Henderson Model B - Specifications & Review

Company History

Henderson built America’s most famous early inline-fours, earning a reputation for speed, smoothness, and long-distance poise. Founded in 1912 by the Henderson brothers, the company’s fours offered turbine-like thrust and low vibration when most bikes were singles and twins. Police departments valued their pursuit speed; touring riders prized their comfort. Financial pressures led to acquisition by Ignaz Schwinn’s Excelsior group, where development continued until 1931. The Great Depression forced Schwinn to shutter motorcycle operations despite competitive products, freezing Henderson’s legend in place. Historically, Henderson symbolizes an alternate thread in American motorcycling: multi-cylinder refinement decades before such layouts became common. Surviving bikes command reverence for their engineering elegance and for the way they ride—long, smooth, and quietly authoritative. They also anchor the lineage that inspired later fours, from Indian’s postwar ‘Fours’ to modern inline architectures, proving that sophistication was part of the American vocabulary from the start.