How then, in 1919, to build the first modern postwar American motorcycle? Back to basics. The original small one-cylinder Indians of 1901 through 1908 were integrated designs, meaning that the frame and engine were designed together and by one man. The pioneer Indians had an engine sufficiently small to fit into a heavier version of a conventional pedal-bike frame. The top of the single cylinder was secured directly to the seat mast by a bolt in the center of the cylinder head. The crankcase was secured to the lower frame members.
To achieve this good-looking and good-working result again requires one designer both gifted and empowered. You fit the bill, Charlie Franklin. You bring to the drawing board the experiences of a factory team rider at the famous Isle of Man TT. You bring to the drawing board your experiences as a team member in the development of America's first big selling side-valve (flathead) motorcycle, the Indian Powerplus, introduced in 1916.
The rest of the "blank sheet" process becomes less clear. So we, the readers, step out of the present tense in 1919, and reflect with hindsight. One is tempted to say that top management gave the designer a blank sheet of paper on which he was to exercise his unfettered genius. But the process may have flowed in the opposite direction. Given that Indian cofounders and genuine motorcyclists George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom had already left the Wigwam, there could not have been much if any detailed leadership from the company's follow-on top management team of bankers and financiers. Franklin may have done some sales work within the Wigwam, which means he would have defined some preliminary specifications and made some preliminary drawings in the process of achieving top management's approval for the new "Harley crusher." At any rate, whether before management's blessing and on his own initiative, or after having been charged by management, Franklin really did clear his mind of earlier concepts. Indeed there was a blank sheet of paper - we just don't know when Charles Franklin started filling it in.
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