1917 Powerplus

[Shaky Jake]

Kevin, if you're reading, did you find any felt seals on any of yours? Anyone else have knowledge to share on the subject?

Of course I'm reading Dale! And I must say; nice job on the post. My wheels did not have the felt washers, but they could have easily been lost to the ages. It looks like the parts book lists felt washers for the front, H2972, but not for the rear. Interesting. It looks like you also had another large metal washer inside the dust cap? Were they inboard or outboard of the felt washers?

Thanks again for posting the pictures.



Kevin #97

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[painterdale]

Found a little time today to crack into the rear hub. (Not much to read on the forum today) Pulled the adjustable cone off of the sprocket side and saw only 10 balls.

Flipped it over and pulled off the brakes and again, only 10 balls.


The 1916 parts book in the virtual library shows 22 total. Kevin's wheel in his thread has 11 per side. HMMM. Also found felt washers on both sides of the rear hub.


I didn't find any on either side of the front hub.



Kevin, if you're reading, did you find any felt seals on any of yours? Anyone else have knowledge to share on the subject?
Also I should give kudos to Universal Vintage Tire Co. in Hershey, Pa. I ordered Coker tires, tubes and rim strips from them. Prices were better than most and my stuff showed up quick! Thumbs up! Till next time, Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Dale, you might want to consider getting a hydraulic or pneumatic lift. Most of them have a rear drop-out that makes it easy to remove the rear wheel. They save your back and your knees too.

Kevin

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[painterdale]

I never considered how difficult that task would be on a skirted bike! I got one of the stands from Geloman. Nice piece, I just figured I would keep searching for an O.E. one. Dale

[exeric]

I had a 1940 Chief, and it was terrible for rear wheel work. When I did have to do brake work, or re-packing the wheel hub with grease I would take the fender off to make life easier. The factory books advised owners to just roll the bike on it's side to get a wheel off. I always thought that was the only embarrassing part of owning a skirted fender Indian.

Regarding your rear stand. There's always Geloman.

http://www.geloman.de/html/indian.html

[painterdale]

I am still looking for an original rear stand if anyone has one to sell. Thanks, Dale

[painterdale]

Thanks, Eric! You're right, The bike is not going anywhere anytime soon. Hopefully I won't be removing the rear wheel too many times. For now I'm just going to loosen things and have a couple friends lift the rear end high enough to get the wheel out and set it down on the rear stand. I thought I might spark some conversation about how it is/was done. The video is cool. Scary moment with the fire though, huh? Dale

[exeric]

Dale, it might be a good time to come up with a jacking fixture that works off the lower rear frame tubes, or something like the hand operated fulcrum they use in Formula 1 racing to lift the car. You're probably going to need something like that on many occasions over the years; as I'm sure your bike isn't going anywhere. This video shows the manual jack F1 uses. . . Cool video too.

https://youtu.be/27DMKK5EEzo

[painterdale]

I was afraid of that! Dale

[Rubone]

[QUOTE]I'm sure this is not the way they did it on the side of the road back in the day.[QUOTE]

That is correct. They usually just slung it down on its side and pulled the wheel....

[painterdale]

So, I'm sitting in the garage trying to figure out how to remove the rear wheel on this thing. There is no good jacking point underneath without risking damage to the muffler. Rear fender is not hinged. Wires running through the rear fender. I suppose I could disconnect the wire at the fuse block, remove the rear fender, etc., etc... I'm sure this is not the way they did it on the side of the road back in the day. Dale

[Oldtimer Service]

In my opinion 1917 PP should have a Troxel Jumbo saddle. Also in 1917 there should be open compression and extension springs ( which I have for sale ). Spring tubes were used for the first time on 1921 PP. So I think the saddle assembly is from later model ( post 1921 ).
I found a picture of 1921 PP with Mesinger Nr.1 saddle and spring tubes.

Indian Powerplus Left View.jpg

If anyone is looking for Mesinger Nr.1 or Troxel Jumbo saddles I would be glad to help.:-)

http://oldtimerservice.riders.pl/part1.htm

I also restore original saddles.

http://oldtimerservice.riders.pl/mot...ion/index.html

[Shaky Jake]

I think Randy Walker might have the balls and cones for that wheel Dave.

Kevin

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[painterdale]

Been too busy following your thread, Kevin! I was going to tear mine down just to find the factory balance factor but thought better of it. Since I unlaced the front wheel, I've cleaned up the inside of the hub and taken stock of what condition it's in. Mine has the loose ball bearings. One of the balls and one cone has some galling. I'll seek out new ones. I greased it up and put it back together for now. Since I only broke 3 spokes I thought I might just look for 3 replacements but looking at the rest of them, some of them are pretty thin due to the corrosion. I sent samples to Buchanan's and got a nice set of stainless spokes and nickel plated brass, 2 flat nipples. They look fantastic! Just like original. I now need to find a way to make them look not as fantastic so they look like they belong there. Then I'll lace up and put tires on. I'm thinking white. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Made any progress on that little gem yet, Dale?


Kevin

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