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 the Midwest and eventually Great Britain, E.J. Pennington first developed his ambitious and amazing skill at social engineering in various small Hoosier towns, where he conned people into investing in dud companies.

Despite his incredibly checkered past, Edward Joel Pennington had a passion for machines, going as far as having more than two dozen patents. He tinkered in engines and devices, even applying for some of the earliest motorcycle and automotive patents in the nation.

In 1893 Pennington submitted two documents detailing his versions of early motorcycles. The most interesting note is the fact that the term “motor cycle” is traced to these documents and exact year. Both documents declared Pennington as the assignor for the “Motor Cyc

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 sold throughout the US with extensive advertising running in periodicals such as Scientific American. It was only one of very select few mass manufactured motorcycles at the literal turn of the century.

January 1901: Short article/ad on the Patee Motor Cycle.

March 1901 advertisement: As you can see from the pricing differences, Indian was producing bicycles at this time.

Patee Bicycle Company officially came into being in 1897 and formally recognized in 1899, however its existence had earlier beginnings. Fredrick Patee, the founder, had a long history with bicycles and in 1895 left his job as secretary of Indiana Bicycle Company to start his own company. After leaving, he soon became a manager to Peoria Rubber and Mfg Co. in Illino

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 shop that shifted to making harnesses for horses. By natural progression the business then gravitated toward bicycles. A little before the reorganization of the old company to the new, Edward Lonn bought out Crown Bicycle Co, which provided the stepping stone to the start of Great Western’s growth.

Though the new company was originally a conglomeration of partnerships with other companies, the Lonns swiftly bought out their partners. By 1903 the Great Western Manufacturing Company owned Adams & Westlake, David Bradley Companies and Wisconsin Wheel Works- consolidating them and moving most of their production and operations from their original locations to LaPorte, Indiana. It is interesting to note that by 1903-1904 Great Western was considere

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 listed in monthly schedules in the magazine during that period. According to American Motorcyclist Magazine, the track was listed as being located in Oaklandon on Rt. 67, 10 miles from Indianapolis, IN.   

Local sources have cited that the track sat near the now defunct Casio’s Restaurant and somewhere between the county line that separates Marion County from Hancock County. This is an aerial photo taken in 1961 that shows several tracks.

Item 1 is most likely the McCord track since it sits near the thick white line that is the separation between Marion and Hancock counties. Walter McCord was said to have owned a rather large farm.

Item 2 is currently the McCordsville Sports Park, former home of greyhound racing and briefly was a mid

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 more casual approach to the field.

1920 Johnson 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.

History

During World War II, Woodrow Wilson Skirvin headed to Detroit, Michigan to land a job at a war plant. He found his opportunity at a tool & die company. In 1944, He moved back to Indianapolis and started engineering aircraft parts in his garage. Due to demand, He quickly outgrew several shops. With Allisons and General Motors being his prime customers, two different engines using Skirvin parts powered airplanes successively setting new world air speed records. The first was the United States Air Force Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star, which achieved 623.8 MPH on June 9, 1947. The second was a Navy D-558 Douglas Skystreak, which achieved 650.6 MPH on Aug 25th, 1947. In 1951 with a government loan of $100,000 W.W. Skirvin built the 25,

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 manufacturing various types of motorcycle tires and shipping them nationwide. It’s a curious case that there has been no mention whatsoever about the company’s involvement with motorcycles by historians. Regardless of the fact, Indiana Motorcycle Historical Society is proud to showcase Kokomo Rubber Company’s involvement in motorcycling.

David C. Spraker was a serial entrepreneur born in Greensburg, Indiana and later moved to Kokomo, Indiana. His involvement with motorcycles first came through bicycles. According to the Kokomo Morning Times in a 1965 special, Spraker had owned a bicycle shop prior to the existence of Kokomo Rubber Company on the 1400 block of South Main Street where he had reportedly created the ‘first pneumatic rubber tire.’ Spra

Born in an Indiana log cabin in 1882, Baker’s family relocated to Indianapolis when he was just 12 years old. It was there that Baker would learn the machinist trade, and it was also where Baker became known for his athletic prowess in a variety of sports. After proving his skill at racing bicycles (and later, motorcycles), Baker purchased his first Indian motorcycle in 1908. Within a year, Baker would ride it to victory in one of the very first races held at the newly constructed Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Baker quickly established himself as the man to beat on two wheels, racking up 53 victories and an additional 20 podium finishes in the following years, setting 11 new speed records in the process. In 1912, Indian Motorcycles hired him as a factory-sponsored rider (a job he’d keep until 1924), and Baker went above and beyond the call of duty in keeping the Indian name in the headlines. In 1914, riding for Indian, Baker took part in a cross-country race that spanned 3,379 miles,