Excelsior Motorcycles started life in Lower Ford Street, Coventry, in 1874, as bicycle makers. The company took the name of the two partners, Bayliss & Thomas. They chose the brand name, 'Excelsior'.
In 1896 the company were incorporated and became Bayliss, Thomas & Co Ltd.. It was in that year that the company also began making motorcycles, becoming one of the earliest British manufacturers. Excelsior was also noteworthy for their early involvement in motorcycle racing, which started around 1900. In 1910 the company was renamed, The Excelsior Motor Company Co Ltd..
The recent bankruptcy of Minnesota's Excelsior-Henderson Co., a motorcycle manufacturer whose start-up was subsidized by state and local governments, has again raised the issue of the wisdom of those financial supports. The editorials in this issue look at two sides of the subsidy coin.
The son of a German immigrant, George T. Robie started the Excelsior Supply Company in Chicago in 1876. The company was a distributor, specializing in sewing machine parts. During the 1880s, as the popularity of the bicycle grew...
