This article covers Franklin's career both as racer and as engineer, and contains a lot of information about his upbringing and deeds in Ireland, England and Isle of Man prior to his emigration to the US in 1916. This was originally published in Indian Motorcycles Illustrated, a Buzz Kanter magazine published for a time in the 1990's. Unfortunately you can't subscribe now because it got wound up, however Buzz still publishes American Iron which caters to the modern Harley audience but has an editorial policy to contain at least one article per issue on antique US machinery.
Charles B Franklin: Racer and creator of classic Indian motorcycles
By Harry V Sucher
Most Indian motorcycle enthusiasts are aware that one Charles B. Franklin designed the Indians of the so-called "classic" period between the wars, but little information concerning his life and times was ever made public outside what factory personnel knew from working with him.
A native of Ireland, Franklin established himself in the U.S. as a motorcycle engineer. As was custom at the time, company literature emphasized the technical features of a product, accompanied by news of sporting victories with only a passing reference to personnel.
Charles Bayley Franklin was bom Oct. 13, 1880 in Belfast. His father, Lorenzo C. Franklin (1852-1922) was trained as an iron worker and ship fitter, having entered these trades as an apprentice at the age of 15. His mother, Annie Frances Bayley (1854-1927) married Lorenzo in 1878. Charles' only sibling, a sister born when he was two, died in infancy.
The elder Franklin was employed in John Laird's shipyard in Belfast, which, in those days, was an important shipbuilding center for both Great Britain and Europe.
Charles' family moved to Dublin sometime in the mid 1890s. His father was able to set himself up in the metal salvage business, an activity associated with the shipbuilding industry there.
As Lorenzo Franklin prospered, he was able to enroll his son in a public school where Charles showed an early interest in science and mathematics.
At the age of 12, Charles con�tracted pneumonia and nearly succumbed to the infection, recovering only after a long period. Like many other schoolboys of his day, he became an enthusiastic bicyclist and joined the local bicycle club. He used his bicycle riding to help "build up his wind" and help his lungs to heal.
Annie and Lorenzo decided that their son should attend an institution of higher learning and enrolled him in the Dublin Technical College in 1897. Charles selected electrical engineering as his major, a field that was becoming prominent in industrial applications as well as residential, because many municipalities were converting from gas illumination to electric.
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