The motorcycling world loves a ‘barn find’—an old, obscure machine
wheeled out of the woodwork for the first time. And this is one of the
biggest revelations of recent months. It’s a 1930 Henderson that was
customized before WW2 by a fellow called O. Ray Courtney and fitted
with ‘streamliner’ bodywork.


The art deco influence is obvious; legendary automotive designer
Harley Earl could have drawn those curves. It’s all the more unusual
because the mechanicals are hidden: even at the height of the Art
Deco movement, most motorcycles were a triumph of form over
function, with exposed cooling fins, brake drums and suspension
springs.


The bike is owned by collector Frank Westfall of Syracuse. It caused a
stir in June 2010 when it appeared at the Rhinebeck Grand National
Meet, a motorcycle show held a couple of hours drive north of NYC.
Grail Mortillaro (of the chopper blog Knucklebusterinc) had a camera
to hand, so we have him to thank for these images.


Henderson was a Chicago brand and one of the American ‘Big Three’
(with Harley-Davidson and Indian) until the onset of the Great
Depression. It went bust in 1931. But you can see the influence of the
‘streamliner’ style on another contemporary North American brand—
Victory. If there’s a spiritual successor to this Henderson custom, it’s
the Victory Vision Tour, a gargantuan cruiser with completely enclosed
bodywork and not a leather tassle or saddlebag in sight.—Chris
Hunter of motorcyle design website - Bike EXIF.

http://www.bikeexif.com/art-deco-custom-motorcycle