47 Chief

This one is pretty cool. I'd loose the bags but it's still cool.

Chief Bobber

I'm not normally a huge fan of post-1940 Indian bobber's. This one, of at least this one from this angle, is pretty cool.

I feel like I've seen that wheel and tire combination somewhere before recently...

Shoulda, coulda, woulda...

I have been reading "A Century of Indian", by Ed Youngblood.  It's well known that the seeds of Indian's demise may well have been sown in 1936 when, in the midst of the depression, Harley had the courage and foresight to innovate the overhead valve Knucklehead.  Meantime, Indian hunkered down and continued to produce their Flattie.

It took Indian way too long to recognize that their venerable Chief was a capable chassis powered by an antiquated engine and transmission, dolled up with streamlined tins. 

What I didn't know, till reading this book, is that Albert Crocker, of Crocker motorcycle fame, started in Indian's engineering department in 1909.  In 1935 Crocker and Paul Bigsby developed and manufactured the incredible Crocker motorcycle.

In 1940, Crocker offered to sell his design and manufacturing rights to Indian...  Imagine if Indian had taken him up on that offer...





Another road not taken involved the famous Vincent V-Twin engine.  Indian evaluated a prototype for a new-concept Chief powered by a Vincent Series B Rapide engine.  The running prototype exceeded 100 mph.  I have seen pictures of "Vindians", but considered that they were Frankenstein hybrids emerging from some backyard garage; I didn't know Indian had seriously considered this option.  Unfortunately, Vincent was in their final death throes too.

So Indian put all their eggs in the vertical twin basket.  That might have worked too, if they had Edward Turner to design it.  Unfortunately they didn't, and the Wigwam didn't live long after that.

What's under the covers?

Pulled the primary cover and transmission cover off of the Indian tonight.  I was pretty pleased with the condition of what I saw...

 The primary chain looks very good, and the engine and clutch sprockets look okay too.  Mostly, I was impressed with how clean everything was.  No gunk built up in the bottom at all.

 Likewise, the internal parts in the transmission are very clean, with only a little evidence of wear.  The simplicity of the Indian "crashbox" three-speed trannie made me laugh.  It's about in neutral right now.  Moving the sliding gear to the left is first, a little to the right is 2nd, and all the way to the right is 3rd (1:1).

Here you can see how the shifter mechanism engages the pin in the middle picture...  I think I need to order some specialized tools to proceed from here...

Chief Lady

I have no idea who this lovely lady is but I do know she has great taste.