very fast mid sized sporty machine.

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  • Steve Swan
    replied
    It seems that Excelsior's have a number of innovative features other brands did not have...?

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  • Stein.S
    replied
    And, that it has a reinforced military fork, does that indicate it was delivered originally for military purposes, or did they just send out that edition to Europe for sale as an ordinary bike in an ordinary store?

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  • Stein.S
    replied
    Thank you. This was a great explanation of how things both works and should be. Will be very useful for me when trying to get the bike up running again. Owner of the bike still have not delivered it to me, but now I can at least order the tyres up front.

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  • gharper
    replied
    Definitely a Series 19, non electric model with the reinforced Military fork, a nice feature! Looks to be quite complete and that is a big plus!! X parts have virtually dried up.

    Tire size is 28 x 3 Clincher. This is a common size and not difficult to find. I used the EXCELSIOR brand tire from Coker. These have a very tough sidewall and are tough to get on and off. I ran them for decades on my 24 Chief and sidecar with no trouble.

    The X linkage system is a bit complicated and takes a lot of time to get right, but when it's right, it's wonderful! Here is a write I did a while back explaining how all that works:

    1915-24 Excelsior Brake and Clutch linkage operation.
    The external brake is activated by the right foot pedal, through the cross over shaft, lever, short rod, pivot lever (dog leg on the rear lower frame bolt) and a second short rod. All adjustment is made at the rear of the second rod by screwing the turnbuckle on the shaft as needed.
    The clutch is activated by the left foot pedal via a rod which is connected to the front upper lug on the clutch actuating arm. The lower holes in the actuator arm have a floating pin, or barrel with a hole in the pin. Threaded rods with adjustable stop and jam nuts are on the end of the rods. For 15-19 Excelsior models, the front barrel faces outward and has a ¼” hole for the hand clutch control linkage to slide in. The rear barrel faces inward and has a 5/16” hole for the internal brake rod to slide in. For 20-24 Excelsior models with the Splitdorf generator, these barrels are reversed, ¼” hole in, 5/16” hole outward. This is so the hand linkage can clear the generator belt guard.
    When adjusted correctly, the clutch and internal brake actuates as follows:
    1. Pushing the clutch pedal down about ½ way will disengage the shifter lock on top of the transmission and disengage the clutch, allowing shifting of the gears. As the clutch arm moves, both of the bottom rods slide in the barrels. At this point, the left hand control can be rotated outward which will slide the ¼” rod through the barrel up to the adjusting nut and hold the clutch pedal and actuating arm in place, clutch disengaged. Now the operator can put the left foot on the ground while the machine is in gear with the engine running and clutch disengaged. At this point, the internal brake rod adjusting nut should be up against the barrel but not engaging the brake yet.
    2. Again, if adjusted correctly, the left hand control can be used to disengage and engage or feather the clutch, allowing the operator to have both feet on the ground. Or, the operator can use their foot on the pedal, twist the hand control inwards to remove hand control of the clutch and then use the foot pedal to engage the clutch.
    3. If the clutch pedal is pushed down all the way with the foot, the clutch will still be disengaged, as will the shifter lock. Now the internal brake will be actuated by the sliding rod, against the stop nut.
    4. Note that the hand clutch control can only be used to actuate the clutch and shifter lock out but not the internal brake, the clutch pedal must be pushed down the rest of the way to actuate the internal brake.
    5. When at rest, the stop and jam nuts on the ¼” hand control rod rest up against the back side of the barrel. This is the stop for the clutch actuating arm, holding it in place with no pressure on the throw out bearings. Otherwise, the arm will want to rotate counterclockwise and loosen the bearings too much, allowing the arm to wobble and flop all over!
    This is an ingenious system of linkages and can be challenging to get set up right. However, take your time and get it right, because when correct, it is a joy to operate the clutch with the left hand!


    Note also that the magneto timing should be activated by a small lever on the left side of the tank. This lever and rod is missing on your project and the hand clutch mechanism has been disabled and tied to the magneto for left hand control.

    Try contacting my friend Leon in Holland. He has a few X's and may have parts or leads: dekoelewijntjes@casema.nl

    Good luck, looks like a great project. I would be reluctant to take the engine out unless it's seized or shows signs of bad damage of some kind.

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  • Stein.S
    replied
    Thank you for information. Owner think it is a 1919 model, so it might be then, that he is right.

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  • bobbyt
    replied
    Nice bike ... it appears to be a Series 19. Excelsior Series 19 was introduced late in 1917 and continued to around 1920. The separate oil tank is a a feature of Series 19 machines. The tool box was mounted on the rear luggage carrier.

    Bob Turek

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  • Stein.S
    replied
    Thank you very much for the photos. They show a lot of details that are valuable for me when trying to find out about the missing parts, how they look, and how they are mounted.

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  • exeric
    replied
    This picture is of Gene Harper's 1919, full electric Excelsior. The picture was taken before it was completed but still shows what a beauty it is. No doubt, Gene will join this thread and you would be hard pressed to find anyone as knowledgeable about the 1919 Ex.

    IMG_0149.JPG

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  • exeric
    replied
    And some more:

    german7.jpggerman8b.jpggerman8j.jpggerman8k.jpg

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