In 1917 Henderson was sold to Ignaz Schwinn, owner of Schwinn bicycle company and the Excelsior motorcycle company. Schwinn abruptly shut down the Excelsior-Henderson business in 1931 as the Great Depression hit.

In the early 1990s, brothers Dan and Dave Hanlon bought the rights to the Excelsior-Henderson brand, intending to resurrect the historic motorcycle and tap into a market dominated by Harley Davidson.

The project began in 1994 and more than $100 million in investment capital was raised. The large new plant in Belle Plaine, built in 1997, was criticized early on by some investors who thought it extravagant.

There were delays in the design and marketing of the motorcycles, with the plant finally opening in the spring of 1999. Nearly 2,000 motorcycles were produced (the eventual goal was for 20,000 bikes per year).

But by December 1999 the company was out of money and filed for bankruptcy. Investors lost everything. The inventory of the plant was auctioned off, with many people who had purchased motorcycles buying spare parts that would be available nowhere else in the future.

Ryan Cos. took control of the property in 2001. In 2004 a business that planned to make dietary supplements from alfalfa was going to purchase the building, but that company also went bankrupt.