Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed
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​1912 Indian Board Track Racer

   This machine is a 500cc single-cylinder motorcycle with a Bosch American Magneto and Hedstrom carburetor.  The frame is factory-built, with turn-down handlebars, and is presented in the traditional factory Indian colors.

   Motorcycle racing competition in this bike’s era was conducted on oval racetracks constructed of 2x4 wooden planks placed on edge.  Banking of the tracks started at 25 degrees, and increased to as much as 60 degrees, which was common.  The effect of such extreme banking was high cornering speeds and high G-forces on the riders.
 
   The popularity of racing motorcycles on board tracks declined rapidly following a most unfortunate accident when Eddie Hasha, riding an Indian 8-valve, lost control of his machine during a race at the Newark, New Jersey Motordrome.  The ensuing crash took the lives of four spectators (three of them young boys) and two competitors, including Hasha.
 
   As a result of Hasha’s crash, the press labeled the motorcycle motordromes as “murderdromes”, and soon the fast, highly-banked wooden ¼-mile and 1/3-mile tracks disappeared.
   Indian motorcycles were originally produced from 1901-1953 in Springfield, Massachusetts.  George Hendee originally founded the Hendee Manufacturing Company in 1897 to manufacture bicycles badged as the “American Indian,” which was quickly shortened to just “Indian.” Oscar Hedstrom joined the company in 1900. Both Hendee and Hedstom were former bicycle racers and manufacturers, and they teamed up to produce a 1.75 hp, single-cylinder engine motorcycle in Springfield, Hendee’s hometown. That motorcycle was successful and sales increased dramatically during the next decade.
​

   Hedstrom left Indian in 1913, and Hendee resigned in 1916.  The Hendee Company name was changed in 1928 to the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company.  During the 1910s, Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.  Unfortunately the company went bankrupt in 1953.
 
   Various organizations tried to perpetuate the Indian brand name in subsequent years, with limited success.  Polaris Industries purchased Indian Motorcycles in 2011 and moved operations to North Carolina.  Since August 2013, Polaris has marketed multiple modern Indian motorcycles that reflect the marque’s traditional styling.
 
   The 500cc, 31.5-cubic-inch engine in the Museum’s 1912 Indian motorcycle is an F-head design, with the intake valve in the head and the exhaust valve in the cylinder block, similar to several of the Harley-Davidson engines of that era. 
 
