I'm writing this review because I got addicted to motorcycling in my youth. Visiting Wheels Through Time museum (Maggie Valley, NC) in 2006, I was inspired to find an old motorcycle and rebuild it. A lot of the antique bikes for the street are over-priced, and hard to find. So, I decided to look for a smaller bike that was worthy of restoring, and wouldn't take up much space in my garage or my wallet. I purchased an old (1973) Indian Trail bike off of okay in June 2007, and set out to find parts and history for this bike in order to restore it. When I got this bike, it was truely a Bucket case. The engine was apart, and rusting away in a 5 gallon bucket. The original owner, who sold me the bike, said the engine locked up and threw him over the handlebars. He took the engine apart, and discovered 3 sprockets with torn out teeth, and a bent piston. This rebuild exceeded his budget, skill level, and time allotment, and he chose to let the bike sit in his barn for many years.
Interesting enough, I received orders to go to Korea with the Army, and had to leave my Indian Dirt bike in storage while I went overseas,, only a week after I had purchased the bike and pressure washed the rolling chasis. That 1 year of being away gave me time to research Indian and explore the internet for parts and vendor resources.
I discovered that Indian manufacturers went out of business in the US in 1953, and the Indian name was sold several times. Overseas gepanies were building bikes and importing them into the US under the Indian badging. Italjet made various versions of the Indian Mini Enduro (ME) and Super Enduro (SE) dirt bike. They came in various configurations in 50cc, 70cc, 100cc, and 125cc.TheE in the model names also meant that they had headlights and turn signals, as opposed to the MX and ML versions which were dirtbikes (with/without headlights). Engines came from Italjet andFuji;Italjet still makes scooters and mopeds today (June 2009). Depending on the year, model, and engine ccsize, various rim sizes, engine manufactures,and frames were used. In order to restore one of these Indians to perfect condition, you need to know what specifications were stock on the year and model you are working on. This is why it is best tostart witha geplete bike to restore rather than just locating every part and assembling a geplete bike.
www . Italjet. ge
You may be amazed to open the casing of an Indian Mini Enduro, and find "Ducati" stamped on the flywheel. The Magneto system (for SE-74) is a 33watt Ducati flywheel and Ducati coil.
During my 1 year in Korea, I continued to purchase parts for my SE-74 and have them shipped to my wife in the US. I returned to the US to discover that a lot of the (frame) parts would not work on the model I had. It took me an additional year to rebuild the engine and get it running. Meanwhile, I had the frame sandblasted and painted, and started on the electrical system. I was constantly working on something to advance the progress on this project. I had to search the internet for each and every NOS bushing and bearing still available. I was fortunate enough to be able to purchase a parts manual which helped me get the engine back together properly I had almost given up on locatingthe one final internal engine part to make this rebuild a geplete mechanical restore: anew clutch rod, and asked for the assistance from a local machine shop. Luckily, Gary Baker Indian Dirtbikes came through and found the rod I had been looking for after me constantly asking for over 3 months; Thanks again Gary! The machine shop was still handy in fixing the threads of the front sprocket shaft.
This month totals 3 years of research and hard work to get this bike running. There are a few more cosmetic parts that I need to obtain to get this bike in great appearance and running condition. After purchasing 3 newly recovered seats, I finally got one that fits properly. The handlebars off of a Honda XL70 appeared to be a direct replacement, but I found out when I put handgrips on, the bar ends are almost 2 inches longer on the Indian and the center handlebar grips would not align.; Maybe Rechroming the original part is in the plans for the future.The fork legs I have work great, but were pitted, so I sanded the chrome off of them and painted an aluminum paint on them. Rebuilding the shocks make a big difference in these vintage bikes.
