Articles

Edward Joel Pennington was born in Moore’s Hill, Indiana in 1858. Although he didn’t stay in Indiana for very long, his early years in the state shaped him to automobile and motorcycle fame as well as equal infamy. Prior to moving to other parts of

F.W. Spacke Machine Company was founded in 1904 by Fred W. Spacke, a skilled machinist and inventor. Though born in Ohio, he moved to Indianapolis at an early age and well established himself in the state.

The F.W. Spacke Machine Company originally

Half a year prior to Indian’s entry into the motorcycle world, there was an Indianapolis machine that already had a head start into the motorcycle revolution that was to come. The Patee Motor Cycle*. The machines were already in production and being

Roger Riddell of Martinsville, aka Mr. Backwards is Indiana’s own daredevil stuntrider who is one of a kind. Mr. Backwards got his start in the same era as Evel Knievel doing stunts but soon realized that there was no competing with the daredevil fr

The Great Western Manufacturing Company of LaPorte, Indiana was primarily founded by John Lonn and his son Edward Julius Lonn in 1899-1900. Prior to that, the business went by name of John Lonn and Son, which originally started as a hide/tannery sho

Harry L. Dipple was the founder of what is today known as Southside Harley-Davidson. Originally a bicycle dealer and manufacturer since 1895, it wasn’t until 1908 that Harry Dipple decided to expand into motorcycles by becoming a Harley-Davidson dea

Walter McCord was a horse breeder and owned a farm near Oaklandon/McCordsville to train sulky horses for racing. In the 1950’s-1960’s the property was primarily used by the Midwest Motorcycle Club to host sanctioned AMA races. Regular races were li

The Johnson Motor Wheel Company was an interesting late contender in the much crowded motorcycle market in the late 1910’s. Unlike most companies jockeying to create full bore motorcycles from the ground up, the Johnson Motor Wheel Company took a mo

Cycle-Scoot was an American line of scooters created by aircraft engineer & entrepreneur Woodrow Wilson Skirvin in 1953. The scooter was largely popular during the 1950s due to its Indianapolis "500" campaign & wide distribution across the country

Kokomo Rubber Company was founded by David C. Spraker in 1895. Upon opening, the company was well known for producing bicycle tires and auto tires. However advertisements in the early 1900’s show that the Kokomo Rubber Company was avidly manufactur