1948 Prairie Green and Bonnevilles literature

[cdf6333]

Just found this online somewhere, first time I've seen it. Seems that exactly half, 250, the 1948 Bonnevilles were Prairie Green

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
From my extensive library of engine serial number photographs, I have been able to tell that the serial number area of the 500 mentioned machines is approximately CDH3500 to CDH4000. All of the machines in this range have 'BM' engines, and no other grouping of 500 'BM' machines has been found. This is a rare instance of knowing what color a machine was originally. Machines CDH3500 to CDH3750 (approximately) would have been the ones initially painted Prairie Green. This is also a rare instance of knowing how many Indians were built every day. In order for Indian to produce 500 machines in 10 days, approximately 50 bikes a day would have had to come off of the production line. None of the 500 mentioned machines are known to have been Police machines.

[RonH]

My 48's color was originally the Prairie Green. but my numbers were CDH64XX B. so I guess I didn't get a bonneville!

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
Unless your engine is 'BM', it wouldn't have been a Bonneville unit. Prairie Green was available as a standard color after the introductory batch were built. How many later 1948 Chiefs were actually painted Prairie Green isn't known. Green persists as an available color right until the end in 1953, but the name 'Prairie Green' does not appear, as far as I know. It is reasonable to assume that the Green of the later 1950-53 Chiefs was 'Prairie Green'. When trying to match the shade of green for 'Prairie Green', a very close match is the classic version of John Deere green.

[RonH]

I knew it wasn't a Bonneville, just wishful thinking! You wouldn't have any idea of a sidecar windshield might be anywhere would you?

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
Unfortunately, I don't have any leads on a sidecar windshield. Maybe somebody reading this thread will lead you to one.

[Bill Huth]

This was for sale a few months back, is a BM Prairie Green Chief, CDH 5482 BM. My bike is CDH 36xx B, so not Bonneville. It was repainted 22 years ago before I got it, so I don't know the original color. https://www.flickr.com/photos/275602...7650072991288/

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
1948 Chief engine serial number stamping CDH36XX should have a serial number with an 'H' that has headers and footers. This 'H' would resemble the one seen in CDH5482, but CDH5482 is not a factory stamping. The 'H' in the serial number area of CDH5482 should not have headers and footers. I'm guessing that somebody stamped CDH5482 not knowing what was correct. The change from the fancy 'H' (headers and footers) to the plain 'H' (no headers or footers) happened sometime between CDH4080 and CDH4226. I have attached the incorrect CDH5482, and also two examples of what the 'H' should look like for CDH5482. The two correct factory stamping examples are CDH5429 and CDH5498. For anyone wanting more information, I can be contacted through the PM or through regular email channels at baiste@sgu.edu. Sincerely, Steven Bailey
1948 Chief CDH5482.jpg1948 Chief CDH5429.jpg1948 Chief CDH5498.jpg

[Bill Huth]

Steven, Thanks! I sent you an email. Bill

[cdf6333]

Interesting, thanks Steve. This is the first I heard about the serif dating.
But there may be more to the Green CDH 5482 48 Chief Bonne story. First, 1948 engine cases are entirely different from the 1947 and earlier cases in a couple easily visible areas. While quite a few 1947 and earlier bikes ( with correct cases) were mag, were any 1948 Chiefs magneto , as opposed to Bonne/mag? Who ever built (?) the pictured #5482 Chief found a right engine case with the mag gear bushings installed. I doubt that they had the right case machined for the bushings whenever this bike was restored. Even the cam cover would have had to be machined for the mag gear bushings, not an easy task.
I, who have done my fair share of engines over the last 40 years, have never seen a 1948 Chief with a magneto. It wasn't until the 80's when Eli Sentman found a 48 Bonne Chief that I heard about one.

[1950Panhead]

I, who have done my fair share of engines over the last 40 years, have never seen a 1948 Chief with a magneto. It wasn't until the 80's when Eli Sentman found a 48 Bonne Chief that I heard about one.

cdf6333,
I looked through my limited collection of CDH photo and found two BM bonnevilles, many B battery, no M magneto.
Steve has the largest vin photo set in the world, he can provides stats on the B,M,BM split.

[PRG]

Howdy Bob,

The 48 serif dating is per Steven's description as my first-day production has footers and spare set of 64XX cases are plain. Not to hijack thread but still trying to determine when ignition types on 440's went from the vin pad to below as my very early one has them inline with the vin on the pad. Have only seen one like it and that was years ago by chance not having thought too much about since until the vin authenticity subject reached prominence around here lately.

[1950Panhead]

The 48 serif dating is per Steven's description as my first-day production has footers and spare set of 64XX cases are plain.

Between CDH4086 and CDH4226, Steve will refine.

Not to hijack thread but still trying to determine when ignition types on 440's went from the vin pad to below

I've seen them both ways for multiple years, Bob stamped the pad, Joe stamped the case, them four bangers.

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
As far as 440 serial numbers go, I don't have many examples, but the ignition type is sometimes seen on the number pad, below the number pad, or missing completely. PRG; if you PM me I'll share what I have.
I went through my 1948 Chief engine serial number collection. I have around 150 examples. 70% are 'B' engines. 10% are 'BM' engines. 3% are 'M' engines. Numbers that appear to have been altered/modified/restamped/etc. account for about 17% of the 150 total. The good news is that 83% of the numbers appear to be good factory original stampings. Many of my serial number photos have come from eBay and this may skew the monkeyed-with number percentage higher than it truly is in the total number of survivors. I have many more than 150 1948 Chief photo sets, but many don't show the engine serial number.
As far as the dropping of the 'H' headers and footers, I can't get any closer than mentioned earlier in this thread. For the 1948 engine case change, the switch to the line-bored crankshaft bearing races and cast-in flywheel oil scraper happened between CDH2231 and CDH2332. I'm not 100% sure about the line-bored crankshaft bearing races. The line boring may have happened earlier. Below are the only four 1948 'M' engines I know of; CDH1254, CDH6839, CDH6841, and CDH6981. The highest 1948 Chief I know of is CDH7148.
1948 Chief CDH1254M.jpg1948 Chief CDH6839M.jpg1948 Chief CDH6841M.jpg1948 Chief CDH6981M.jpg

[Yellow53Chief]

Hi,
When it comes to altered/modified/restamped/etc. engines; some were clearly 'B' engines, and some had no ignition stamping at all. For a better breakdown of ignition type, the original production of 1948 Chief engines was probably 80% 'B' (Battery ignition), 15% 'BM' (Bonneville equipment with magneto ignition), and 5% 'M' (Magneto ignition with no Bonneville equipment). The truth might be a few points one way or the other, but I think the 80/15/5 split is pretty close. For 1946 and 1947, I don't think as many 'BM' machines were built percentage-wise. The 500 batch of 1948 'BM' Chiefs skews 1948 'BM' production higher than the 1946 and 1947 production.