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(RICE-FREE)*
By Red Fred I guess it all started when I saw a guy on a crotch rocket get whacked by a red-light runner. I was very interested in going fast then. Kawi 900s were the norm, and the 1000s were just coming out. This guy was on an RD. All fast Jap stuff. We were hanging out at my motorcycle buddy’s place when it happened. My motorcycle buddy’s big brother had a vintage bike biz, and he rode Vincents. He often had a friend visiting with a '48 Chief, all gaudied up. After that wreck, I figured it was putting for me, none of this go-fast nonsense. I dreamed and fantasized about bikes (Pops said that the day I brought a bike home was the day I moved), playing with hot-rod cars and blasting other people’s bikes (or bikes that I kept at other people’s places), until I bought my 1,600-original-mile '47 Chief from a little old lady. It was her late husband’s; he restored Indians as a hobby. I brought it home, and Pops couldn't believe it. I was out of the house in a short time, after T-boning a car and totaling it while I blasted through a red, snapping my forks off just under the headlight and depositing them a block away. Put the engine in the frame sideways, pulling out one of the down tubes. I busted my pelvis and lost my glasses. The headlight lens was intact! My goal was to get the bike back together while still in a cast. When the bike had been running, I spent most of my time watching the weird girder forks go up and down. Now I wanted one of those cool telescopic jobs. Couldn't find any out West, so I opted for a '49 Glide set. The bike really worked well with this set-up. So now I'm kicked out, living in an animal house with two other creeps. It's one thing to have one animal eating your ice cream, and the other borrowing your tools, but to have the threat of a landlord ready to axe you because he doesn't understand the hot-rod lifestyle and bikes upstairs in the house was too much. This motivated me to buy a house. So here's the upstairs portion of the joint. There used to be more stuff, including a room for just rigid Chiefs! But “she who must be obeyed” entered my life, and I had to make room. It's OK, though, I filled up her house with my junk when she moved in with me! I hope this is a little more entertaining than just a garage full of hardware. Thanks to fellow VI lister Bob Kelley for his patience in editing, pasting and patching my illiterate drivel into something more readable. Merry Motoring, R.F. |
![]() Here we are on a slight hill. All the better for bump-starting, or coasting in during the middle of the night so as not to wake the neighbors.
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![]() The "after-dinner project," the '47 Chief, in the living room. |
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![]() Note jumper cables, as I'm still dialing it in. I used the hogged-out magneto as a timer to fire a dual-shot coil. |
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![]() The fan, side view. |
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![]() '38 4our; rescued from a scrap heap in Louisiana. Cost $400! Standard bore, very low mileage. Great story goes with this bike. Was found with the rim completely corroded off, just little patches of it at the end of some mangled spokes. But the inner tube was still pliable and intact! I'm saving this one for when I get more room, more patience, more time, and more refined. |
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![]() Here we have an Indian Arrow boat motor. They were manufactured over 12 months between 1930 and 1931. There were two models during this time. This example is a later one, depicted by the tank, which should have a decal, as opposed to the earlier boxy tank that had a brass plaque riveted to it. I have a NOS decal, and someone made a run of repros years ago! I don't think Indian actually made these, but the finned exhaust sure is cool. I once saw a factory display stand for the outboard. It was cast iron, with the Indian script on it. It was actually way cooler than the motor, cost a lot more also!!!!!! |
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![]() Here's a '25 wedge-tank Prince in the bedroom. Makes a great coat hanger! This was the first year of the Prince (essentially a blatant copy of many lightweight European designs). The motor is done for this; that's just a dummy cylinder taking up the space for now. H-D 45 rod and piston had the same measurements as the stock junk, but with the pop-up Bonn effect in the head. So we hogged out the head. I still need a few odds and ends for this. It has a weird, one-piece, internal expanding brake shoe supposedly. Note the mural painted on the neighbors' wall. They pissed me off when they painted their house a color I didn't like, so I snuck up and did the mural. All hell broke loose when they discovered it, but I'm the one who has to look at it. Just out of the photo is an Indian dealer sign. When the neighbors get too loud, I fire it up. Lights up the whole block!!! |
Also by Red Fred in the VI back issues: | Rocky's Antique Parts | Death Valley Run |