Ted Williams was out in his red barn of a work shop the other day talking motorcycles ‑ real motorcycles, Indian Motocycle motorcycles..
“Some of these things they’re coming out with today don’t even like a motorcycle at all. One looks just like a chemical toilet to me” he said. “A chrome plated Porta‑Potti.”
That is unlike the Indian, a proud American nameplate that hasn’t been manufactured for a generation but is still beloved and remains Williams’ standard by which any motorcycle is judged —— and to which none measures up.
Williams, 44, big, brawny and intense, his sandy brown hair carefully styled, his fingers as clean and manicured as a banker’s, holds forth in a surgically tidy shop behind his house on the edge of town here, earning his living looking after the health of Indian Motocycles.
“If you’ve got all day and you won’t get bored, sit down and I’ll tell you what it is about the Indian,” Williams said with a smile as he took a breather from modernizing the rear brake on a customer’s 40‑year‑old Indian Chief, the most popular and successful of the Indian models.
In essence, he said, it is the machine’s brute strength, the manly vibration of the giant V‑twin engine, the down‑home simplicity of the engineering, that make the Indian superior, in his opinion, to other makes of motorcycles.
“All the nuts and bolts are just stock items. You can go into any good auto‑parts store and buy spark plugs and other ignition parts. The only thing that’s getting a little hard to find now is tires, but you can still get them if you know where,” he said.
He then told a brief history of the nameplate. The Indian Motocycle (no R) burst onto the scene in 1901, manufactured by George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom in Springfield, Mass.
It earned a place beside Harley Davidson as a leading American brand, going strong through World War II. But. after the war, management lost interest in the big, brute force v-twins and began bringing out new models that were beset by bugs.
English interests acquired control during the crisis, and the last 80‑cubic‑inch, deep‑throated, man‑sized Indian Chiefs were built in 1953. (That is, except that 50 were assembled from parts collected from the dusty shelves of the Springfield factory in 1955 to fulfill a contract with the New York Police Department, and five civilian Chiefs that were turned out in the same batch.)
The English owners tried for a few years to palm off various English machines by plastering them with Indian decals, but American Indian buyers weren’t fooled for an instant by such blatant forgery. The company passed into history, but the good, will among the American motorcycle community lived on and is growing.
Williams estimated that 40,000 Indians remain on the road today out of, the hundreds of thousands that wire manufactured. “But that’s more than there were 10 years ago, and there were more then than there were 20 years ago.”
People keep finding old machines and bringing them back to life, which is where Williams comes in.
He said he grew up working on Indians in his father’s Orange County garage, and after a hitch in the Navy and spells of trying such work as air conditioning repair, he ended up working in a motorcycle shop that catered to the faithful numbers of Indian owners.
Then, four years ago, he and his wife, Maureen., decided to move to rural Sutter County out of Orange County’s smog and crowding. The word got out among owners of Indians, and his trade followed him.
Owners are willing to seek him out for his skill in ministering to the fine old machines, including modifications that cure several fatal flaws in the original design and other changes that increase the engine size up to 95 cubic inches and more to make the old Chiefs dazzling performers.
Williams himself owns three Indians in roadworthy shape, a soupedup Scout of indeterminate age and a pair of 1953 Chiefs, one with a 95‑cubic‑inch engine.
“I had a Harley‑Davidson once,” he said with a note of distaste for the name of the rival make. “I bought it as a basket of parts for $5, put it together, and sold it for $50. 1 didn’t want it. I’m an Indian man.”
