Laurie Keenan one of our most enthusiastic members has just got his C344 Chief on the road, Laurie has done his in Royal Australian Navy livery which is quite a change from the normal Army Khaki. We need a RAAF version next, anyway all the best Laurie and we hope to see it on the road soon
The Indian Prince as Daryl Colt says about his bike pictured above” For people who can’t afford a Scout” Daryl is the bloke that started with a Prince oil stain then built a bike around it fabricating things like the seat cover and fuel tank, chaincases etc. So whats it like in the 21st Century, slow & more reliable than it was probably when it was new as they were aimed at women riders and the opposition was the Harley Peashooter, a far superior product they never achieved the numbers Indian wanted. I know of a rare O.H.V model here and it would have been more expensive to produce although undoubtably faster, Daryl’s is”nt faster but it gives many people much pleasure when its on the road and you cant get the smile off his face.
Zorro’s are pleased to announce their appointment as Ikon Suspension dealer. Of particular note is the availability of a suspension package front and rear to fit the new Indian Scout. This upgrade gives a massive improvement over the standard equipment fitted in terms of performance and durability. As a special offer both the Ikon front and rear suspension upgrades for the Indian Scout will be available as a package for $799.95 plus $24.95 shipped Australia wide. Until end of Nov 2015 Suggestedretail is $899.95 contact Mark at Zorro’s for further details 0433 106669 or www.zorros.net.au
Zorro’s
E: sales@zorros.net.auW: www.zorros.net.au
I have a library of many photos, some are modern Indians others are really old pictures that the machine or pictured participant are long gone I think both are well departed in this shot. What is interesting is that this may have been a treasured family photo of a near new machine, and now all details have disappeared, but never mind I still like it
The Bendigo Club have acknowledged our donation and its good to see they have spent our money wisely, I”m looking forward to using it at the TeePee rally on 25th next month, meanwhile the weather forecast for this weekend’s Crazy Horse Rally is shaping up fine, roll-on this Saturday
This picture was on the Triumph Classics Facebook page and it is quite good at summing up what wrong in the Classic restoring industry as it stands. Everyone knows a “Gunner” ” One day I”m gunner restore that there motorsickle in the shed” said the 82-year-old, and I havent had a motorcycle licence since 1962. I had one today that rang with a 1949 Triumph Tiger 100 he was slightly quite when I gave him a price of 300+ hours at $100 an hour plus parts, paint, chrome etc which would it hovering around $20,000+ especially when I told him finished it was worth $15,000 if he was lucky. So some of us have all these odd bits lying around the shed, if you fully intend to build another bike and your seriously collecting bits for it regularly then great, if not sell them to some poor bugger that’s desperately assembling bits to complete a bike and it will be another on the road, also if you don’t ride the bike you own regularly sell it, not to a collector but to someone who will ride it hopefully this will get another generation interested and it will benefit all of us in the long run and who cares if that person has the wrong reflector on his machine as long as he’s enjoying it thats all that counts
Member Jon Munn has for years advised to invest in Classic bikes & John Gee from Antique Motorcycles repeats the same thing so do I, the beauty of all this is that you can still enjoy riding your investment unlike your share profile when things taper off. Lee Carnihan sent this much appreciated article below in investments and please click on highlighted link below
I thought you might be interested in sharing this article about classic motorcycles with your members of the Iron Indian Riders. It mentions the Indian Chief Steve McQueen owned which was sold for 108,000 AUD last year. If any of your members have one of these beautiful machines tucked away at the back of their garage then they might be sitting on a goldmine. Mind you, I’m sure they know that already and like Indian Chiefs regardless of how much they’re sold for at auction, but I thought they might be interested in hearing about Steve McQueen anyway. It also features some advice from Sybil de Bidaph, member of the Indian Riders Motorcycle Club.
Lee Carnihan
The guy getting shaved with a axe, and my wife telling me I’m not as young as I used to be reminded me when men were men. After the last IIRA run and my body being pounded by my 344 Chief over rough roads, and feeling like I had just gone three rounds with Mohamed Ali made me wonder how GI’s rode the bastards over bomb cratered Europe in WW11 then got off dug foxholes, shot Germans and were cold and hungry as well everyday, reality hit when my wife said GI’s weren’t 63 but strapping twenty year olds, maybe I’m being to hard on myself! Still I’m reassessing taking it to the International Gypsy Tour 2016 and also participating in the Great Race in Tasmania, this weekend is the Rod Leamon run to Donnybrook cheese Farm not far but it will check the gearing as I upped it from 22t to 24t after I pulled the sidecar off in anticipation for the Crazy Horse Rally in Coroyong in a fortnight. At least that will help the 4 speed overdrive box and the fuel consumption might improve to boot, Indians never were frugal and it’s nice to know the new models Polaris makes have followed faithfully in that area. Owen Jones rang me today about a group ride together up the Hume anybody riding up needs to contact Richard Onyon 0414 466966 he will have a meeting point to leave from for a group ride
The latest unsubstantiated report is Polaris Industries are flat out buying Harley-Ferguson shares hmmm could this mean a corporate takeover coming up? It would be nice to think so but much and all as I hate the Tractor Co it wouldn’t be good for either brand as without opposition for either company the same old same old every year would happen which has been effectively the story of Harley since 1953, remember this is a company that kept rigid frames and tin chaincases and hand change still alive into the very late fifties because they had no opposition. The lack of development caused them to sell out to AMF in the sixties they were broke, and if it wasn’t for a cheap sale back to the Davidson family in the seventies and Ronald Regan bailing them out they would have gone the way of Indian,Thor,Pope, and numerous other American brands.
We would like to extend an invite to the Iron Indian Riders to be part of the Melbourne IMRG ride on Sunday 27th September.The ride will depart from our Melbourne store at 10am and head towards Ferntree Gully, through the stunning Yarra Ranges to Beaconsfield, before arriving at Antique Motorcycles in Cheltenham where attendees will be treated to an afternoon of live music, lunch and great company. We ask that all attendees RSVP via the link below if they wish to join the ride:Please don’t hesitate to contact me if there is any further info you need on the ride and hope that you can join us on the day!
Kind Regards Sophia Nolan