old photos

[Sargehere]

You nailed it!!!

For a Harley guy you do know somethin' about *****s don'tcha?

Prolly has something to do with hanging around this club for most of forty years, while keeping eyes and ears open, don'cha know? Indian is the textbook model of how not to conduct the management of a motorcycle company, anyway, and even for a pioneer in the industry, the stumbles, fits and starts are utterly amazing! How the marque survived the over-fifty years that it did is simply staggering!

That the Founders over-built that humungous brick tomb in Springfield just so they could advertise it as "The Largest Motorcycle Factory in the World" in 1914 and suck in a clueless cabal of investors at just the right time is classic! Their timing was perfect! Hedstrom and Hendee bailed with their "golden parachutes" just as the high-flying manufactory they'd assembled was about to fall out of the sky at the onset of WWI, cut off from their critical European markets, and suppliers like Bosch.

The Wigwam was mostly an empty echo chamber for the entire time it existed, good only for many very impressive aerial photographs. Then there was the romance of the DuPont connection, the racing successes and the tragedy of the Torque fiasco. YUP! Quite a story!

[c.o.]

LaCrosse, Wisconsin circa. 1915... Does anyone see anything special about that Indian in the middle??

Yikes, I gotta quit typing when I'm tired! After "Indian in the middle???" I should have added "of those two Harleys"!!!! Sorry fellas.... Whaddya think of the tool box and kicker on that one Eric?

[c.o.]

I notice a 5-letter word censored out. You din't type I-N-J-U-N, instead of "Indian," did you? That might be on the "Politically Correct" banned list.

I guess I ought to go ahead and plead guilty.....

[Sargehere]

The front mounted step starter was standard from '12-'14. The Hendee Special also had a large and oddly shaped tool box. Just curious; why you think this is a H.S. retrofit.

Looked at the step starter, the big toolbox, electric headlight, and took a wild guess. I knew the man who owns-owned the "complete" Hendee Special circa 1987, another co-founder of Ohio Valley Chapter, from Loveland, O.

I notice a 5-letter word censored out. You din't type I-N-J-U-N, instead of "Indian," did you? That might be on the "Politically Correct" banned list.

[rwm]

Sirhr, thanks for the tutorial. I guess it just goes to show that even the early photos do not always portray the correct story.

a great lesson on photos.
i can't belive the h.d. lawyers didn't stop us from typing harley davidson before the indian lawyers stopped us.another first for the indians

[exeric]

How about electric start 1914 "Hendee Special" after its factory conversion to kick start under warranty? The chain-driven kickstarter replaced the 6-volt starter-generator unit on the left front of the engine.

The experiment was declared a failure, mainly due to the inadequacy of the batteries of the time (it carried two) and owners were offered conversion to kickstart if they shipped their motorcycles back to Springfield.

The front mounted step starter was standard from '12-'14. The Hendee Special also had a large and oddly shaped tool box. Just curious; why you think this is a H.S. retrofit.

[c.o.]

C.O.: Here are a couple of the pictures I was talking about. This is at the Rolls-Royce Springfield works c. 1922 and the worker is assembling a Silver Ghost chassis.

Note some of the brightworks (particularly the brass carburetter) is black. But these were shipped polished. There are other parts that are also black, but were, in fact, shipped bright or polished.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6457[/ATTACH]

This shows one of the line workers installing components. Note the carb on his right.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6455[/ATTACH]

Here is a close-up. This is a bright yellow brass/bronze alloy casting. But clearly it shows up as black. Some of the other parts which are copper or have a higher copper content are not showing up as black. This is an indication that the film was not registering this particular wavelength. But look how it would be easy to assume this was painted or blackened!

[ATTACH=CONFIG]6456[/ATTACH]

Another picture showing lines on the firewall. Those are also polished brass with polished fittings. The manifold, on the other hand, is copper pipe. So it shows as 'bright.'

This drove us nuts trying to figure out why this car showed 'blacked' parts.

