KANSAS CHIEF REBORN

I just finished this project last week.

BEFORE:

DURING:

Found as a Plains derelict living in a Kansas barn now recently "born again" as an American Southwest bounty hunter.

I was inspired by those eagle feathers hanging on the glass door knob shifter. So "Kansas"!

Bike now features:

Heavy black latigo leather saddle by Heather's Leathers with seven 1900-1910 extremely rare Navajo Indian conchos hand hammered & hand punched from pure silver ingot (not from coin as Navajo used later), secured against cutting with stainless steel strapping hidden behind the black leather strapping; stroked 84 in. engine with Bonneville cams by Randy Zorn; Frank Byford 4-speed tranny; Kiwi electric start for rapid pursuit (or quick escape!); 4 gallon tanks by Ironhorse Corral to cover the desert distances; rare 1940's Navajo Indian blanket from my collection, color coordinated to bike's design, wrapping over a heavy chill-proof covering for desert trail-side camping;  Packard Blue color (very close to Indian's "Police Blue") hand matched to late '30's factory Packard color sample cards; bikes' original fenders coated underside with stone & armadillo road kill guard; original-to-bike correctly operating speedometer and amp gauge.

Oops. I toasted the chrome exhaust when first dialing in the carb.  First try was too lean.

Available on eBay (when I'm dead).

AFTER:

A heavy black Latigo leather saddle skirt, the finest Latigo leather provided by me to Heather's Leathers, along with with seven 1900-1910 extremely rare solid silver Navajo Indian conchos, hand hammered & hand punched from pure silver ingot (not from coin as Navajo used later), secured against cutting with stainless steel strapping hidden behind the black leather strapping. Well that order into Heather's Leathers took about a year or more. Extreme custom takes time.

 

HOW TO GET INSANELY GREAT MOTORCYCLE VIDEO JUST LIKE ME!

Video Link:

https://youtu.be/IQtkskyof9U

UPDATE:

Since this video was made, power to the FEIYUTECH Gimbals has been changed to hard wired 3 cell Llithium RC batteries with battery voltage monitors.

Details on that later.

GENUINE CALIFORNIA "NICKEL BAGS"

I acquired a set of old leather saddle bags off a motorcycle in San Francisco, California. They were sold only as "vintage leather motorcycle saddle bags with nice patina."

But the 5 cent coins set into the leather strapping, two on each side, told me who was the maker. So did the unusually heavy leather and the zippers for detaching the bags. 

These aren't just old leather saddle bags: these have interesting motorcycle history!

It turns out, these bags were made by Phil Thacher, a Stockton, California legendary leather craftsman and a father of four, who died at age 44 in February 1999, two months after being diagnosed with leukemia.

He was a "hippie" leather craftsman from Santa Barbara.  His love of leather crafts led him to open The Leatherworks shop in Stockton in 1976, assisted by his wife Aimee.  

He initially provided custom handmade sandals, belts, wallets, purses, and other small leather items.

Then, one day in the late 1970’s, perhaps 1979, a customer asked Philip to make a set of leather saddlebags for a motorcycle. From this start, Philip soon developed standard motorcycle saddle bag product lines on specific styles beginning  just a few years later in 1982. Aimee now runs The Leatherworks company, still in Stockton, and it has become a very large supplier of various motorcycle bags.

I contacted his widow Aimee and sent her images of this bag. She was amazed to see this survivor from 35 years ago, and she dated these saddle bags to the very first run of their first standard style bag, around 1982. So 35 years ago.

Philip Thacher was easygoing, pleasant, likable, friends say. He had a knack for drawing people together from all walks: Hell's Angels, yuppie bikers, fellow merchants on the Miracle Mile.

Larry Loesch, a Harley motorcycle rider, walked into the store around 1989. He said “if you went over there on a Saturday, you'd see 20 people there just to visit, to have him sew a patch on their jacket, to shoot the bull with him."

Heavy leather was his works’ special feature and he invented the zipper-detachable bags right from the start. He used very heavy YKK zippers and the pull taps could be padlocked to a grommet in the leather as can be seen in the image of my bags below.

 Once unzipped, the bag could be carried by its heavy leather handle like a briefcase.

His inclusion of 5 cent coins, buffalo nickels, in the strapping was a distinguishing feature and allowed him to jokingly say he “only sells “nickel bags.”

The bags I have do not have the characteristic Thacher-installed buffalo nickels. Instead, they have Liberty five cent coins (note - not very valuable). One side displays two "heads" and the other side displays two "tails." 

Phil Thacher's widow could not remember him using Liberty coins but suspected this was just a custom request from the buyer.

Someone who spent many years at the time in San Fransisco told me on hearing of these bag's discovery:

 

"That is a great connection! Many of my friends in the Germanic Renaissance guild were expert leather workers and bikers. Not of the yuppie type but of the "roadhouse" type. On such character was "Red" who used to brag about his bags from Stockton... They must have been from the same place... He had custom tooled the leather and had the Ace of Spades and skulls all over them... He had mentioned that they were the only ones to have because of the thickness of the leather, which made them indestructible. 

