Additionally, it was an open "secret" that Schwinn's Chicago company was about to unveil its latest advancement in engine design, the "Big-Valve X," which would make its racing debut in June.  Whatever the case, the Hendee Company decided, in the Spring of 1915, to begin immediate experimentation on a simplified side-valve engine that held promise for a substantial increase in power over the old Hedstrom model.

While the engineers were busy at their drawing boards, the racers were battling it out on the race track.  It was still a see-saw competition between the big three;  each company's publicity department scrambling to make the most from whatever victory their team riders could claim in the free-for-all.  Throughout the summer, Indian's Ray Creviston was the dominant flat tracker in the sport, recording wins over Excelsior's newest hope, Bob Perry, and Perry's talented teammate, Carl Goudy.

Perry and Goudy were the two Excelsior riders that had finished ahead of Indian but behind the Harley-Davidson winners at the Venice road race in April.  On June 19, 1915, Bob Perry and Carl Goudy put Excelsior back in the lime-light by winning the prestigious Boston 300-mile relay race on their company's new entry, the "Big-Valve X."

This important race was the public debut of (what would prove to be) the ultimate evolution of Excelsior's standard motor, which now featured huge, 2 and 1/8th-inch diameter valves.  With less than a month remaining before the "race of the year," it was anyone's guess as to which manufacturer's rider and machine would take the checkered flag at Dodge City to claim the landslide of publicity for their factory sponsor.

Just beneath the jovial atmosphere that surrounded the buildup for the 4th of July spectacle, a serious struggle was in progress:  the contest between Excelsior and Harley-Davidson for second place in industry sales.  By this time, it was an accepted business fact that a major win on the race track was a key ingredient for success in the market place.  Although only in its 2nd year, the 1915 Dodge City 300-miler was being hailed as the "Indianapolis" of motorcycle racing, its outcome of vital importance to the manufacturers.

Six companies fielded professional teams.  The Harley-Davidson entry consisted of eight of the Ottaway improved, standard production racers;  while Indian challenged with eight factory riders on both standard valve as well as special 8-valve machines.  The Excelsior team, captained by Carl Goudy, rode machines powered by the Chicago firm's newly introduced "Big-Valve" motor;  while the Minneapolis based, Joern's Mfg. company entered two of their bright yellow, overhead-cam Cyclones that had been causing a sensation wherever they appeared.  Several Merkels, an Emblem, and a Pope rounded out the field.

Start of the 1915 Dodge City race

Bunched together, 29 contestants circled the 2-mile race course, positioning themselves, by pre-arrangement, in closely packed rows -- five riders abreast.  The 15,000 spectators, who had gathered under a hot Kansas sun, watched as the starter, seated in an open racing car, led the riders around the track.  Inez Patterson, reporting the event for "The Pacific Motorcyclist," described the spectacle as follows: 

When the caravan of car and riders turned onto the home stretch, the suddenly hushed crowd stood tense in the grandstand.  There was a crash and roar of mechanism and exhausts.  The driver of the pace car pushed his mount, already doing 50 miles per hour, and the starter waved a flag from his position in the seat.

The car swerved frantically to one side of the track and 29 madmen aimed at the first turn.  Women screamed, men jumped up and down and yelled.  Bedlam broke loose.  Dodge City was underway.

"Motorcycle Illustrated" characterized the Cyclone rider's performance as "nothing short of spectacular," and it was generally understood that Johns was pacing himself for a new 100-mile record.  With Johns out, Carl Goudy took over the lead followed by Morty Graves on an 8-valve Indian in 2nd place.  Otto Walker, just behind Graves, led the band of Harley's and what remained of the field.  At the 100-mile mark, Goudy's Excelsior was still in the lead, and he had set a new record for the distance, aided no doubt by the extraordinary pace set earlier by the yellow demon Cyclone.

The next to the last lap flag had been given and eyes began straining for Graves.  There he stood on the backstretch -- out of gas.  That was one time when an ink bottle full of gas would have been worth $800.00 to Morty.  Walker barged on around and then the brown-coated Harley-Davidson crew began jumping and the Indian men stood solemn.

Losing Dodge City in the last lap of the July, 1915 race was discouraging for Morty Graves. The Indian team rider had been thinking of retirement so when the bottom dropped out of his gas tank in the last mile of yet another 300-miler in September (Morty had a 7-mile lead at the time), the 25 year-old seasoned veteran called it a day and took with him into retirement the memory of an illustrious career, a list of world records and victories, and an enduring fellowship with the unique fraternity of men of which he was a founding member.