1940 indian military chief

[aka HAWG]

just purchased a 1940 indian chief fairly complete.

it is in military trim - can anyone help me comfirm it is a true military chief, is there anyway to tell?????

bike has been blasted of all original paint and covered in primer so this way is out

story was daughters uncle go just after the war, let it go a few years ago and sat in guy's livingroom, he tore apart, blasted then primered the bike ( had been painted when he got ), it sat in his livingroom till this afternoon when I purchased.

it is a canadian bike

how many military chiefs were built??????, any guess on how many left????

any help would be greatly appreciated

[indianut]

A 1940 Military Chief will have a VIN that starts with CAV. Here is a link you may like!
http://www.indian-model340.be/pages/indexpag.html

[Tom Wilcock]

1940 military chief

There are numerous military chiefs and scouts in Canada with a different serial no. configuration. The left hand number boss on the engine has "MC". The right hand boss has the digits for the serial no. (no letters). Apparently these were made for the French military and were on a ship bound for France with other military supplies when Germany overtook France. The Canadian government confiscated the ship and all the cargo when it docked at the Halifax, Nova Scotia Harbor for more supplies. The military Indians made for the Canadian military did have CAV preceding the serial numbers. Tom

[aka HAWG]

thanks for the info - the story that was told to me must be a bit off. I was told uncle used it at the military base in TRENTON ONTARIO, and purchased it from there after war

my vin has CDO.

tom - picked this up down the road from you, was going to stop in but really tired and had to get home. going to davenport???


keep any info coming

thanks
aka HAWG

[exeric]

A 1940 military fork is slightly different than a civilian fork. The civilian fork will have heavy wall tubing welded to the main fork about 6" up from the rocker holes. This is for bolting the fender skirt. The military fork doesn't have this feature but I believe the military fork has indents where the tubing would be located. I hope that makes sense. I don't believe there are any structural or fundemental design differences between the civilian and military models other than the obvious bolt on components. 1940 Chiefs are quite unique and have many one year only items. If you go back in the history of this thread the 1940 Chief is discussed and all of it's peculiar parts are mentioned.

[exeric]

That information about 1940 Indians is in the 4 cyl. thread on the 2nd page.

[aka HAWG]

were do I find the frame numbers

aka HAWG

[Chris Haynes]

Frame number is on the left side axle plate.

[indianut]

Frame number is on the left side axle plate.

No it's not. It's right here! If it were on the axle plate you would be able to switch it from bike to bike!!

[exeric]

I've seen it in both of these places on a 1940 Chief.

[exeric]

I think Indian came to the same conclusion and switched the # location to the frame.

[exeric]

I found a picture of a 40 Chief with the # on the slipper.

[Chris Haynes]

[QUOTE=indianut;69727]No it's not. It's right here! If it were on the axle plate you would be able to switch it from bike to bike!!

Sorry for my lack of Indian expertise. I didn't know that models that early had a spongebottom frame. I was thinking rigid frame.

[indianut]

Chris, The 1940 Chief was like the '58 Panhead of Indians! First year of plunger frame and first year of skirted fenders!

[aka HAWG]

thanks for the help. the vin number was right under the shock as pointed out

as I go through the bike I will have more questions and hope the help flows freely

aka HAWG