Aimee remembered Phil made someone bags with the Ace of Spades in them, but not the skulls.

 

RESTORATION

 

The condition of these leather survivors of over 35 years tells of 35 years of use in riding wind and 35 years of exposure to the California sun. 

 

Thacher's bags were all black. These bags only displayed added black shoe polish or possibly even black paint, with a heavy accumulation of road dust; and many areas were worn to uncolored leather. That's the seller's idea of great "patina." Maybe so, but here Phil's very thick leather was very stiff - like cardboard and needed attention.

 

Before the stiff leather could be treated, this leather necessarily needed "cleaning."  What was on these bags was history for sure, but not a nice "patina." Also, they were destined for a new life on a new motorcycle and possible decades of future survival, not for a museum display.

Details later ...

 

 

 

A RIVETING VIDEO

Riveting a rear spocket.

The sprocket had been attached by someone in the past with pop rivets!!!

The holes in the brake drum and sprocket were worn to oval and so extra long rivets and heating to pink steel was needed to fill those oval holes.

Using a Hanson HRH-4X-777 Rivet Hammer.

Riveting videos do not get more boring that this!

https://youtu.be/iyMnGopUeGI

FOUND A DISPATCH TOW LOCKED UP FOR 20 YEARS
 

This 1940 Indian Dispatch-Tow was left untouched for 20 years (!) at the back of a clean and heated warehouse at the South end of my town.

Hell yes, I bought it.

Significantly, it was owned by the Ohio Indian motorcycle enthusiast and collector Ernie Hartman, Sr. who served in World War II. But before tucking it away for 20 years of safekeeping into the future, Mr Hartman, Sr. rode this Dispatch-Tow occasionally (parades) from age 74 until he was 80, during a time when his legs were no longer safe for riding his 2-wheeled Indians. It was his last Indian ride, and, I believe, the last sold from his collection. It was his "keeper." It became available for sale after his death in his 90's.

Amazingly, it started up when pulled from storage using a fresh battery and fuel. It still runs quite well and needs just a little work to operate it safely for reasonable speeds.  I am keeping its looks as it is.

There is no reason to doubt that the 45 in. Sport Scout engine (including its generator, distributor and coil) are not original to the frame (no frame number was found). There is no reason to doubt that the ammeter and switch are not originals to the dash as well -  they all look quite old - they all work. The 110 MPH Corbin speedometer works and is an old original though it may date to a start of 1941 - I can not tell. Maybe it is the original. Headlamp, brake, speedometer and fender lights all work.

The tow bar is a Fulton original in working order - will clamp to a period bumper. But its date may not be 1940.

The three tires are old and a little hardened. One is a Beck (perhaps original 1940), one a Firestone (original?), and the other is Dunlop.  All hold air like brand new.  I have an old Beck tire to use to replace the Dunlop and place the two Becks on the rear to match.

It was just incredible to find that this rare, safe-kept Indian was sitting in my town for 20 years and didn't know it.

I'll be needing a tricycle someday.

MYSTERY SCOUT

End of February 2017 and after a year of work I have the thing all mocked up with its 57 cubic inch engine which used to be a 30.50 cubic inch 741.

I'll tell you what this FrankenIndian is all about later with its final image. 

Its April 1, 2017 and all the sheet metal has been painted and pin striped, most of the polishing and plating is done (all nickel except chrome for the straight exhaust pipes) and I'm just waiting on the powder coating.

Custom Frame with 741 castings by The Gas Box of Cleveland, Ohio.
Engine by James Solberg of Middletown, Ohio.

Then it will take me a couple months to build it up and get it running. 

Yes, it will have a tank mounted GPS speedometer as mocked-up below:

 

KITCHEN TABLE SCOUT TRANSMISSION REBUILD

It looked like a nice spot.

But I should not have started this on the kitchen table 1 hour before family dinner.
They made me gather everything up and go elsewhere.

I just wanted to see what was inside. Check it against Gerry Greer's drawing.

 

 I found a couple problems to fix.

MY MAIN RIDE

A 1947 Chief. 
Has been very dependable.

Except when the intake manifold developed a leak - just look at that cooked chrome! 
Yes, I fixed the front brake lever position.

Seat and saddle by Heather's Leathers.
I carry a genuine 1940's Navajo Indian merino wool rug for roadside naps.
Ceremonially smudged "eagle" feathers are for speed and safety. 
Kiwi electric starter because I never found kicking to be fun.

35 degrees F is my lower limit and I'm good for just 30 minutes. Happier at 40F (here) and above.
Old Buco helmet with foam liner removed and replaced with a shearling leather cap with ear flaps made by Sterkowski of Poland. Nice and warm. Boots by Gasolina. Jacket by Milwaukee.  Socks are buffalo down. Underlayers are Minus-33 brand Merino wool. Warm gloves by Olympia and the warmest by JRP. 