Editors Note: Ted Williams is still working on Indians and can be reached at: unkown
When Indian Motorcycle unveiled the limited-edition Jack Daniel’s Indian Scout Bobber back in March, the 177 individually numbered models were sold out in under 10 minutes. The motorcycle drew inspiration from the Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade, and it was the culmination of a collaborative build between Jack Daniel’s, Indian, and Klock Werks Kustom Cycles. It’s a tribute to firefighters and first responders across the country and the globe, so it’s fitting that Indian Motorcycle reserved one of its hot-ticket, $16,999-price-tag-wearing motorcycles to be auctioned off. Indian donated the Jack Daniel’s Scout Bobber to Firefighters For Healing, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting children impacted by burn trauma and their families. Proceeds raised from the organization’s annual Red Tie Gala will provide care for burn survivors and firefighters in Minnesota. The Jack Daniel’s Scout Bobber was subject to a summer-long auction; the closing price settled at $28,000. “Firefighters For Healing
SOME FOLKS collect stamps, some go for photography in a big
way, others spend all their spare time on the golf course-but my hobby is
motorcycling. If I live to be a hundred I will never forget the thrill I had
when, at the age of 16, I took delivery of my first brand new motorcycle. It
was a Cleveland Lightweight, and it was so beautiful that I could hardly
believe it was really mine.
It had fenders and frame finished in lustrous black enamel,
gasoline tank and toolbox painted in gleaming blue, and the wheels were
painted cream color! It had a small, single cylinder engine, 2 speeds, and a
long lever beside the tank, to operate the clutch. The gold letters on the tank
spelled out the name “Cleveland,” and I thought they, too, were
beautiful. But that was as far as I saw.
My view, at 16 years of age, was limited to what I could see
in the gleaming new motorcycle. Little did I realize that you cannot judge a
motorcycle from its looks alone. Little did I dream of the vast amount of
engineering and testing work which must be done at the factory before a new
model is placed on the market.
In the years since that day when the new Cleveland dazzled
me with its three-color paint job, I have owned many, many motorcycles of all
sizes, makes and types, Some have been good, others excellent, and still others
not so good. Why were some better than others? The answer is in the painstaking
care put into engineering and testing-before the models were ever placed on
the market.
WE ARE TAKEN BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE 4th of July, this
year, I was privileged to see, and ride, the new Indian Arrow, the single
cylinder overhead valve, four-speed lightweight which is now being bought by
riders all over the country, as fast as Indian can turn them off the production
line of the new Indian factory. More than that I was privileged to have a full
hour’s talk with G. Briggs Weaver, the designer of the Arrow, and William
Bandlow, one of the testers who has pounded the new Arrow over thousands of
miles of road tests.
In that interview my eyes were opened to many interesting
facts which I had not realized-and which I know will be of intense interest to
all motorcycle enthusiasts. Here, you may read some of my questions and Mr.
Weaver’s answers.
As you read the answers, keep in mind that Mr.. Weaver is
probably the smartest motorcycle designer in the world today. He is a former Indianapolis
Racing Car designer, was the creator of the Indian Sport Scout which has blazed
such a trail of victories in major competitive events over the past 10 years,
designer of the Indian Shaft Drive Military motorcycle, and more recently
designer of the new Indian Scout Vertical twin.
AT LAST WE LEARN HOW A NEW MOTORCYCLE IS BORN
SITTING in Mr. Weaver’s study, facing him and Bill Bandlow,
a test rider, we asked
Q: “How long ago was design work started on this new
Indian Arrow which is now sitting out here in the yard ready for me to
ride?”
ANS: “We started on it four years ago, after the
Management and Sales Department outlined what was wanted. We have worked four
years to perfect it-to make absolutely certain, by all known engineering and
testing means-that it is by far the best and most serviceable lightweight
motorcycle that has ever been produced.
“We know that some motorcycle designs have been produced
and released to the public in as little time as a year or two, but we at
Indian do not believe in that “rush it through” policy. Time,
testing, more engineering, more testing, and consistent, painstaking follow
through is the only policy upon which we work. It has to be right in all
respects before we O. K. it for production.”
Q: “What was the basic idea … what did you set out
to design in the new Arrow Single?”
