1945 chief value?

[rusted few]

i believe it is a civilian model and was restored in the early 90's. engine was rebuilt by bob etters. im more of a harley guy and im just trying to help out a friend. sorry i dont have pix,bike is in very good condition with very little use since being restored. thanx for any info.

[Skirted]

If its a legit Civilian matching number bike with original sheet metal and not patched together from 10 different bikes and repop parts I'd say somewhere between 28 and $35k with an exceptional machine slightly higher. If homework was done to vet the bike and determine its integrity as well as pics I'm sure someone could offer a closer estimate on value. NADA lists it as high as $44k but they also list a 48 Chief up to 38k which is too high from reality.
Help your friend help himself by getting some good pics.

[rusted few]

sorry cant get pic to load

[Skirted]

I sent you a private message through the forum with my email address. If you want you can email me the pics and I'll post them for you.

[Skirted]

Here are the pics

[fizz]

Comparing to my 45 that I have pictures from in 48, looks like a legit civilian, wrong seat, taillight wire shielding missing, chrome dash and aircleaner cover should be painted. Mirror and perforated floorboards are identical, 2 parts I've wondered about on mine.

[rusted few]

well the story on this bike is as follows. bike was originally purchased on 9-4-45 by Albert Grove of Mineral Point,Pa. i have the original title issued to him bearing this date. next owner was his son Leo Grove who started to restore the bike in 1990 and finished in or around 1994.yes,this bike is one family owned(father-son) i have pix of the complete process and receipts from Bob Etters for the complete rebuild of engine trans.,etc. Leo lived in the Johnstown,Pa. area and worked in the coal mines. he later moved to southern Delaware. sadly he passed away 8 yrs ago and the bike has sat since. i purchased the bike monday from Leo's widow and brought it back to Pennsylvania. the bike will need some cleaning,fresh gas,battery and i think she will run again. the bike is a matching numbers machine with the additional "B" and "M" at the end of the vin # which i believe indicates "bonneville cams" and "magneto". thanx for the replies and again thanx to "skirted" for taking the time to post pix for me. wish i could figure out the pix thing as i have pix of the before restore i would like to post. i will work on it

[fizz]

Mine was purchased new by the Chicago tribune and had 2 owners since, both of whom I knew. It had a repaint in 1971, other than that was just kind of maintained. I replaced some incorrect bolts and repaired a rusted battery tray, repainted to one of the 3 correct colors(navy blue as it was originally) For supposedly being so few, you can find a few around, a lot had skirted fenders installed. Second owner had it from 48 to 71, when his wife talked him into trading it for a snowmobile. When I found it, the family had lost track of it. I knew one of his sons, he had passed away 2 yrs earlier. His 2 sons, some grandsons, and widow came to look at after 40 years. His wife started crying when she told me the story of trading it for the snowmobile. The guy I bought it from was 85 years old and had had it for 40 years. I showed it in a little local bike show after I fixed it up and him and his wife came and looked at it. He said he was going to hotwire it and take it for a spin. I threw him the keys and told him it will always be his bike, I'm just a caretaker.

[Skirted]

well the story on this bike is as follows. bike was originally purchased on 9-4-45 by Albert Grove of Mineral Point,Pa. i have the original title issued to him bearing this date. next owner was his son Leo Grove who started to restore the bike in 1990 and finished in or around 1994.yes,this bike is one family owned(father-son) i have pix of the complete process and receipts from Bob Etters for the complete rebuild of engine trans.,etc. Leo lived in the Johnstown,Pa. area and worked in the coal mines. he later moved to southern Delaware. sadly he passed away 8 yrs ago and the bike has sat since. i purchased the bike monday from Leo's widow and brought it back to Pennsylvania. the bike will need some cleaning,fresh gas,battery and i think she will run again. the bike is a matching numbers machine with the additional "B" and "M" at the end of the vin # which i believe indicates "bonneville cams" and "magneto". thanx for the replies and again thanx to "skirted" for taking the time to post pix for me. wish i could figure out the pix thing as i have pix of the before restore i would like to post. i will work on it

Congratulations on getting the bike. Amazing you have that documentation back to new. Really ads to the interest. Make sure you document every little detail you can find on its history. As years go by it easy for that to be lost forever if not kept as safe and intact as the bike itself.
Mineral point is still out in the "sticks" today and it is close to Johnstown and yes, a large number of residents in that area worked in the coal mines when coal was king. Mining was huge in this area.

[rusted few]

i was really glad to be chosen as the next caretaker of this fine machine. i dont live far from the johstown area,im from the tyrone area. i've bought allot of old motorcycles of all kinds from the johnstown area. once i saw all the history with this indian and knowing it was one family owned,i had to have it

[rusted few]

10432108_899471853412362_4118783516019655617_n.jpg10388600_899471653412382_4772839081639683405_n.jpg pix since cleaned up with solo seat

[45OZ]

Nice Bike, Is the taillight a Yankee Dee ? Tool box would be a 3 hinge mounted on the Right side along the fender support with 2 small spacers behind the fender mount. Have Fun