Bike Find of the Day 1919 Henderson Excelsior

This 1919 Excelsior-Henderson is a piece of American, and more accurately, American Midwest, history.

Created by Paul Brodie, this 1919 OHC Excelsior Boardtrack Racer is a perfect example of the breed.

Brodie set out to recreate ( or reproduce if you will) the 1919 Excelsior OHC boardtrack racer. As none of the original bikes are still around, he took a corroded engine case and a handful of photographs of the original bikes to use as his guide to make it happen. Brodie had to fabricate everything from the roller rocker arms to the camshafts to the bike frame to the wheel hubs from scratch, and he came up with what you see here.

A fabricator by trade, Brodie put all his customer projects on the back burner while he chases this crazy dream bike. Fortunately for builders to come, he documented every step of the process on his website in minute detail. It’s the story of a man engineering history and intent on making every part work and reflect how Excelsior themselves would have built this bike back in the day.

Built in a  limited edition run of ten, this meticulously hand-crafted machine is truly a work of art.

The first three of the Brodie Excelsiors are already in the hands of Museums and collectors world wide. So what if you must have this beautiful machine? History don’t come cheap, my brother, particularly American history, so be prepared to pony up a cool  $139,000.00 cash money.