ANS: “We set out to produce a lightweight motorcycle
that would weigh not over 250 lbs.-would be capable of 60 miles per hour top
speed, have excellent acceleration, and be extremely durable-able to average
road speeds on a trip as good as other road traffic, including larger
motorcycles and cars. In short-a lightweight that was tough in ability to take
punishment of sustained high speeds-not a `featherweight’ for short trips-but a
real serviceable lightweight motorcycle.”
Q: “Do you feel that you have achieved it?”
ANS: “We know that we have.”
Q: “How can you be sure?”
ANS: “Our extensive program of testing, year after year
under my close personal observation, each day over those years, has enabled us
to eliminate, one after another any minor points which could give trouble,
until we have a very sound, reliable motorcycle, which our young, strong, test
riders are unable to break down, even when they deliberately set out to
“ride it to destruction.”
Q: “How
was the road test program conducted?”
ANS: “Well, our 75,000 miles of road testing on this
new design were conducted in two stages. We started by designing and
constructing two pilot models. These were put on the road three years ago, and
sent out on the road in the hands of testers who were ordered to report every 6
or 8 hours, on general handling, characteristics, riding qualities, arrangement
of controls, operation of clutch, gearbox, brakes, and all other details in the
motorcycle.
“Each item was carefully watched, findings noted, and
careful records made. Occasional modifications were made. Each small
improvement made the motorcycle better, and prepared it for the day we would
start the second stage of road testing.”
Q: “What was the second stage of road testing ?”
ANS: “I will
let Bill Bandlow, who did a great deal of that road testing, answer that
one.”
BILL, who has been a motorcycle rider for fifteen years, and
who was a Flight Instructor in Texas for three years during the war, grinned
and said, “When the day came that the models were ready for the acid test,
my boss, Clarence Bergsma, head of the Testing Department, told us to take
those motorcycles out, pile up the mileage, day after day, seek out the worst
roads we could find-pound the daylights out of ’em-in fact, beat ’em up. We
did, for weeks on end. Most of us on the testing end had been riding big Chiefs
and Sport Scouts, and we had our eyes opened to what a lightweight motorcycle
really can do.
“We were told to ride these models just as fast as we
could hour after hour, and that is what we did. We soon, changed our
ideas-found this new lightweight could maintain almost as high road speeds as
even a big Chief with an engine several times as big! Now I don’t mean it’s as
fast on the straightaway-but because of its lighter weight and ability to
hold the road-it can make wonderful time on the curved and winding roads. I
think Mr. Weaver can give you an example of what I mean.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Weaver, “we had a good
example a few weeks ago. A young man left Springfield on the Arrow, headed for
the Laconia Races. He made the 160
miles in 31/2 hours over exceedingly twisting, tortuous roads, at average
speed of close to 45 miles per hour-and you wouldn’t make that trip in a car in
any better time than that.”
“Yes,” cut in Bandlow, the tester “-and you
probably wouldn’t make it any faster on a big `61′ or `74’you wouldn’t go `boiling’
into those winding roads on a big, heavy machine, as fast as you could on the
Arrow, because of the ease of handling on the turns.”
Q: “Mr. Weaver, tell me of a specific instance of a
high speed test with the new model.”
ANS: “First of all-our own testers have never been
able to break one up-over thousands of miles of speed. We took one of the new
models to a place where there is no speed limit-the famous Harrisburg
Turnpike, the super speed highway that runs across Pennsylvania. We put a tester
on it-told him to turn it on-full speed, and hold it on full throttle for the
entire 156 mile run, up long hills and down long hills-a supreme test of any
engine. Only in the tunnels did he ease off on the throttle. The new model took
the full throttle beating for the 156 miles without a murmur. There wasn’t
even an oil leak showing, and she idled like a kitten after 156 miles on wide
open throttle!”
Q: “After you were satisfied with the pilot models,
what was the next step?”
