1926 Indian Prince 350cc Motorcycle

Description

Based in Springfield, Massachusetts, the Indian Motorcycle Company was the only motorcycle manufacturer able to compete on equal terms with the might of Harley-Davidson for the first half of the 20th Century. With its origins as a producer of bicycles, the partnership of George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom followed the familiar practice of building a powered version in 1901, using a proprietary Thor single horsepower engine, and from the emergence of the first V-twin in 1907, Indian quickly proved itself as a maker of quality motorcycles. The Indian Prince was manufactured from 1925 to 1928 as an entry-level, 347cc single-cylinder four-stroke motorcycle good for 5.5bhp. Designed by Charles B. Franklin, the Prince had a gearbox separate from the engine, with a wedge-shaped fuel tank bolted to the tube frame from underneath. The 1926 Indian Prince was redesigned with a new streamline look, with a new style tank, lower seat position, longer handlebars, and new messenger saddle. In all there were 17 improvements for the 1926 model which also included new keystone frame with larger tubing, battery box with top and side access, the generator was placed higher, the chainguard extended in a curve over the sprocket, and an automatic oiler system which was the same for the 1925,1926 and 1927 models but changed for 1928. The Prince used coil-sprung girder forks instead of the leaf-sprung trailing link forks on the contemporary Chief and Scout. A front brake was added in 1928, the last year of Prince production. In 1933 the frame and forks from the Prince were revived and used with V-twin engines to form the Indian Motoplane and the Pony Scout.