Carl Oscar Hedström (1871 - 1960)

DID YOU KNOW...

Indian Motorcycle was founded by the Swede Carl Oscar Hedström together with the American George M. Hendee in 1900.

Carl Oscar Hedström was born on March 12, 1871 in Åkarp Lönneberga parish, Kalmar county Sweden and emigrated as a 9-year-old with his family on June 25, 1880.

The family ended up in Brooklyn and Oscar showed an early aptitude for mechanics. As a 16-year-old, he got a job with a watchmaker and learned fine mechanics and got a journeyman's license after 5 years. His great interest was in improving the bicycle construction of the time, which at the time was clumsy and heavy.

He also began designing motorized tandem bicycles called "pace". The purpose of these craft was to ride ahead of the competitive cyclists and create backdraft so they could break records. In that vein around 1900 he met George M. Hendee who had been a competitive cyclist but had now started manufacturing bicycles.

George was greatly impressed by Oscar's creation and soon they started the company Hendee Manufactoring. Oscar set the speed record in 1903 with an Indian, reaching 90 km/h, but it was not until 1923 that the company changed its name to the Indian Motorcycle Company after the brand name of the motorcycles.

In 1913, an incredible 32,000 motorcycles were produced. From 1913 to 1916, Oscar's engines were installed in every Indian.

Carl Oscar Hedström died at his home in Portland, Connecticut on August 29, 1960