1917 Powerplus

[painterdale]

Thanks, Steve!
Yes, those are the covers I am referring to. Right now I'm concerned with the intakes but I can see the benefit in removing the pipes for the exhaust covers. I tried to get a dial caliper across a couple of the flats and the best I could come up with was 1.200. Obviously I wasn't getting a good read. There is a Harbor Freight close to work. I might have to make a lunch time trip. Thanks for the tip! Dale

[slamiste]

Hi Dale,

If you're referring to the covers that screw into the cam cover I found that removing the exhaust pipe headers gave ample room to get a wrench on the flats on the lower cover. I bought a set of inexpensive stubie wrenches from Harbor Freight and the 1 3/16" wrench fit tightly and worked well to unscrew the cover. I looked at the latest Harbor Freight catalog mailer but didn't see the set listed. Anyway they're odd looking big sizes with short flat rounded on the sides handles. I've used these for all sort of odd jobs on old HD's and Indians.

Hope this helps!

[painterdale]

Hi, All! What is the best tool to use to crack open the valve covers? I'm beginning to suspect the intake lifters (or pushrod as they call it) may be stuck in their guides. I would like to give them a good soaking with Kroil. The covers have limited access and seem to be an odd size and I don't want to do any damage if I can help it. Thanks, Dale

Wishing everyone a happy and safe 4th!

[Shaky Jake]

I checked the lower tank mounting screws and they are 24 TPI. Could be the originals? The parts book lists the lock washers as part number N736. Walkers shows part number N736 as 1/4" split lock washers. My bike has quite a few split lock washers in different places. I don't see that part number listed for 1916. Is this the first year for the split lock washers? Haven't dug up anything on the square nuts on the lower tank mount screws. Dale

Dale, I'm going to change my vote. The more I think about it, the more I think the square nuts are original. The reason I say that, in one of your pictures in post #103, it looks like the square nut is made to fit into a pocket in the mounting tab on the tank. It seems likely that they did that to keep the nut from turning when you tighten the bolt. You say they are 24 tpi and the parts book lists a lock washer, so I'm betting the whole fastener assembly is original, especially since the rest of the bike is so unmolested.


Kevin

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[painterdale]

I checked the lower tank mounting screws and they are 24 TPI. Could be the originals? The parts book lists the lock washers as part number N736. Walkers shows part number N736 as 1/4" split lock washers. My bike has quite a few split lock washers in different places. I don't see that part number listed for 1916. Is this the first year for the split lock washers? Haven't dug up anything on the square nuts on the lower tank mount screws. Dale

[gww]

thanks, could nt really tell by the shot of the brake. the 17 in parts we bought came with a corbin v band style brake. have been told by folks its incorrect, guess thats why i asked. you ve got a very nice bike to work with.

[slamiste]

Hi Gary,

The bike is a 1917. I'm not sure what you mean by V Band. If you're referring to the band brake on the outside of the drum it's very similar to what's on my JD. It's a metal band with a 1" wide by about 1/8" thick piece of flat asbestos rivoted to it. That likely didn't answer your question so if you could be more specific on what you're asking I'll do my best to answer.

[Shaky Jake]

Very nice.

Kevin

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[gww]

Steve, is your brake a v band? what is the year? thanks. gary

[painterdale]

Steve, kudos to Eli. He did a bang up job of posting the pics! Love the pictures. Really love the bike. I will no doubt be pouring over them checking out all the details. Yours is a lot more complete than mine. The first thing that jumps out to me is the seat with the enclosed springs. We touched on that a bit starting at post 38. (Robert Vajda are you reading?) I appreciate you posting the pictures and joining in on the discussion, Steve! Dale

[slamiste]

Hi Dale,
My number 1 son Eli is going to hopefully upload some pictures of my bike. As you can see it was an electric model equipped with the Splitdoff mag dyno. The mag part is bad and I haven't been able to find anyone willing to repair it, and since I want to ride it I'm going to install a Morris Mag substitute. Enjoy"

[painterdale]

Got all of the valve hole plugs out and see the gaskets the book calls for. The valves look to be in relatively good shape. Gotta make sure everything goes up and down properly. The motor still won't move with the kick starter but moves by turning the back wheel, though not real easily. Dale

[painterdale]

Thanks, Kevin. Just what I needed.

On one of the bits of newspaper stuck to the back of the left tank I can make out the name "Clifton Park". Curious as to where this bike has been, I Googled Clifton Park. Seems there is one in Baltimore. I looked at the map and running right through the middle of Clifton Park in Baltimore is Indian Drive! Pretty cool! Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Dale, You can download the 1916 to 1920 parts list here:

http://www.indian-france.com/rtm.html

Kevin

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[painterdale]

Thanks for chiming in, Steve and Kevin. All three of the tank mounting bolts are the same with one missing the nut and of course only the center one had the wire hook. Also, Steve mentions spacers and mine has none. I would like to get my hands on a 1917 parts book. Any suggestions? I've downloaded the 1916 from the virtual library but there are a lot of differences. Again, thanks for the input. The fun continues! Dale