Originally founded by George Hendee as the Hendee Manufacturing Company in 1897, the company that would become Indian produced its first motorcycles in 1901. The company’s first offering that year was a road-designed model with a 1.75 hp, single-cylinder engine. The first Indian was a success and bikes circulated quickly. This had an interesting side effect, however: once board track racing hit the scene in 1908, many riders used their road-made Indians in the races, albeit with some quick modifications.
In the following years, to better accommodate its newfound popularity as a board track brand, Indian began testing new motorcycle concepts built with racing in mind. The company even constructed its own motordrome in its hometown of Springfield, Massachusetts, both for testing purposes and to show off a bit. In 1912, these tests bore fruit as the first Indian Board Track Racer rolled off the lot.