With the engine sandblasted, it looks beautiful.I'm pleased with my Indian SE-74 (70cc two stroke, 4 speed). Now, since the neck VIN label on these bikes are only stickers, it's hard to pin-point the exact year on some of these bikes,,, such as mine.. But, due to the smaller style gas tank, several people have reassured me that mine is of the early 1970's models. UPDATE, I found the VIN number etched in the neck of the frame. The VIN indicates my bike to be a 1973 model. Many people gement that they have never seen an SE model, since mine has the headlight, turn signals, horn, and taillight. Mine seems to be a rare Indian Dirtbike, and is totally street legal, despite being 2 stroke. It can be a little stubburn to start after sitting for a week or two, but once it warms up, you can definitely tell that this 70cc (two stroke) has more power than my Honda XL70 (four stroke).UPDATE: I bought a new carb which makes it extremely easy to start the bike now. The engine still works better after it warms up for 5 to 10 minutes. This is my first 2 stroke bike, so I'm assuming that is gemon with all 2 strokes.
Some people call these little bikes Taiwan Indians,,, but who cares. I own a rare piece of the Indian motorcycle history, and I get to ride it any day I want! Granted, I'm not too particular on the "All American or Nothing" theory of some bikers. Some people don't realize that Harley (enduro bikes of the 1970s) also had Yamaha engines in them, back when AMC was helping to keep Harley from going belly up.
I'm truely a biker who doesn't care what you ride; I even wave at scooters and mopeds. And NO, I don't flip people off who don't return my friendly wave,,, I may be driving a Honda Magna to work, my Indian dirt bike around the neighborhood, or (if I ever hit the lottery) someday a Servi-car, PanHead, FlatHead, WLA, or someHot Rod project bobber that I piece together from a bunch of junk bikes, some cool metal fabrication, and custom duct tape!
the followingis an excerpt that I took from indianchiefmotorcycles.ge
With the last All American Indians being made in 1953, the gepany was bankrupt, and its shares and assets (including the intellectual property, e.g. Indian trademarks) were sold in 1954 to the English Brockhouse Corporation who would use the Indian dealer network to sell two brands of English motorycles, and to the Titeflex gepany who attempted to manufacture things and whose name remained on the Springfield factory until wind blew it down in 2005. Other than the sale of the Indian name and shares and assets, not much happened during 1954 from the perspective of Joe Biker. The second biggest domestic maker, a gepany that started two years before Harley and was their main gepetitor, suddenly stopping producing and selling. When bikers readthe Indian Dealership Ad (After Many Moons,,, a Brand New Indian)they must have been overjoyed and thought another American made and designed Indian was on the way.
this part of his article includes interesting pictures and info. about Indian.
To conclude this section, many will say this 1950-60 and 1970 business was impure, "not real Indians", but the 1999-2003 Indian Chief had an imitation Harley Evo engine and gearbox and clutch and primary drive, in an imitation Harley Softail frame, and the same forks used on Harleys (all made by Showa in Japan), so if a 1960 or 1970 Indian is not a real Indian neither was the 2000 model. The 1960 Chief, the 1970 750 c.c. Indian, and the 2000 Chief were all made under the design and orders of the people who at those times held legal title to the Indian name, so they are legally Indians even if they have engines and frames made by another gepany. Harleys use Japanese forks and partial electrics, and possibly clutches and brakes (let me know), and they paid Porsche to design their Evo and V-Rod engines, so what is "pure" anymore? The big Honda models are built 100% in the USA, by Americans, and Americans had a lot to say in their design, so is a big Honda a Japanese bike? The Aero and ACE Tourer look more Harley than Harley! (But one must admit that Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki and finally Suzuki copied the Harley Glide and Indian Chief series styling and did not invent it.) At this point I am arguing with myself, so enough said!
the proceeding views are merely excerts from the website mentioned. It may be noteworthy to mention that this year (2009), Honda released it's first stock chopper, The Fury. With the engine from the VTX 1300, and ergonomics designed after custom builders, mimiced from the 50s, 60s and 70s. It seems only fitting that Honda stretches out from the pack of Metric cruisers to make factory choppers, after years of people chopping the CB750 SOHC engines to create their own bikes. Victory has a factory "chopper" called the Hammer. Harley now has the Rocker C, which is their "factory chopper".
No matter what you ride, enjoy yourself, and be safe.
Best Wishes
William
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