The Old News

Red Hot News (Click Highlights where necessary)

21/04/11 IIRA Stop Press goes to Blogging All the future news will be in a blog format as I have been told this is the way for current updating to be done, by Richard at MontiMedia our dedicated friend who maintaine”s the site on technical matters, they are in our Advertisers area as well as the sidebar.

18/04/11 *NEW PAGE*‘YouTube Links’ under Image Video Area area for relevant Indian Stuff, this we be added as more comes in

07/04/11 A new provider in the Links Area is Ed Glasgow of 4 Speed Overdrive fame, he will sell you a gearbox to suit your Springfield model .Frank Byford the manufacturer single handedly turned a ancient 3 speed crash box motorcycle into a pleasant highway cruiser, that is capable of todays highway speeds, Ed is the agent for these & will gladly help you with your queries. Stevie Higgonbottom sent a preview of his 1959 Chief , he picks up Saturday from Classic Style. Just noticed 27 Indians currently for sale in theTrading Post area from 1918-2010 as of today in either Just Magazines(15) or Bike Point(12) area not counting the private machines for sale by our Association Members

06/04/11 I like this brochure of the Indian Go-Cart, it was made in 1971- The 1954 Indian Papoose was listed to have a optional sidecar 98cc!

05/04/11 The first Anniversary Run is on 01/05/11, if you click on the highlight above you will see a well planned event thanks to Stevie so we need support on this one there will be prizes presented on the day as well

04/04/11 Bikes by the Bay was a huge success thanks to Chris Knoop for Setting up trestle’s & Association Banner.We also signed up a couple of new members out of the over 800 bikes & over 5,000 people that turned up, so this will be definitely be on next year. A couple of shots are on the Section News

24/03/11 Read all about the Sitting Bull Rally in the Section News & thanks to Phillip White for his splendid article & Peter Kime for the photo’s. We have proved yet again how late & early machines can run together without the doomsayers, critic’s & detractors forecasting bloodshed & mayhem!

21/03/11 Sitting Bull Rally report to follow by Phillip White, meanwhile the photo above shows Ned Kelly’s Indian he came to the Sitting Bull Rally as well, hmm at least the Indian did. Phillip rode a new Indian Bomber & will as promised write a follow up article in your next Smoke Signals Magazine Gilroy vs King’s Mountain. Motorcycling Australia has rectified the problems with the rider break-down cover, so back to normal 24-7 & 365 days a year cover on any motorcycle that you own, Australia wide for $25 annually download the forms from the Links area & pay its a win win situation. We will be offering better deals in the future with breakdown accommodation while your machine is repaired & also a machine to continue your journey with if you bike cannot be fixed in time. No other Club is offering this at the moment the Iron Indian Riders Association gives you more for your $ than any other Club ” This is a Fact not a Slogan” ( took this from a old Vincent -HRD Advertisement)

25/02/11 Just finished a new pillion seat set-up on my C347 I toyed initially with one of the commercial seats that are available but eventually settled on doing 10 hours & $800 worth of hard earned to get a seat with suspension, I’m fairly happy with the result but then my daughter will tell me wheather it is successful or not. My C344 outfit will be my back-up if the seat does’nt meet standards.Keep the entries rolling in for the Sitting Bull rally next month, the riding season is heading the wrong way so in 3 months you will regret not taking advantage of the ” Indian Summer”

14/02/11 Valentines Day this means you have to give your Indian a treat to show her you love her eg: oil change, new plastic float, points,plugs or condensor, or caress the kickstarter with your boot, start her & give her a good hard ride. Might also pay to give the missus some flowers, or a kind word, for tolerating you and your hobby all these years, any of the above advice you used on the Indian that can be given to your partner, well do the same! Entry forms for the Sitting Bull Rally are out this week, please reply ASAP

