From:	Dave Hennessey	e-mail:	dave@toyhouse.org
Subject:	Carl Vandre - My Remembrances	Date:	Sat Feb 9 19:22:57 2008

The Henderson motorcycle community lost a good friend this week, Carl Vandre. Carl passed away on February 7, 2008. Over the years, Carl was responsible for keeping countless Hendersons on the road – in this country and around the world. There wasn’t a part on a Henderson motorcycle that Carl couldn’t fix. And if a part was missing, he simply made a new one. And though he had fixed hundreds of them, he couldn’t fix all of them himself – so he gave advice to countless people from all over the world – all you had to do was call Carl on the phone, and tell him your problem. Carl liked the in-line four-cylinder design of the Henderson, but he thought they could use some improvement. Since Henderson went out of business in 1931 - about the time that Carl turned five years old – he couldn’t offer his suggestions to the factory. So, during the 1990’s, while Carl was in his 70’s, he designed, engineered and manufactured an in-line six-cylinder Henderson for friend Dick Winger. Carl thought the inline-six was pretty cool, but it required making the frame considerably longer – he liked the power of two extra cylinders, but didn’t like the long wheelbase. So he designed and manufactured a Henderson V6 engine, which fit in the stock motorcycle frame. Around the turn of the millennium, Carl decided to play one-ups-man-ship with himself – he designed and built a V8 Henderson! Carl was “Mr. Henderson” – there isn’t a person on this planet that knew more about the Henderson motorcycle than Carl Vandre. Carl is no longer with us, but the Hendersons he loved so much still are. Carl Vandre is the reason they are. ----------------- I met Carl Vandre back in the late 1990’s at Davenport – at that time, I didn’t own a Henderson then, but I admired Carl’s Hendersons and marveled at his V6 creation. A few years later, I acquired my Henderson – it looked good and ran good, but the engine went south after a couple years. The next few times I ran into Carl at Davenport in the early 2000’s, I asked him if he would rebuild my engine. Each time, he said “No, I’m retired, and I want to have time to work on my projects”. Unbeknownst to me, late in 2006, Matt Olsen, the AMCA youth coordinator, asked Carl if he would rebuild his Henderson engine. Carl replied “No – I won’t. But, if you’ll move out here for a few months – I will teach you how to do it”. Well, Matt asked his boss (his dad), and shortly thereafter, Matt had moved into an apartment in Denver, to attend the Vandre Engine School. Carl had learned that he had cancer, and that his time was limited. Carl, one of the AMCA’s oldest members, decided it was time to pass his knowledge down to the younger generation, and Matt, one of the AMCA’s youngest members, stepped in just at the right time. About that time, I emailed Matt, asking him who he would recommend to rebuild my engine. The next day, I got a call from Matt, who said “Funny you should ask – I’m living in Denver and Carl is teaching me how to rebuild my Henderson DeLuxe engine”. He continued, “Let me ask Carl if we can do two at the same time”. Carl agreed, and the next day, Matt told me the news. I built a shipping crate for the engine, and sent it to Denver via commercial truck. The engine arrived, and under Carl’s supervision, Matt disassembled it. Together, Carl and Matt started an extensive overhaul of the engine, but Matt moved back to South Dakota at the end of 2006 – after a three-month apprenticeship program. Carl finished up the engine during 2007, and we planned to meet at Davenport. Only a week before the event, he called to say that he wouldn’t be able to make it, but he was sending my engine with several friends who would take it there. He did, and they did, and I picked up a large packing crate at Davenport on Labor Day weekend. I reassembled the bike soon after, and my 1930 Henderson is now roaring down the road. I kept asking Carl about his charges for rebuilding the engine, but he kept saying that he had to go back and figure the cost of materials. Finally, in December, the invoice came in the mail and a few days later, I sent him a check. I’ve been calling Carl every few weeks during the last year. His health was up and down, and sometimes he sounded great and reported great progress. Other times, he didn’t sound so great. But it was always a joy to talk to him, and even though the doctors had given him six months to go, he always kept a positive attitude. I last spoke to Carl sometime in January. We spent about 45 minutes on the phone, and most of the time, I really couldn’t understand him. But he did promise to meet me at Davenport this year. And I promised to move to Denver to attend the Vandre Engine School this fall. At each end of that 1500 mile telephone line, we gave each other a little smile - knowing these things would never come to pass. The last thing Carl said to me was “Dave, you’re going to have to be your own mechanic now”. Dave and Jennifer Hennessey Broad Run, Virginia