Cheers,

Sirhr

PS. For those Indian fans out there... the Springfield RR plant, in which these pictures were taken, was right next to the old Indian plant. The building still operates in Springfield as the Titeflex Hose Company. Sharp eyed travellers can see the RR logo in the brick chimney that still stands above the building. RR and Indian shared a rail yard/spur. RR specifically settled in Springfield Ma. (not Detroit) in 1921 because it could leverage a proximity to Indian, Springfield Armory and Smith and Wesson. This way they could attract the best machinists and fitters. They sucked a lot of talent away from these enterprises.

Sirhr, thanks for the tutorial. I guess it just goes to show that even the early photos do not always portray the correct story.

[c.o.]

I found a Haverford brochure online that is not in the AMCA library. if anyone is interested...http://digital.hagley.org/cdm4/docum...PTR=1515&REC=3 Seach the site for MOTORCYCLE and you will find a Flying Merkel brochure also

Thanks Scott! I see there are brochures for Sears and Indian too.

Electric start?

You nailed it!!!

How about electric start 1914 "Hendee Special" after its factory conversion to kick start under warranty? The chain-driven kickstarter replaced the 6-volt starter-generator unit on the left front of the engine.

The experiment was declared a failure, mainly due to the inadequacy of the batteries of the time (it carried two) and owners were offered conversion to kickstart if they shipped their motorcycles back to Springfield.

For a Harley guy you do know somethin' about *****s don'tcha?

Whoa!!! Is it just me or are the censors getting even tighter?

[sirhrmechanic]

C.O.: Here are a couple of the pictures I was talking about. This is at the Rolls-Royce Springfield works c. 1922 and the worker is assembling a Silver Ghost chassis.

Note some of the brightworks (particularly the brass carburetter) is black. But these were shipped polished. There are other parts that are also black, but were, in fact, shipped bright or polished.

rolls worker 1.jpg

This shows one of the line workers installing components. Note the carb on his right.

rolls worker 2.jpg

Here is a close-up. This is a bright yellow brass/bronze alloy casting. But clearly it shows up as black. Some of the other parts which are copper or have a higher copper content are not showing up as black. This is an indication that the film was not registering this particular wavelength. But look how it would be easy to assume this was painted or blackened!

rolls worker 3.jpg

Another picture showing lines on the firewall. Those are also polished brass with polished fittings. The manifold, on the other hand, is copper pipe. So it shows as 'bright.'

This drove us nuts trying to figure out why this car showed 'blacked' parts.

Cheers,

Sirhr

PS. For those Indian fans out there... the Springfield RR plant, in which these pictures were taken, was right next to the old Indian plant. The building still operates in Springfield as the Titeflex Hose Company. Sharp eyed travellers can see the RR logo in the brick chimney that still stands above the building. RR and Indian shared a rail yard/spur. RR specifically settled in Springfield Ma. (not Detroit) in 1921 because it could leverage a proximity to Indian, Springfield Armory and Smith and Wesson. This way they could attract the best machinists and fitters. They sucked a lot of talent away from these enterprises.

[duffeycycles]

vlgirl

vlgirl.jpgfor VL Girl

[pisten-bully]

I was going to say the electric headlamp, but it looks like there's another one in the photo too.

[Sargehere]

How about electric start 1914 "Hendee Special" after its factory conversion to kick start under warranty? The chain-driven kickstarter replaced the 6-volt starter-generator unit on the left front of the engine.

The experiment was declared a failure, mainly due to the inadequacy of the batteries of the time (it carried two) and owners were offered conversion to kickstart if they shipped their motorcycles back to Springfield.

[yhprum]

Electric start?

[c.o.]

LaCrosse, Wisconsin circa. 1915... Does anyone see anything special about that Indian in the middle??

[c.o.]

Sirhr!! That certainly does shed a different light on things. I've seen black and white photos of Cyclones that appeared "light" in color that certainly would pass for yellow. I've also seen photos like the one posted above that gave me the impression that a dark "blue" may have been an option. I should mention though that the lighter appearing photos were later (post 30's for sure) and your explanation could very well have cleared up why this would be so.