   This racer has no rear or front wheel brakes.
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Employee Login
  • Home
  • About
    • History
    • Our Team
    • Volunteers
  • Displays
    • Vehicles >
      • Open Wheel >
        • 1935 Miller-Ford
        • Mechanical Rabbit
        • Johnny Lightning Special
        • #8 Blue Crown Spark Plug Special
        • #45 “The Pup” Champ Car
        • Wolfgang #4 Sprint Car
        • #4 LeFevre Dirt Champ Car
        • Opperman's 4x Sprint Car
        • #1 Dunseth Sprint Car
        • #5 Randol Offy
        • 4x Sedan
        • Wolfgang 4x Sprint car
        • 4x Offset Roadster
        • #43 Christie Miller
        • #57 Plymouth STP
        • Blue Crown Special
        • Tamale Wagon
        • #11 Kinser Sprint Car
        • #1 Kodiak Special
        • Channel-Lock Special
        • Stealth Special
        • Andy Gump Sprint Car
        • #94 Kenny Weld Sprint Car
        • Black Deuce
        • #1 Delrose Holt Silver Crown
        • #30 P.O.B Sprint Car
        • #2 Watson Dirt Champ car
        • #5 Watson Roadster
        • #96 Trostle Sprint Car
        • #94 Nance Super Modified
      • Indy Pit >
        • #54 Chicago Rawhide Special
        • #81 Central Excavating Special
        • 1914 Cornelian
      • Music Room >
        • Lively Set Car
      • Bill's Garage >
        • 1953 Corvette
        • Hedy Lamarr's 1958 Cadillac
        • 1920 Model T Ford Hot Rod
        • Lady Luck T-Bucket
        • 1949 Kurtis Sports Car
        • Jack Beck's Alfa Romeo
        • 8 Ball Hudson
        • Ariel Square Four Motorcycle
        • Turbine Powered Daytona Boss
        • 2003 Honest Charley's Flathead Motorcycle
        • #2 Harley-Davidson Motorcycle
        • Coors Extra Gold "32
        • The Dale Car
        • 1966 Plymouth Hemi Belvedere
      • Land Speed >
        • MacKichan-Schulz Streamliner
        • Rossi's 1927 T Cosworth
        • Eelco Wee Eel II
        • #494 Model A Streamliner
        • #43 Creel Lakester
        • Ron Main's Flatfire Streamliner
        • HAL Dry Lakes Roadster
        • Art Gerrick's Dry Lakes Car
        • 1933 Chevy Comp Coupe
        • Seth Hammond Lakester #77
      • Safety >
        • Jack Petty Ford
      • Show Cars >
        • Bergler's 'More Aggravation'
        • Red Baron
        • 1934 "Sweet Dreams" Ford Roadster
        • "Big Daddy" Roth's Outlaw Tribute
        • 1937 Studebaker Extremeliner
        • Boothill Express
        • Fahrner's X-Ray Roadster
        • Goldbrick
        • Venus
        • Zausner Speedway Special Roadster
        • Zausner Vicky
      • Luxury Cars >
        • Tucker
        • Duesenberg Model J
        • Essence of Bucciali
      • Legends in Racing >
        • 1965 Mustang GT
        • Shelby Series 1 Roadster
        • Pumpkin Seed
      • Dragsters >
        • GMC Dragter
        • Tony Nancy Wedge II
        • 303 Roadtser
        • Smaldino & Yates "Fargo" Dragster
        • E.J. Potter's "Whizzer" Drag Bike
        • Ramcharger Funny Car
        • Swamp Rat V-B
        • 1931 Bantam Drag Car
      • NASCAR >
        • #21 Pearson Mercury
        • #26 Curtis Turner 1956 Ford Sunliner
        • 1956 Pontiac Sedan
        • Robert Yates Racing Ford
        • #9 Kasey Kahne
      • Le Mans >
        • Cadillac LMP Le Mans Prototype
      • Model T >
        • Montier Ford
        • 5 Millionth Ford
        • Lloyd Fisher Fronty Race Car & Hauler
        • #6 Voboril Brothers
        • Craig-Hunt T-Powered Race Car
        • The Galvanized Bullet
        • Twin-Engine Model T Speedster
        • Spruce Deuce
        • Mercury Speedster
        • Edsel's Hot Rod
        • Fronty-Ford #27
        • 1908 REO
        • 1886 Benz Replica
        • 1912 Indian Board Track Racer
      • Model A and B >
        • ​1931 Model A Coupe
        • Hy-Point Special
        • Red Devil Pickup
      • Flathead Ford V-8 >
        • 1950's Roaring Roadster
      • Orphan Engines (Misc.) >
        • #26 Miller Fertilizer Special
        • #60 Super Modified
        • Arnold's Auto Wrecking Jalopy
        • #2 Ranger Sprint Car
      • Quarter Midgets >
        • Micro-Sprint #95
        • 1959 Moss (1/2) Midget
        • TQ Midget
        • Offyette Quarter Midget
        • Elvis's Quarter Midget
        • Dreyer Junior Racers
        • #8 June Bug
      • Midget Racers >
        • Lloyd Axel #5
        • Edmunds-Sesco Midget