ANS: “The pilot models were now put aside, and we built
several prototypes of production models, that is, we incorporated all the
improvements the pilot models had shown necessary. These models were
duplicates of the motorcycles later to be put into production. We now started
all over again with the heavy road testing program-told the testers to take the
prototype models out and beat ’em up -and this continued for months, until we
were satisfied the models to be put into production were perfect.”
Q: “Now, gentlemen, how do you account for this extreme
durability from a motorcycle of only performance inches piston displacement,
and weighing only 250 pounds?”
ANS: “From a durability angle we put only the best of
materials and most modern design into the new Arrow-and that goes for the new
Vertical Twin Scout as well. For instance the cylinder is of iron, with
aluminum alloy finning cast onto the process developed during the war for air
cooled engines. A very high percentage of the working parts throughout the
whole motorcycle are of highest grade alloy steels-parts which in most
motorcycles would be made of less expensive material. We further added strength
and saved weight by using die castings wherever possible. We have spared no expense in design, testing, or in tooling,
to make the new models extremely durable and reliable no matter how the rider
flogs the machine.”
Then Bill Bandlow added, in typical tester’s jargon,
“Ted, you can take this Arrow out on the road, crack the whip, dig in the
spurs, tuck in your elbows-and roll ‘er up to maximum “revs” for
hours at a time and you can’t hurt it.”
MR. WEAVER then continued: “To get excellent
acceleration and a good turn of high speed, we have both an engine and
transmission that reduce friction to the lowest possible degree. The whole
mechanism runs free and easily, largely on ball or roller bearings. Proper lubrication
of each bearing has been most carefully worked out. For instance, the
connecting rod lower end bearing receives fresh oil under 50 pounds pressure
from the instant the engine is started.
“Having thus reduced friction to a minimum, the power
output can be utilized for the acceleration and speed the rider wants, rather
than in overcoming the friction that is found in less carefully engineered
motorcycles. That is a long story-and there is a great deal in it. More could
be told about it if we had the space.
“The engine, of 13 cubic inches piston displacement, is
of overhead valve design which gives extremely snappy performance. Clutch is
cork faced, with eight friction surfaces; the transmission has four speeds,
runs on ball and roller bearings; the wheels are on roller and ball bearings.
As a result of this expensive construction, we are positive this motorcycle
will surpass in performance anything of its size, as well as many motorcycles
having considerably more power.”
Q: “All the experienced riders who have ridden the
Arrow tell me it holds the road exceptionally well feels very steady-has no
bounce or weaving, on any road, at any speed. How did you accomplish
this?”
ANS: “I will be frank-we started by designing into the
motorcycle all the knowledge of road-holding we have gained in our many years
of racing success. While this is no racing motorcycle, it is a well known fact
that the race course has been the proving ground for outstanding automotive
developments.”
WE TRY THE ARROW ON THE ROAD AFTER thanking Mr. Weaver for
his courtesies and for a mighty interesting hour, we started out to ride this-
wonderful new motorcycle -our head filled with a new conception of the vast
amount of engineering and test work that made it possible.
The road holding is exceptionally good, and we found it hard
to believe we were on a lightweight: The engine is a sweet running mechanism
that seems to be happy in any of the four gears, even on a wide open throttle
in second or third. .
On the model we rode, vibration at any speed is positively
not there she is smooth as glass from zero to 63 miles per hour, the top speed
we hit. We like the gear ratios, which are 17 to one in low, 11.69 to one in
second, 7.4 in third and 6.12 to one in fourth.
EXCELLENT PERFORMANCE AFTER checking the speedometer with one we knew to be right on the button, we made tests in all four speeds-found these results: In low gear, 30 miles per hour. In second gear 41 miles per hour. In third 55, and in fourth, 63 miles per hour, and if we had let ‘er roll a bit farther think she would have touched 65. The new. Indian Arrow is a thoroughbred-worthy of its long line of illustrious ancestors, the product of an excellent modern engineering and test-program, covering four years. THE END