Indian Chief - History and evolution.
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- Опубліковано 30 лис 2023
- A look at the amazing history of one of the world's most iconic motorcycles.
Including the definitive answer to the century old question.
Why did Indian motorcycles have a left-hand throttle?
CREDITS:
The Book 'FRANKLINS INDIANS'
An extensive study of motorcycle racer and designer Charles B Franklin and the Indian motorcycles.
By: Harry V. Sucher, Timothy Pickering, Liam Diamond, Harry Havelin
First Published March 2018
ISBN-10: 1787112233 - Авто та транспорт
I have a 2015 Chief Vintage and could not be happier.I have owned many bikes in my 72 years on this earth,this by far is the best that I have owned.
I longed for an Indian all my life. Got my Springfield in my 70th year. Worth the wait. Hail to Spirit Lake, Indian, and Polaris. Long may they run! Really enjoyed your presentation. Thanks.
Glad you enjoyed it buddy. There's a doco on Indian v Harley on the channel you most likely will enjoy that too. Its a bit of an eye opener!
Bought my Springfield in 2016. Still in love with her like day one. Yes, Spirit lake did a great job with this bike.
Back in the 80's, when IMW was near Longmont Colorado, He had a beautiful restored Chief that made the cover of Easy Rider magazine. When asked the value the response was 10,000 virgins.
Hello from Spirit Lake, Iowa. No I don't work at Indian and I ride a Harley. But I would love to own an Indian someday!!!
G'day from Aussie, both brands are great in my opinion. As are all bikes!
I bought my first indian in 1970. Wasa basket case. More case than basket. I have owned one every since. Chiefs and scouts. I just finished restoration of a 1951 chief. I have owned many Harley's. Still have 3 of them, but they will never take place of an indian.
Always loved the look of the chief . Iconic is a word much over used but not in the case of the Chief. Cheers for the lesson 😊
You are right it is an overused word.
Learnt so much and developed a better appreciation of Indian Motorcycles
yes Indian motorcycles have an interesting history.
Saw a '39 Indian 4 cylinder on the rode when i was a kid, incredible that was 21 years ago😅
I was a freelance Barn painter in Wisconsin,i built a log cabin out on 10acrs and raised a wife and four kids. 😊 I was painting a barn and was a 1947 full dress Indian Chief in hay mow. it had everything on it full dress original!😮 was right behind the big double barn doors😮 the farmer said he parked it there when he got out of the war, he also said his children his sons were not interested in it whatsoever😮 and I probably had an opportunity to buy it from him but I never had a bank loan in my life to this day and I'm 68 years young. had a lot of motorcycles I've got now a Kawasaki Drifter 800 Indian. I'm loving it. and I've had a lot of motorcycles but who can afford a real Indian. I blew my chance at the real one😢 and I think it was 1994. I broke my back and had a spinal cord injury on a bull Taco 360 El Bandido the following summer ,i still ride semiparapoligick.
Fantastic video! Your research and presentation are awesome. I can't begin to imagine how much effort you must put into making your videos! 👏
Thank you mate. Yes while I did already know some of the info in this video, I struck gold when I came across those old Indian brochures about the left hand throttle and the info on supplying all the police bikes they supplied. Cheers!
Old rider former Chief owner I knew Paul Gambicini an Indian factory race team mechanic . Also knew Dick Stark who originated the rainbow paint scheme for the Indians he had a shop in Akron Ohio. The left hand throttle explanation I heard was the controls mirrored automobile controls as you shifted with your right hand left foot clutch right foot brake was the explanation I heard that left the throttle where it ended up.
Mr. Gambicini had a Rockwell tester in his garage always worked in white coveralls and wouldn't allow a Harley in his driveway. Was a privilege to have known him.
Yes, I have also heard many different stories as to why they kept using a left hand throttle. I finally struck Gold !!!
@@motorcyclecafeYou've used a scan from our book Franklin's Indians to show the portrait and signature of CB Franklin in this video, and that's fine with us but grateful if you can acknowledge in your voice-over the source of this image. Thanks, Tim Pickering.
@@25chief39 G'day Tim and thank you. I can't redo the voice over once the video is uploaded on UA-cam but I can add a subtitle and give your book credit in the video description if that works for you. I will also see if I can get myself a copy of that book. He must have been a very smart man from the little I know about him, as were quite a few men in those early years. It's important to me to get m'cycle history right. So many times history gets twisted over time. People just read something on-line and take it to be the truth. Cheers
@@motorcyclecafe That will work for us. Cheers.
@@motorcyclecafe Sure, that's fine. And thanks for being a gentleman about it. You say that getting history correct is time-consuming, and you're right - it took 4 of us 5 years of research to come up with the full story of the man behind the Scout and the Chief!