        • #97 Henderson
        • #46 Kurtis Kraft Offenhauser
        • #1 Edmunds-Kenyen
        • #10 Lynch Offy
        • #1 Bardahl Special
        • #4 Ramada Inn Offy
        • #76 Honker
        • #4 Rex Mays Offy
        • #44 Ed's Auto V8-60
        • Lewis-Yeley Midget
        • Wilke-Pak Mopar
        • #8 Reichenbach SESCO Midget
        • #78 Red Caruthers Midget
    • Engines >
      • Miller Room >
        • 272 ci Miller DOHC v-16
        • 1932 Miller 308 c.i. DOHC V-8
        • 1953 Studebaker DOHC V-8
        • Miller DOHC 200 c.i. 4 Cylinder engine
      • Open Wheel >
        • Moser
        • Rodeck 406 Engine
        • 220 Offenhauser
        • Robert Roof SOHC
        • Rajo-Lencki 4
        • Gallivan DOHC
        • 1913 Chalmers
        • Plymouth Weslake
        • Voelker 6
        • Foyt DOHC Indy Engine
      • Indy Pit >
        • 2002 Toyota RV8F CART engine
        • Cosworth DFX Indy Engine
        • Mercedes Indy Engine
        • Brayton V-8 Indy Engine
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        • Fronty-Ford "DO" Engine
        • 1935 Studebaker Straight-8
        • Fueling Oldsmobile Indy Engine
        • Weslake Chevy Conversion
        • Gurney-Eagle Ford Indy Engine
        • Supercharged Offy 110
      • Bill's Garage >
        • 1915 Wilbee V-8 Engine
      • Land Speed >
        • Ron Main's Flat Fire
        • MacKichan-Schulz 302 CID Chevrolet
      • Luxury Car Engines >
        • 1930 Cadillac V-16
      • Legends in Racing >
        • Yunick Twin Turbo
      • Model T >
        • HAL Akron-Hed
      • Model A and B >
        • HAL SOHC
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        • V-8 60 Ardun OHV Conversion Display
        • Tornado OHV Conversion
        • Robertson Flathead
        • V-8 Ford Birner
        • Ford Alexander
      • Orphan Engines (Misc.) >
        • Hudson Twin H-Power 6 Cylinder
        • 1923 Chevrolet Series M
        • Sweet 16 Chevrolet
        • Hispano-Suiza Engine
        • 1911 Reynolds Rotary Valve 4-Cyl. Engine
        • Alfa Romeo Twin Cam Engine
        • Bugatti Type B Engine
        • Scheel Rotary Valve Head
        • The "Cheater" Manifold
        • Chevy Twin Turbo
      • Midget Racers >
        • SESCO Engines
        • V-4 Cylinder Chevrolet Wilson
        • 2-Cylinder Offy
        • Stapp Engine
        • SCAT Engine
        • V-8 Cylinder Oldsmobile 215
        • Popp SOHC
        • Marchese DOHC
        • Simonek Engine
    • People >
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        • Harry A. Miller
        • Ed Iskendarian
        • Stu Hilborn
        • Mickey Thompson
        • Smokey Yunick
        • Carroll Shelby
        • Vic Edelbrock Sr.
        • Robert Roof
        • Leo Goossen
      • Speedway Motors Drivers >
        • Jan Opperman
        • Doug Wolfgang
        • Joe Saldana
        • Cheryl Glass
        • Tiny Lund
        • Lloyd Beckman
        • Cliff Sealock
        • Don Brown
        • Keith Hightshoe
        • Bob Coulter
        • Tim Schulz
        • Grady Wade
        • Larry Dickson
        • Howdy Williams
        • Jay Woodside
        • John Wilkinson
        • Ray Lee Goodwin
        • Don Droud Jr.
        • Frank Brennfoerder
        • Woody Brinkman
        • Bill Utz
        • Ed Bowes
        • Harold Leep
        • Thad Dosher
        • Roy Bryant
        • Dick Sutcliffe
        • Don Maxwell
        • Danny Wallace
        • Lonnie Jensen
        • Jerry Stone
        • John Gerloff
        • Bob Burdick
        • Shane Carson
        • John Larson
        • Ed Leavitt
        • John MacKichan
        • Bill Smith
        • Greg Weld
        • Gordon Woolley
        • Kyle Berck
      • Famous Photographers >
        • Leroy Byers
        • Bob Mays
    • Toys, Etc. >
      • Buck Rogers
      • Lunch Boxes
      • Pedal Cars
      • Tether Cars >
        • #777 Garold Frymire Streamliner
        • Champion
        • Olsen Machine
        • Polywog
        • Richter #2
        • Richter #12
        • Royal
        • Bluebird Streamliner
      • Soap Box Derby
      • Cookie Jars
      • Car Mascots
      • Taxi
      • Car Club Plaques
    • Safety Display
  • Events
    • Cars & Coffee
    • Speedsters Trials & Reunion
    • Plan Your Event
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Membership
  • Contact
  • Visit
    • Harvest Hosts
    • School Field Trips
    • FAQ
  • Shop