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The Indian Prince is a motorcycle manufactured by the Hendee Manufacturing Company from 1925 to 1928. An entry-level single-cylinder motorcycle, the Prince was restyled after its first year and discontinied after four years.
Contents
The frame and forks of the Prince were revived in 1933 and used with V-twin engines to form the Motoplane and the Pony Scout.
Design and production
The Prince was designed by Charles B. Franklin and began production in 1925. It was a single-cylinder motorcycle for beginners and for export. The 1925 Prince had its gearbox attached to the engine and had a wedge-shaped fuel tank. The Prince was redesigned for 1926 with a separate gearbox and a fuel tank similar in shape to that of the contemporary Scout. Both versions used coil-sprung girder forks instead of the leaf-sprung trailing link forks used on the contemporary Chief and Scout. A front brake was added in 1928, the last year of production.
Legacy
Harley-Davidson began production of their single-cylinder motorcycle for 1926 and continued them until 1934.
In 1933, the Prince frame and forks were revived for use in the Motoplane and Pony Scout V-twin motorcycles. The Pony Scout was later renamed the Junior Scout and continued until the beginning of World War II. Girder forks were used on the 1934-1942 Sport Scout and on the 1945-1948 Chief.