Malmsbury ride a success

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Moto Bean cafe in Malmsbury

Moto Bean cafe in Malmsbury

Last weekend’s Malmsbury ride, to the Moto Bean cafe, was a big success. Some 14-or-so bikes rolled up, with many starting from Calder and the remaining joining us from Gisborne.

Richard Onyon lead the crew on his latest acquisition, a very nice 1946 Chief, through a heap of backroads.

We had one breakdown and a puncture, of an we lost Zane somewhere along the way, though we know he’s okay.

Moto Bean is a great venue – good food, a very decent house shiraz, and nice coffee.

Thanks to Peter Kime for doing much of the organisation.

Aussie’s or not?

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The uniforms look Canadian to me but maybe not, strange not a 741 to be be seen only WLA’s

Fournales are in for your Scout

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Although expensive Fournales Australia have just released the famous AirSpring shocker for Scouts, I have been waiting since Christmas and I will be giving my results on them in the next few weeks. They seem to work well on a A-380 Airbus I was on recently and the motorcycle version is built to aircraft spec, for more details contact Bertrand Cadart  0407511454

Indian’s new flat tracker engine

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Basically derived from a developed Scout engine to compete head-head against Harley on flat tracks, this is history repeating after big base Scouts ridden by the “Indian Wrecking Crew” obliterated Harley in the forties. Harley has had it all their way for some time, Triumph rocked them to the core in the sixties when the 500cc OHV twins blew the sidevalve KR 750’S to the weeds until the AMA changed the biased rules then XR-750 OHV Harley came out and Gene Romero obliterated them with Trident engine Trackmaster. This is different now Harley vs Indian again as it used to be but now is the cashed-up endless resource company that can afford to shovel money at building a new machine, it will change the whole scene.

Daryl’s 741 IS ALL GO

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Daryl Colt is a man that starts with an oil stain and builds a bike around it, you have probably in the past noticed a Prince that he started with virtually a handful of parts and built a riding machine in a short time, not a man to rest on his laurels today he called in for a quick check-over to enable him to register the latest project a 741 Indian Scout. I must admit its a nice bike and should be out on the next ride or rally in the near future, it started with the proverbial “brush of a carpet slipper” and settled to a nice even tick over he has yet to finish the final touches on the generator and its ready for another war complete with a trenching shovel.

A good Question

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You could answer this by saying one and five native Americans, or six which is what I would say. With over 3,000 new Indians sold in Australia in the last 18 months, we have hit another goal that the largest Indian Club in Aussie is the IRG (Indian Riders Group) admittedly it is a corporate club ran by Polaris and if you bought a new model you were issued with automatic membership but they are now by far bigger than all the other six Indian Clubs combined in Australia and with the successful range they will only get bigger. One thing the other clubs do which is specialize in Springfield only models we at the IIRA encompass all variants from 1901-2016 rather unique and it works well for some although their are people who thought the world stopped when in 1967 Indian Sales ceased trading or even more ridiculous in 1953, as we all know that Clymer models followed then in 1999 Gilroys and so on. Hard to believe since that time 16 years ago you have been able to buy a new Indian in some form & only 4 years to go to be 20 years of modern era models.

One man’s Trash is another’s Treasure

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This picture is from Facebook and although it is sad, potentially there will be quite a number of machines restored from this lot. I often wonder what drives someone to dismantle their machine and never get it back together, I have after many years in the industry seen many examples of good bikes left like this and eventually scrapped, personally I hate a motorcycle in pieces and in 1991 I totally restored my 1969 Triumph Bonneville in 3 weeks a 100 point restoration, and built the “Vindian in 7 months from a running standard machine to a riding and finished machine. Whats the secret, easy don’t pull it apart till you have both the time and the money then have all parts or subcontractors all ready to go don’t even start till these things are in place because you will run out of enthusiasm and potentially the dream soon becomes a burden and a nightmare inevitably you will end up loosing bits and forget how it went together and it will be scrapped or sold.

Better than the real one

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Nothing like loving your Harley so much that you build a tractor to suit which is what every body calls them anyway, years ago I had the drawing of the prototype and this guys taken it to heart, its probably is more reliable than the product its named after.

That’s about right

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Last months  rant from me about complacently getting what you want was graphically illustrated on Facebook recently about Club and Association rides, I have had a bit of feedback and a couple of suggestions that I will bring up at the monthly meeting Tuesday week. So if you have a idea on this matter we are all ears to hear what your thoughts are both good and bad.

engine stop leak, definately not

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A lot of restorers of old bikes like to tell you how great the invention of RTV silicone is, I must admit it is fantastic for use on shower screens and for sealing exhaust pipes on old Indian’s into the barrels but that’s about it. I see Triumph engines similar to the engine above and obviously they must be owned by eccentric pastry chef’s who ice cupcakes and wedding cakes or plumbers that seal guttering or sewer connections. I have noticed a few Indians over the years the same with over use of the product, the secret is if you must use it at all use it very sparingly because in the end what oozes on the outside has done the same inside and its affected by oil so it grows and breaks off eventually ending in the oil pump and galleries, hence I never ever use it, the best test is squeeze a small portion out let it harden then put it in a dish of petrol you will be amazed how it grows, then save the tube for use in the bathroom