F114.1 1928 INDIAN PRINCE SINGLE Charles B. Franklin established his motorcycling career in his native Ireland and flew the Indian flag vigorously from 1910 onwards in racing and reliability trials. He placed second in the 1911 Isle of Man TT Indian sweep that year, and he knew the Indian’s strengths in his domestic market—power, reliability, all-chain drive and a 2-speed gearbox when most other brands relied on single-speed belt-drive machinery. Other bikes were equally fast in 1910, but the option of changing gears, even once, made the difference in racing. When the “McKenna Duties” were imposed on foreign imports to the UK from 1915—a protectionist effort to keep its currency close during World War I—Franklin’s new Indian dealership in Dublin was suddenly unprofitable, with an added one-third to the price of his machines going for import taxes. Indian saved Franklin’s bacon in 1916, offering him a job in its design department in Springfield, Massachusetts. Little did Indian know what a great choice it had made, as Franklin would go on to design Indian’s most popular machine—the Scout—in 1920, and redesign it as the 101 in 1928, perhaps Indian’s finest motorcycle ever. Having grown up in Europe, Franklin had seen the popularity of smaller motorcycles for utility work, so he designed a very European-looking single-cylinder machine for the 1925 season: the Prince, a lightweight 350cc side-valve which would have looked at home in a British catalog of the day. With its narrow tires, girder forks and light construction, the Prince was intended as “The Personal Motor” and advertised as “ideal for tradesmen, deliveries, students, and even women.” In 1926, an OHV version of the Prince was offered, while both it and the side-valve engine received various upgrades in their production through 1928. The chassis styling changed to a more “American” look in 1926, more in line with the Scout’s good looks, and by 1928, the side-valve Prince was good for a 60 MPH top speed with about the same gas mileage figure—a true economy model. With charming looks, good handling and ease of use, it might seem a natural big seller in the U.S. and abroad, but those hopes didn’t materialize, and the Prince sold only in modest numbers with the last model appearing in 1928. This final-year Indian Prince was discovered in Larned, Kansas, in 1975, and has been fully restored. It’s a difficult-to-find, last-year Prince, a charming lightweight with a simple magneto ignition and a very appealing and approachable 1920s American motorcycle. THE ROBERT RICHARDSON COLLECTION