07/02/11 Harley-Ferguson quote of the day, “If you can’t fix it with a hammer you have a electrical problem” Enough of the jokes, the Association run was again very successful, thanks to Stevie for doing the back-up vehicle which was’nt used fortunately, unusually it never rained so I lost my bet . Phil White is doing a write up on the run & also a “Shoot Out on Roadmaster vs Chief Vintage” after testing both recently. A member has recently brought to light the difficulties on his 344 Outfit as some of you know I have such a model, these as a 74cu struggle pulling up long hills the outfit weighs over 900lbs bang a windscreen or 2 on it & a couple things happen, 1/3 of the power diminishes & fuel consumption will increase at least the same! C344 were woefully undergeared standard for 40mph convoy work, I geared mine up to 23t countershaft sprocket with a 3 speed as a 74cu, now it is 80cu with a 4 speed overdrive box I run 25t this has no trouble maintaining 100- 110 kph fully loaded & thats with a teenager & luggage as well. Check your gearing most Indian’s are undergeared for 21st Century riding solo’s included, most 1936-2011 Indians will maintain highway speed, the brakes are the problem particularly 1936-2003 versions, thats right even 1999-2003 have comparable brakes to the earlier Springfield versions.

30/01/11 Stinking hot today 40-41C but I will take bets gentleman that on next weeks Sunday Monthly ride it will pour rain as usual for our Association. Rumour from a good reliable source that new Indian”s complied for Australia are going down the assembly line in April to be for sale here in September, this is a very historic time for Australia since the last Indians sold here by a dealer was in 1948.Two agents have been appointed, 1 in Sydney & 1 in Bendigo who will obviously be selling in Melbourne, other states will be appointed later in the year. The good thing for us is as we acknowledge all Indian’s we hopefully will have more dealer & factory support eg: demo’s will be at the Crazy Horse Rally for our members to trial. Chris Horner has for sale Indian Saddle bag mount’s that are polished Stainless Steel to mount on the Alloy rack, these stop your bag’s burning on the hot exhaust pipe, price $100 a pair to members & $125 to non-members these a far superior to Starklites version as they are heavier material, Chris is also selling his 2003 Maroon Chief Vintage with 4000 mile on it & every accessory but more importantly full Blackhawk oil pump & flywheel modifications price is $32,000 fully complied rego & R.W.C. Chris is keen to buy a new King’s Mountain version, so we will have Robert Gosper ,John Smith & Chris, on current versions. So much for the scaremongering about being overrun with new versions out of 70 members only 8 x 1999-2011 exist in our association rest are Springfield Indians, out of the 8 late Indian Owners 6 have older models! Remember that over 100 x 1999-2003 models have been already privately imported into Australia till now–

15/12/2010 International Gypsy Tour, Perth W.Aust to Birdwood S Aust Sept 2012 For the Men & Women who have hair on their chest, plans are on for the ride of the Century, people on the East Coast will rail their Indian’s to Perth W.Aust having a leisurely journey over 3 days drinking & feasting in the Train all the way with fellow like minded enthusiast’s then spending the day in Perth, Murray Morell will then escort with back-up vehicle(s) all the way to Birdwood S.Aust in time for the largest Vintage/classic rally in Australia some of the N.Zealand & W.Aust Members are joining us. This will take 6-7 days so start preparing your Indian now & we will require Expression’s of Interest from members, we have had over 8 people in the first 3 days wanting to participate in this, more details to follow

20/11/2010 Just Magazines Group has started another website for the IIRA www.justauto.com.au/club/iiraa/membership .We are advertising all the Indian’s for sale in Just Bikes each month on our Trading Post page, just clicking on each machine will link you to their link page, the good thing is this will make us the “One Stop Site” for all Indian’s for sale up to the minute in Australia not bikes sold months or sometimes several years ago.

01/11/2010 All the price lists for spare parts that are available from Murray Morell (welcome aboard) on our website check in Trading Post then to Spare Parts for the latest up-to-date lists for your model.

Look up the Tech Article on Piston Ring Gaps on our website it’s very controversial