Where have they all gone?

[Grumpy]

Just watched the film "The worlds fastest Indian. " about Burt Munro and his attempt to break the world speed record on his old Indian motorcycle...

His record still stands today nearly fifty years on.

They don't make guys like that anymore...Or do they?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burt_Munro

[Red Mist]

No, I don't think they do.

[Crap Tartan]

No, I don't think they do.

I concur..........

[Jayjayridge]

great film. i think bikes being more complicated and having a computer as a brain for sparks and fuel put an end to most garage tinkering. the thought of instantly frying a 300 ecu puts people off. its a shame that most of the modern engine tuning is done via laptops by computer guys.

[Grumpy]

The more complex the bike the less chance any of us mere mortals have of ever coming close to his record, not that I have any intention of challenging it. lol

[Aussiejoe]

The Kiwis have an amazing ability when it comes to working with mechanical things, the Britten motorcycle was another example of this, and it was a New Zealander that built all the vehicles in the Mad Max movies.

While on the subject of Indians, I deliver bikes up the east coast of Australia and I had to deliver a 1939 in-line four Indian the other week. Foot operated clutch/hand gear shift with the throttle on the left hand side and twist grip on the right hand side that advanced the distributor to help starting. It cost the owner $73000 to import it from the States, and I had to hide it down the back of his shed cause his wife didn't know about it. He also had a fully restored Scout and was currently restoring a Chief.

[Red Mist]

So lets get this right....

Your job involves riding $73.000 motorcycles up and down the sunny western coast of Australia and delivering them to delighted new owners .

My job is a little more humdrum than that. Glad you managed to get it there in one piece anyway. I have fond memories of a rather hungover friend of mine - and owner of an Indian - trying to leave a hilly field where we had been partying the night before. His controls were similarly arranged. He managed to get up the hill the night before when sober. The bike spent a fair amount of time on its side when he tried to descend the hill the next day. It's fair to assume that his wouldn't have fetched $73,000....

[Aussiejoe]

Unfortunately it's not quite that good of a job mate, I take 9 bikes at a time on a lorry and do the run from Brisbane to Cairns up the east coast, usually takes me 4 days and drive about 3700 kilometres(2300 miles). Do have to ride most of the bikes on and off the truck though, but I would of never started something like that Indian, they just get pushed on and rolled off.

The owner of that Indian was telling me they can be a bit dangerous if you try to take off and don't have it pointing in a straight line.

[Red Mist]

Still sounds better than what I do.

That Indian looks really good actually. Most old bikes (and new Harleys) seem to be full of nuts and bolts and brackets, linkages and lugs. That one looks like it could have just rolled off the line at Victory or somewhere that manufactures 'custom' bikes. It has really clean lines.

[Spyke]

Yup, Indians seem really popular over here, reckon there must be a WA owners club as I keep seeing them out on rides and at bike shows, very cool. Only ever saw a couple back in Blighty - a mate in Edinburgh had a 47 Chief, IIRC, 6v electrics not great but everything else was sexy!

[Red Mist]

I was up at the Tan Hill Inn a couple of years ago (this is the highest pub in England) and saw a big bunch of vintage bikes there. Half were British or European but a good proportion of them were Indians. Got chatting to a couple of blokes and it turns out that most were from Australia. They'd shipped their bikes over a couple of weeks previously and met up with some members of the British VMCC. They had gone on to the TT and were making their way back to the port via the scenic route. It was a long-promised trip of a lifetime.

It was quite a sight seeing all these blokes making repairs on their bikes before laying them up for the evening. I asked if the bikes had struggled to get up the hills and was told that some had, but they were more worried about going back down again with no brakes! I'm sure they made it and they will all be safetly back in Aus now.

Anyway, some good bikes on display. The Indians were mostly V Twins, but there was an inline-4 Henderson there which sounded fantastic.

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