The National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham U.K is well worth a visit with many hundreds of British motorcycles on display. But one well worth looking at is the N.Y.P.D Police Chief. This machine is very unique and I have taken many pictures that show the differences from a standard civilian model. This will help Stevie Higginbottom with his seat problems. I have also taken quite a few photos for Associate member Paul Taylor in his pursuit to build a works replica Daytona Triumph.
The World’s Fastest Indian is available on iTunes at around $17, which makes it one of the more expensive old movie releases. Still, it’s a great feel-good flick that’s rare in being fun for motorcyclists and non-riders alike. A great thing to have on your laptop and iPod.
The Indian name has spawned a range of bikes over the years, not least of which is the Enfield-derived series. The history of these machines is fascinating and members of the Iron Indian group are starting to pay attention to these important models.
I can only hope the Association Run Sunday was not as wet or cold as it is here in summer, strange as yesterday was 26c that didn’t really matter as after the A380 Quantas Airbus having a fuel pump failure in Singapore and waiting 3 hours for the continuation of the journey that added up to over 26 hours Bonnie & I were “stuffed”.I remember thinking I wish I was on the Run on my Indian, tommorow looks like rain again there is a saving grace to all of this as I’m in a Vauxhall with A.I.F rear doors, anybody remember what that was, Arse-in-first I thought they were banned in old Morris’s years ago but this is a brand new vehicle, gutless litle car it is as well, thats all from the Old Dart
Just a reminder…May 22, 1901, was the day the first Indian prototype was taken out for a gallop. So, 110 years later, where were you?
A local newspaper in Springfield celebrated the day with this story.
No this is not for secret men’s/women’s business it will be up & going July it will be a password entry that will be renewed in your monthly posted Smouldering Embers so what will be in it, plenty a lot of Technical details & articles eg: the modification on the Timmerman electric starter with all the sprag & machining details,Twin leading shoe conversion details,articles that we will have first hand information on particularly with Victory-Indian details & personal things that members may not want or like on the public arena, special deals & prices on trips,parts,clothing & possibly motorcycles etc.Importantly the current Smoke Signals (quarterly magazine) will be posted on the web with the previous version put on the public area.Members who are not on the internet will have their magazine posted as usual. Hopefully this will encourage some of the nearly 20,000 people viewing the site in the last 9 months that have been tempted to join our Association to actually put their money down to be in the best Indian Association in Australia covering all models & era’s, & not being humble, possibly the world!
Guido’s Blogs in Motorcycle Trader ( click on highlight)
For all the members that thought Guido was a male escort, fashion model or a member of the Chippendale’s you were wrong, thought a small reference to his real job maybe in order, so a small plug for him & Motorcycle Trader Magazine they are the people that provide a Link to this site in the Trading Post Area, so thanks again. Guido writes many interesting articles on everything from Tridents, blowing up Sunbeams, & trips to odd parts of the world, click on the link above for some of these, in the meantime I will provide a photo of his Sunbeam (actually a exploded view) he was so depressed with this that he decided to sell the Trident, & buy a Indian, if you see him at the meeting please console him
Webmaster number 2 (Guido) has been doing some research for the IIRA & I have re-produced the article here for Association Members & others. At this time I would like to thank Guy for his assistance with the website especially seeing in the next month I am unable to do the job. Gentleman you will be in good hands. Phillip Whites latest Road-test has been posted in full on the Tech Articles area about testing 105 cu Bomber from Kings Mountain, enjoy.
Hi Phil
Have been talking to you about the red plate user issue and made a couple of calls to VicRoads…here are some observations.
A few theories have been offered, including: Only the owner can ride it;
You have to be a red plate club member to ride it. I very much doubt either is true.
The problem with both is neither are founded on reliable info – for example a cop who pulls you up and grumbles is as unreliable as you can get in this area. They are far removed from the design of the system and the whole red plate scheme is just a minor blip on their much broader workday radar. Paul of the SR500 Club chased this at VicRoads recently and concluded: “The young lady at VicRoads definitely said that the rider just had to be licensed to use the vehicle, not the owner. She did not mention the bit about being a member.” Again, unreliable, but much closer to the mark. Universally accepted third party insurance rules say the vehicle (bike, car, boat, plane) has to be registered and the user hold the appropriate license.
The key part for red plates is the registration – a club permit is not in effect unless the rider (no matter who) is signed in to the logbook for that day. My own enquiries this afternoon tend to back that up.
So, if you and I share a bike for the day, we both need to be entered into the log book and have signed it. And have the appropriate license. If a cop pulled you up and tried to ticket you for not being the owner, or not having proof of club membership, I’m fairly confident it would fall over, so long as the logbook was in shape.
It’s worth noting that my advice here is not carved in stone, as the situation is still surrounded by confusion, so carrying any paperwork you have, including your club membership card, would nevertheless be wise.
Guy ‘Guido’ Allen
It seems every motorcyclist has an Indian story.
Was showing off a recently-acquired 2003 Chief Vintage to a mate today and he related the story of Bob.
A kindly uncle, who owned a bike shop some decades ago, decided to give Bob an old Scout to play with. They were worth nothing at the time and this was a way to keep the young lad busy and maybe get his mind off girls for a few minutes.
Bob reckoned he wasn’t really cut out for bikes and quickly swapped the old motorcycle for a shiny new glowplug engine for his model plane. The tiny machine promptly rewarded him by starting instantly at full noise and trying to take his arm off. All of a sudden, Bob lost interest in planes, too.
Nearly a quarter of a century later, Bob has that rotten little engine gathering dust in a corner of his shed. We’re told he still dreams of what might have happened if he’d kept his uncle’s present…
Guy ‘Guido’ Allen
Just a demo on the Smouldering Embers area of our site under Membership click on this area to see a demo of how this App works, you can flip the page manually by clicking on page corner with your cursor or if not click the forward & backward arrows this is only in trials at the moment but can be used for Smoke Signals in the future.