NOTEWORTHY:

In the image above, I'm wearing Kevlar lined Dragging Jeans.
I own  a lot of these.
All have had the knee cotton worn through from kneeling to fix or do bike stuff.
On all, the Kevlar woven fiber under-layer has remained unaffected.
So I continue to kneel and work. 
That blue cotton layer was not important anyhow.
One needs Kevlar knees.
Just saying. 

 THE BIG CHIEF VISITS MY SHOP

Kiwi Indian company president Mike Tomas ("The Big Chief") visited my shop in 2015 on his way back to Riverside, California from the AMCA Perkiomen Chapter meet in Oley, Pennsylvania.

Mike is standing with the cast zinc Indian Scout statue being restored in my shop for the city of Lodi, Ohio.

In 2016, with my only nearby Indian owner John Muska, pictured on the right. We rode our Chiefs out to Lodi to visit the Scout. John rides a Chrysler blue 1940 Chief. Bob is on the left nwith his red 1947 Chief..

TROG 2016!

I converted the 741 to a TROG racer and it ran in The Race of Gentlemen (TROG) on the beach at wild, wild, Wildwood, NJ in June 2016.

Being too old to barely stand up, let alone handle a squirming speed devil on sand, I had my brave nephew Bryan Ames, an experienced motorcyclist, race it for me. He was given two days to learn to handle the foot clutch, hand shift antique before hitting the beach and facing the fierce competition.

I may be a liar but I'm sure I remember my #15 and its rider the novice racer Bryan Ames beating 3 out of 5 Harley Davidson 45's.

MODIFICATIONS

Engine stroked to 47 cubic inches with Bonneville cams by ACE Indian motor builder James Solberg (pictured below) of Middletown, Ohio. The blue tanks were temporary replacements while the bike's original soldered steel tanks were being lined for a measure of safety from a fuel fire due to solder failure from vibration and leakage during racing.

Bob deals with the chassis and adds Firestone ANS tires.

Added a reproduction, butt-killing, Troxel Ace seat made by Antique Moto Smith:

 Drop down handlebars by Kiwi Indian and hand painted number plates:

Anxious to leave my shop and race:

 World's greatest flagger!

 Something needed attention after every run. Here a broken throttle cable:

Great B&W photographs of the pit crew in action:

Bob and son Emmett make up the pit crew for #15:

 Waiting, waiting, and waiting:

Racer and his sponsor:

Bob with his sister Betty attending TROG, the mother of #15 racer Bryan Ames, to whom I promised he would not get killed racing here.

 Looking forward to TROG 2017!

RIDING THE 741 UP AND DOWN WEST VIRGINIA MOUNTAIN ROADS

VIDEOS!

PART I – 16:48 minutes

Arrival. We are the Wild Ones. Shoot the Covered Bridge. Kick-Start Hell. Life in a Parking Lot. Mountain Truck Menace. 

http://youtu.be/Xmal20kLs9c

PART II – 10:00 minutes

More Life in a Parking Lot. Weekend Warriors. The Falls. 

http://youtu.be/9Aak8NIgTXs

PART III – 14:32 minutes

Up Hill. Banquet. Down Hill Fireflies

http://youtu.be/lk5n1o2a7RQ

PART IV – 6:54 minutes

The Bike Show. 

http://youtu.be/dORQz9djS6w

In 2014 I beat this little Indian really hard up and down West Virginia mountain roads on the 3-day AMCA (Antique Motorcycle Club of America) National Road Run with the event based in Elkins, WV.

I deviated from the official route one day and got stuck on an 11% downhill grade for 3 miles with no place to pull off and a loaded logging truck on my tail with a devil driver. I was braking all the time over those three miles and put more emphasis on the rear brake for fear of locking up the front, spilling and being run over.

When I got home I pulled the wheels to inspect the brakes.

The rear brake shoes had melted over their rivets. See picture below:

MY FIRST INDIAN MOTORCYCLE
U.S. Army Model 741

The first Indian motorcycle I bought was a model 741 (nominal production years 1940-1943) pictured here as a military motorcycle now in "civilian dress."

It engine was still 30.50 (about 500 cc) cubic inch displacement.
The small size and low power made it ideal for my learning hand shifting and foot clutching.

The simple history is that Indian Motocycle (sic) Company made these under an Army contract to make available to our Allies before the U.S entered the war (1940-1943). The specifications driven by British interest were for a 500 cc engine. They ended up mainly in England, France, Russia, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia.

Intended for scouting and messenger service, they quickly became obsolete with the introduction of the Willys Jeep. So many were just abandoned. Sold as war surplus to the public after the war, they became cheap transportation for many.

The model 741 is very easy to modify and because of that, ironically, this low powered motorcycle was a favorite for modifying for racing.

The story goes that the earlier version fenders and a 19 in. front wheel (instead of the specified 18 inch wheel) were on this motorcycle when it was found in the mid 1950's well rusted in a barn adjacent to a military base in Florida.

I being 6 ft. 3 inches tall, the first alterations I made were to increase the seat height and raise the handle bars.

Soon the low power became intolerable and I had the displacement increased to 36 cubic inches (about 600 cc),