Rarely does one come across a very rare Excelsior-Henderson Super-X for sale, among other things because only about 2,000 units of the model were manufactured over just over 14 months, between 1999 and 2000. In fact, in that resurgence of the brand after more than 6 decades of lethargy, Only this model was developed. There was no more time after the bankruptcy announcement, just a few months after the start of activity by the revived company.
Putting the history of Excelsior-Henderson in context, we would have to go back to 1917 when the first bought the second and maintained its activity until 1931, at which time it closed definitively given the economic situation of the time, caused mainly by the so-called “Great Depression”, also known as the Crisis of 1929.
The Resurrection of Excelsior-Henderson
It was in 1993 when Dan Hanlon, a businessman based in Minnesota, acquired the rights to the brand and later began searching for funds to start a new project under this famous brand. Dan and his brother Dave would manage to raise the astonishing figure of 100 million dollars, promising investors that they would create a custom model capable of rivaling the Harley-Davidsons of the time, the Super-X.
After the construction of a new plant in Mankato, a city located in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, they proposed to assemble 20,000 motorcycles a year, with what this entailed in all aspects. However, after the presentation of the Super-X at the end of 1999, its first and only model, the brand declared bankruptcy, ceasing production three months later, as explained to us by Bike Urious.
In an interview with Dan Hanlon many years after that, he argues: “1999 was a fun year. “I started the year with a net worth of $20 million and ended the year below zero.”
Excelsior-Henderson Super-X: They achieved their goal
Perhaps the excess of zeal when shaping the Super-X was what led the Yankee firm to bankruptcy. Equipped with a 1,386 cc air-cooled V-twin engine, it claimed a final power of about 65 HP, and in the eyes of journalists and testers of the time, it efficiently fulfilled its mission in almost all aspects. In short, the Hanlons had achieved their purpose, that is, to offer a custom motorcycle full of character and good details very much to the taste of local bikers.
There is not much information about the specimen that we show you today in the sales announcement posted by the dealer in charge of it. Although it currently has just under 5,000 miles, about 8,000 km and which is located in Las Vegas, Nevada, information about this unit is scarce. Of course, its sale price has been set at $7,995, 7,565 euros at the exchange rateand if you want to purchase it you can enter this link and directly consult all the details.
