Articles

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

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

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,