Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/714189
74 nSeptember 2016n www.thunderpress.net THUNDER PRESS a prospective agent that the "Indian Motocycle" —the earliest known use of the word "motocycle" for the Indian—would be demonstrated at the Boston Sportsman Show on February 23. By the fi rst week in March 1902, Fred Randall, the Boston agent for Indian, had booked 37 motocycles for April delivery and George Sherman stated, "The motor bicy- cle has brought in so many new agents that it will be a task to meet the demand for push cycles." It has been reported that only 137 motorcycles (the Smithsonian claims it was 143) were produced in 1902, yet this year's model in the Smithsonian Institution is serial number 150. Hedstrom didn't fi le for a patent on his famous carburetor until May, which suggests he was still fi ne tuning it even during production. There were other issues. In March 1904, Alex Levedahl, president of Aurora, stated in a lecture to the Chicago Motor-Cycle Club that cast- ing a cylinder was diffi cult and only about 40 percent were good. Also, every engine that arrived in Springfi eld was completely disassembled and reas- sembled, and every motor bicycle was tested on the Cross Street hill before shipment—if it didn't pass, it went back to the shop and was adjusted or fi tted with a new engine (hence the serial number discrepancy). This engine work was personally supervised and inspected by Hedstrom, plus he did the adjustments on the carbure- tors. It's not surprising that deliveries couldn't keep up with orders and this would remain a problem until 1904. From the very beginning, adver- tising for the Indian was based on its superiority to the competition and Hedstrom's reputation as a mechanic. George Hendee winning the famous endurance races in 1902 and 1903 proved that the Indian could reli- ably carry a 243-pound man over the atrocious roads of that era and that mechanically it was superior to the other makes in these competitions. It is also important to note that in the 1902 endurance race Hendee's bike was fi tted with the prototype Indian twist grip, just one example of these compe- Indian Continued from page 70 1904 assembly room at Hendee Mfg. Co. See "Indian," page 83, column 1 In September 1903 Hedstrom showed up at the RI Automobile Club race meet on an Indian with one of his Typhoon engines