741 info ?

[John Guntner]

I just got a call from a fellow who is as confused as I am. He has an Indian. Tha motor number is GDA12345 we'll say. Does the GDA stand for 741 and is that a 30:50, 500cc motor? How do you know what year it is? I know my Chief Stuff but that's it. HELP.

[fillibuster]

I just got a call from a fellow who is as confused as I am. He has an Indian. Tha motor number is GDA12345 we'll say. Does the GDA stand for 741 and is that a 30:50, 500cc motor? How do you know what year it is? I know my Chief Stuff but that's it. HELP.

Sucher's Iron Redskin says the 45"640-B military "was later known as the 741". .... and that "the 30.50"model, similar except for the power plant, was designated as the 640-A". That's from page 279. However, Hatfield's Buyer's Guide 1989 page 150 lists the GDA in the "military model motor no." .. and next line says the "military model serial no. starts with "741-101-up". Hatfield lists these 2 under the 30.50" column.
GDA always meant 30.50 to me, because so many were "civilianized", but they started under military production. ... for 1941 ... (I think)
... but I never knew of a production 45" 741.

[duffeycycles]

Mike Egans list shows motor# GDA-101-up as serial #741 101-up=30.50 military
earlier 30.50 numbers started in E.----EDA was 1941 civilian 30.50
If it was like HD WLA the bottom numbers would tell the year made,not the side number

[John Guntner]

Great. Thanks

[Tom Lovejoy]

a 640 is a 45 cu inch, 741 30.50 a different animal. 45s have 7 head bolts, 741 6 - good luck

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
The '41' of 741 would typically mean 1941. Military bikes have a different numbering system than civilian bikes. 741s might have actually been in the design phase prior to 1941. Production likely started in earnest in 1941 and the early 741s were probably made in calendar year 1941. This does not mean that all 741s were built in 1941. 741s were also likely built in calendar years 1942, 1943, 1944, and 1945. Even though some of the bikes were built in later years, they all bore the 741 designation 'GDA'. In general, civilian bikes bore serial numbers that reflected their calendar year of manufacture. The highest 741 serial number I know of is GDA38037. It is possible that production went over 40,000 but I don't have evidence of this. There seems to be a higher survival rate of machines numbered over 32,000. This could be because these bikes stayed stateside and were not shipped overseas to be destroyed in WWII.