EXPERIMENTAL INDIANS:

The pre WWII Indian motorcycle dubbed the X44-1 was a four cylinder bike which pre dated the Torque Manufacturing models.  If you remember, Torque Manufacturing designed the single, twin, and four cylinder bikes which were 220cc, 440cc, and the "four" which never went beyond initial development stages.  These bikes were under developed and basically bankrupted Indian.  The X44-1 was special in that it was engineered by Indian and was to be a 61 cubic inch engine, or 1000cc.  It was to have a totally new 4 speed transmission and was to be shaft drive.  There were only two engines known to have been built, one was put in the bike pictured below while the other engine was destroyed.  The only existing motorcycle is in a private collection.

Above is the beautiful Indian prototype which used the German Horex engine.  Clymer attempted to save Indian during the late 1960's to 1970, the year of his death.  Horex built engines of advanced design for that time priod.  Horex had a spotty history never really making a large dent in the motorcycle business. They stopped production in 1958. The engine in the motorcycle above is a Horex 500cc parallel OHC twin which was made in 400cc and 500cc sizes.  From what I understand, Clymer was able to buy some of these engines and considered creating a "Horex Indian."  Only one was built and what a beauty it was.  He was to use British Velocette 500cc singles instead.  They were still in production and parts were redily available.  The Horex Indian is one of a kind and a beauty!

This Indian Scout pictured above was another Clymer original.  He had hoped to have them built by the same group which was building his Munch Mammoth four which used an NSU car engine.  From what I understand, only one was built.  What a beauty!

The picture above shows Sammy Pierce on his P-61 Road Rocket.  Pierce, originally an Indian and Norton dealer, loved the Indian motorcycle.  After Indian's demise in 1953, he collected all the parts he could find and created one of the largest Indian stockpiles of old NOS parts.  Born on a farm near Kansas City in 1913, his entire life was given over to motorcycle endeavors.  He primarily lived in California, sold Indian parts, and built about 50 new Indians from old parts.  In 1967 and 1968 he had a license to sell re-manufactured Indian motorcycles.  He has often been credited with saving Indian by gathering old stock, re-manufacturing a few rare parts, and promoting the Indian brand till his death (sometime in the 1980's).  The P-61 was a machine which he built over the years and he considerd it to be the ultimate Indian.  It dates from the mid 1950's.

The motorcycle above is one of the 50 Sammy Pierce limited edition motorcycles built in 1967 and 1968.  From what I have read, all were slightly different and were made from original Indian parts.  Only a few remain as some were disassembled for parts.  Rare and unique Indains for sure!  Check out the variation of this same machine on the "More Indian's" page, close to the center.

In 1912 J. F. Kettering introduced the electric starter for the automobile and by 1913 they were fairly common. The idea for an electric start motorcycle was thought to be an important innovation. George Hendee was determined to build an electric start Indian which he did and a model was offered for sale in 1914. Only around 350 were built and the operation was problematic from the start because of weak batteries.  Furthermore, the rough roads quickly damaged the batteries as well. The motorcycles did not work well and all but one were converted back to kick start models.  In 1981 there were only two known examples to exist and both had been converted back to the original kick start system.  The electric start models could be identified by several minor parts attached to the frame to hold the starter motor.  Sometime after the mid 1980's a complete, still in the crate, electric start Indian was found in Europe and is the only one known to exist as a complete unaltered electric start Indian. The man in the picture above is Harry Sucher, the author of "The Iron Redskin," one of the earliest complete histories of the Indian motorcycle.

This 1915 Board Track racer is not only extremely rare but is one of the most collectable vintage motorcycles in the world.  Indian engineers found by accident that an 8 valve head would produce more horsepower.  They originally added the extra valves for reliability!  If a valve would burn out during a race, the engine could still run with the remaining valve.  These motorcycles were built for racers only and few exist near original condition.  Beautiful, rare, unique, most had a racing history, and above all, these bikes (if documented to be real) are worth a small fortune.  KIWI Indian builds a modern replica today. Go to KiWi Indian and check out their replicas!   

www.kiwiindian.com