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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 started as a modestly sized machining shop building air compressors, but soon expanded in 1907 to a larger facility. In the 1910’s the company was deeply involved in manufacturing engines for motorcycles.

In 1911 the company introduced a single chamber motor with a worm gear that drove a magneto, the only one of its kind in the US at the time. A twin version was also produced at the same time, though the patent application and approval were dated in 1913-1914. The motors proved to be well received by the industry. Its make was so popular that it was used by other motorcycle companies and models under the Spacke De Luxe brand name.

Some of the companies that used the Spacke De Luxe motors were:

-Sears (Dreadnought model)

-Dayton

-De Luxe

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

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 from Montana doing things the normal way. Like his nickname suggests, Roger Riddell’s fame is in his ability to do things backwards on motorcycles. His range of skills spans from backwards riding, jumps, tricks such as wheelstands or sitting on his handlebars and even hill climbs.

Doing stunts the normal fashion is hard enough, but the fact that Roger Riddell performed his stunts completely backwards and even mastered them is something incredibly noteworthy. In the 70’s he was the first and the only person in the world to do so. Even by today’s standards, stunt riders stick to doing things the normal fashion due to the difficulty and hardship of doing motorcycle stunts backwards, let alone master.

Not only was he an incredible daredevil, b

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

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 dealer. He moved from his original location on 338 Massachusetts  Ave. to 528 since more space was needed to accommodate for the addition of motorcycles and eased out of bicycle manufacturing to focus on his new acquisition.

Though he was no racer with fame to pull in customers like some dealerships of the day, Dipple was skilled in customer service. His personal understanding of bicycles and intense study of motorcycles helped him in being attentive to his customers needs. He did it so well that several periodicals of the day picked up on it and wrote about his sales capabilities and promotion of Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

Dipple not only sold motorcycles to the general public but he also brokered sales to commercial businesses and even he

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