Thanks for your work on this one, bloody excellent!
I truly appreciate you saying that mate because I did spend a huge amount of time on research for this doco. It was very important to me to get this right. Thank you!
Excellent job. Thanks.
@@Drengr1901 thank you!!! This bike deserved a good video.
Perfect. Ace photographs and details. 👍
Well done bloke appreciate the work you've put in to this. One day i would like to own one, all the best from Cooktown Qld
Thanks mate, I'm glad you enjoyed the video. Cheers!
Thank you for this fascinating Documentary.
Such cool looking bikes.
And thank you for the great feedback!
It would be lovely for a similar upload on the Indian Scout!
Well done!
Thank You!!!
Good video very informative.I ride a Chief Vintage 2015.
Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed the video.
You are a mine of information, thank you 😊👍
You're welcome buddy. I did put a lot of effort into this one. Cheers!
Awesome presentation
Thanks for taking the time to say so buddy. I really do appreciate it.
A friend had a '50 Chief.He said the engine was about as sophisticated as a lawn mower engine.
A tad harsh but yes there were probably better engines but hey they looked cool.
Love that cartoon intro! Long live Oz!
I'm glad you liked it mate! Cheers!
❤
Nearly all videos on UA-cam make the mistakes that I pointed out; you're not alone. People who make videos don't consider what the viewer wants to see, but rather how the camera operator can be as cool as possible. And they think that being cool means panning, zooming, moving the camera closer, and showing close-ups. The more razzle-dazzle with the camera, this thinking goes, the cooler the camera operator is.
In fact, that prevents the viewer from seeing whatever it is that is being videoed. It's not about the camera operator; it's about what is being videoed. Camera operators think they play a key role in the video; they don't. It's whatever is being videoed that plays the key role.
You should cover the Indian 4’s and their predecessors the Henderson’s
I plan to buddy. The American Fours.
Totally enjoyed all of your work and information. My only question is why didn't you bring up the new mid sized Chiefs? By the way, I'm an old Springfield rider.
I'm glad buddy but I'm not sure what you mean by mid sized chiefs?
@@motorcyclecafe I'm talking about the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Chiefs with the same Thunderstroke engines, but in smaller frames than the full sized Indians.
@@farmon2000 Mainly because they do in fact have the same engine but the bikes you mention, in appearance, do not resemble what an original chief looked like.
@@motorcyclecafe I understand your view point.
The Indian Springfield looks more similar to the old Chiefs than the current one (even more so without the saddlebags). I would like to see a smaller Springfield or a smaller Indian that is more true to the classic Chief.
Yep you are spot on about that. It does for sure!
Everybody leaves out the Indian Italjet bikes of the 70's. Why? I owned one. Wish I still had it. 125 Enduro Dirt Bike. Street legal. But Italjet made others models.
Theres a video on minibikes on the channel. These are also covered in the harley vs indian doco
Unfortunately a significant amount of information in this video including many of the pictures (even the ones not labeled) are wrong
@@crl1357911Nope, all correct!!!
@@motorcyclecafe ...not exactly unfortunately. Still a good video
Whats the Indian song used in the Video?
@@captaincrooze from memory i think its from an old cereal add or something like that.
You left out and did not mention the Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter Indian I guess they made a 400 cc version for overseas and the 800 and I think a 1400 CC Kawasaki did a good job they made him for 6 years I've got one I love it I've got just a hundred and nine miles on it today
@@markeverson5849 I am familar with that bike. As cool as it was that bike was manufactured by Kawasaki. It was not an Indian, it was a copy.
@@motorcyclecafe absolutely a copy! but any Indian that is not an original Indians ar also not a real Indian I supose!. just saying. Just because they buy the name or have the right to use the name doesn't make it a real Indian if it wasn't manufactured prior to I think 1953.
@@markeverson5849 i actually plan on doing a video on that bike at some stage, as I said it was actually pretty cool. Thanks for watching and your feedback buddy.
I have I question there !
What the hell is a Mikesuckle ?
And what is a Hosepaur ?
And where is the Jndian four ?
The Indian Four was just that, The Indian Four, not the Indian Chief. Why would I include it??? Maybe you should pay a bit more attention to the actual video title 🤔
I rather have the woman in blue you keep the indian
It is utterly moronic to show close-ups of the motorcycles, because that prevents the viewer from seeing the motorcycle. You then compound the stupidity by moving the camera, so that the viewer sees even less of the motorcycle. You should show the whole motorcycle, unless you have a reason for focusing on a particular part of it; and you should not move the camera. Oh yes, and moving closer to a still photo of the motorcycle is also incredibly stupid and annoying, and prevents the viewer from seeing the still photo.
All those things that you do are intended to make the camera operator feel important, not to aid the viewer.
Wow, thank you for your kind words!