indian 4 exhaust

[cscott]

does anyone know if anyone has or makes indian 4 organ pipes? which is 4 individual pipes
that come from the exhaust ports and eliminate the header, and lay in a nice flat line to the rear of the bike.....saw a picture once , can't even find that now .....would like to have these on my 1940.....thanks chris

[cheifrider]

pipes

i dont know who can make those pipes ,and all my injuns are twins (could never afford a four)but that being said i think an indian 4 with those (organ)pipes is the hottest looking bike ive ever seen , i have a pic of one around here somewhere i'll try and dig it up , good luck,tom

[stevekleincustom]

I'll take a set also

does anyone know if anyone has or makes indian 4 organ pipes? which is 4 individual pipes
that come from the exhaust ports and eliminate the header, and lay in a nice flat line to the rear of the bike.....saw a picture once , can't even find that now .....would like to have these on my 1940.....thanks chris

If you find someone who will let us use their set as a pattern...we can make a set.

Steve Klein
AMCA Member 12176
Cherokee Chapter
440 owner
TX

[cscott]

it would be something if someone would step up who has a photo or even a set of these pipes.......i saw a photo and i think i remember seeing a bike at oley with the four pipes...an unrestored four.............we know your out there......

[Perry Ruiter]

it would be something if someone would step up who has a photo or even a set of these pipes.......i saw a photo and i think i remember seeing a bike at oley with the four pipes...an unrestored four.............we know your out there......

OK - here's two photos of my four. The first taken in May 1991 when I bought it. The second, I found several years later, is from the Summer 1967 Indian Four Club newsletter.

By the way, the pipes went out with the rest of the scrap metal when I moved about 5 or 6 years ago ... Perry

[exeric]

Perry, there must be some great stories about that bike. Also, it would be fantastic to see pictures of it today.

There was a late Indian 4 St. Pete, Fl. that had an organ pipe exhaust. I think it was made out of stainless steel tubing. Indianut would know a lot more about that bike and if the exhaust system is still with it.

[PRG]

Howdy Chaps,

The machine/pics you're referring to is a two tone 441 from I believe, Texas, and there are two pics of it from the right side with the proud owner surrounded by his friends. Thinking they were taken quite a while apart as in one pic it has a windshield and the other, not. Pipes are individual from ports back and are slash cut at the ends and their lengths staggered at an angle.

Can't recall if pics digital or in a publication, will try to locate. But in the meantime, how but this tasty crumpet? Staggered headers and running through a /2 shaft drive transmission, no less.

[Greg H]

serious four cyl pipeage

[Perry Ruiter]

Perry, there must be some great stories about that bike. Also, it would be fantastic to see pictures of it today.

As I said, a couple years after buying the bike I came across that picture of it in an old Indian Four Club newsletter. Man that's my bike! Checked the guy's name against my paperwork and his name was a couple back on the title. Another old club newsletter listed names and addresses of new members and he was listed there. So I had an address to work with. Calling information there was still someone with that last name at that address so I called. An elderly woman answered and I explained I was looking for Jack who lived there 30 years ago and had owned an Indian motorcycle. Turns out she was his mother and eventually his sister got on the line, satisfied herself I wasn't a shyster and gave me Jack's number! Talked to Jack for about half an hour. There had been a couple tired fours in the back of a garage he and his buddy hung around at and they were given them or bought them cheaply. His buddy put the bike together in the early 60s from those parts. He didn't know any history prior to that. His buddy sold it to him when he left for 'Nam. He said he had gone to a couple Four club meetings with the bike but never felt very welcomed because it was a chopper. Anyway, eventually he sold the bike but was glad I had called as he always wondered what had happened to it. He'd look at Indian Fours in Hemmings and wished he had kept it. Asked me what my plans were and I said to restore it. That's a big job! Yeah it will be I agreed.

So that segues into the bike today. What I've ended up with is just another boring restored four. I spent 18 years gathering parts before starting restoration. Seems I was always paying top dollar whenever I found something I needed. $700 for a front end, $350 for a DLX-113. Was I nuts? I'm glad I bought the bike and the parts when I did. I couldn't afford a four today. There are two things I've learned. First, pay a little more up front and get more. For 2 grand more I could have started with a lot more bike. Second, I should have just gotten it running and stopping reliably and been riding it and having fun with it for the 18 years whilst I gathered parts. That's what I told Cory about his 48 pan. Don't worry about fixing everything up front, get it running and enjoy it. You can gather parts and fix it up as you go along. But I got it in my mind I wanted a perfect bike. It's still not perfect and I stubbornly refuse to start it until it is. For starters, the oil drain plugs are wrong and Fickau has now come out with a seamed and baffled muffler so I need to put one on. You can see the dash is off in the picture. I was unhappy with it. I'm thinking of changing the exhaust valve springs and the clutch springs. But once it's perfect I plan to ride the wheels off ... Perry

[exeric]

You have done a beautiful job with it Perry. I got a kick out of your statement; that it is better to pay more up front and get more to work with. I have done the opposite so many times and I question if it's because I'm cheap or if it's the challenge of taking a forlorn piece of junk and bringing it back to life. For me, it's a bit of the prior, and lot of the former.

I think what you have done is text book restoration. I guess you could make an argument that what you originally started with had some historical value as a 60's chopper but the true, intrinsic value is in it's original persona. For me, when I looked at the chopper pictures I saw a tragedy but your restored picture was retribution for what was done so many years ago. I don't blame the guy for chopping it because there was a time when it was considered inferior to what was then, state of the art. . . Like a 5 year old computer is today. I know I'm stating the obvious but I'm attempting to establish the value of major restoration. I think a project like yours puts more pieces in the puzzle and give us all a clearer picture of the past. The things you discovered in the restoration process can now be systematically described; and that's how we get history. . . . I should cut back to one cup of coffee in the morning.

You should wheel that outside and get more pictures of it Perry.

[stevekleincustom]

Four Worshiper

I agree...a little sunshine would do the Four good and all of us Four owners and worshipers even more good. Good looking machine...sharp.

Steve Klein
AMCA #12176
Cherokee Chapter
Georgetown TX