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BIG X / EXCELSIOR HENDERSON
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On March 31, 1931, Schwinn abruptly shut down the Excelsior-Henderson company. Now, over 60 years later, the Excelsior-Henderson is being re-born by a couple of self-proclaimed motorcycle fanatics, and brothers, from Belle Plaine, MN. These fanatics are Dan and Dave Hanlon. Realizing that there is room for another great American cruiser in the world-wide marketplace, Dan and Dave Hanlon from Belle Plaine, MN are reviving the greatest motorcycle of them all, the Excelsior-Henderson. Dan and Dave grew up on a family farm in Belle Plaine and are positioning themselves to challenge the heavyweight champion of cruisers, Harley Davidson.
Dave is the older brother at 42 years old. Dave entered our beloved University of Saint Thomas in the mid 70's and took his farm boy roots and Harley Davidson "chopper" along.( You remember the chopper, I described it on page one.) he would drive this loud, obnoxious motorcycle up on the sidewalk and chain it to the bike rack! Needless to say, he drew quite a bit of attention. Dan, 38, followed in his footsteps. "I was reluctantly dragged into higher education at U.S.T.", Dan said. They both received their business degrees and became Brooks Brothers suited, wing-tip wearing, white collar professionals. Dave said his favorite memory of Saint Thomas is seeing it in his mirror as he left campus on his chopper.
Dave ended up building a career in the truck leasing business and Dan went on to get a Masters Degree in International Business. Dan worked at Honeywell in strategic planning and also helped invent an environmental packaging material and started a successful business around this
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invention. The name of the business is Evergreen Solutions. neither admit to having any goals of starting a motorcycle business, but Dan confided that he always wanted to be in manufacturing as an owner.