History

Sears Dreadnought was a motorcycle sold by Sears in the 1910s. The motorcycle featured a 70.62-cubic-inch (1,157.3 cm3) V-twin made by Spacke. It was sourced from Spacke's cyclecar and had 9 horsepower (6.7 kW). In addition to the internal combustion engine, it also had foot-pedals like a regular bicycle. (This was for getting the engine started as the kick start had not been invented yet.)

The motorcycle was designed for Sears in conjunction with Excelsior Company of N. Sangamon Street, Chicago. They put together popular components and features of the period including the Spacke V-twin engine, a Schebler carburetor, Musselman hub, chain drive, etc. It was offered with various options such as a two-speed hub and a lightning package.

Sears sold the motorcycle like its other products via mail order for $250 in 1913 (just under $7,000 in 2022 dollars). People would shop out of large catalog of thousands of items rather than the local store, then the product would be delivered to them. Sears sold motorcycles from 1912 to 1916. The Dreadnought motorcycle is also called the Sears De Luxe Dreadnought Twin. DeLuxe was the marque of the Spacke engine company and was on the engine itself.