1917 Powerplus

[painterdale]

I am posting pictures of my 1917 Powerplus. Look forward to any suggestions, comments or questions. I would like to learn all I can about it! Also will be continuing discussion from another thread. Enjoy!

[painterdale]

It does need rims. Especially the front!

[painterdale]

Right side script. Kevin, you suggested possibly it was equipped with a sidecar because of the mounts and not having a rear stand. I was wondering that myself. It does make sense to me. I have fitted it with a repro rear stand to get it off of the boards that were holding it up!

[hairynob24]

wow,just new rims and tyres , they are hard to fine like that now .

[Shaky Jake]

It's such a complete and original bike, Dale, that it would be worth it to take lot's of close-up digital pictures of every little detail and post them here. I'm talking right down to the bolt heads. I've spent a fair bit of time in museums and at shows taking pictures of old Indians, just so I can refer to them while I am trying to put mine right. I once spent four hours in the museum at Anamosa, Iowa just taking close-up pictures of three Indians. I'm not a photographer, I just use them for reference. Most of the bikes are restored to some degree though, so it's always a question of trying to figure out whether some details are correct, or whether the restorer has taken some liberties with them. Your bike appears to be so original, that it could be the 'gold standard' for 1917 Powerplus Indians. For example, I was thinking that the swing-arm bushings should have grease cups, but I see in your pictures that they have those little pin oilers. If you lived anywhere near Nebraska, I'd ask if I could come over and spend an afternoon taking pictures of your bike, but I checked your profile and I see that you don't. Anyway, thanks for posting those pictures, and any others you might be inspired to post.



Kevin

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[painterdale]

Kevin, I have already taken many photos to try to document everything. I would be more than happy to post photos of anything someone wants to see. I can take pictures anytime. That way I could also get feedback on what might actually be original and what may have been changed. Not everything is original. For instance, I believe the nail in the front axle where a cotter pin (?) would be, might be a period modification. I do know from the person who sold me the bike that it has not been touched in at least 50 years because he put it in the basement of his house in 1963 and it had been in his motorcycle shop for a few years before that. If you are ever in the DC area, you are of course welcome to take all the pictures you want. Dale

[painterdale]

Also noticed, Kevin, that the front fender safety strap that you show in one of your pictures from Wheels Through Time is not present. The holes and the rubber bushing are there but no strap. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Also noticed, Kevin, that the front fender safety strap that you show in one of your pictures from Wheels Through Time is not present. The holes and the rubber bushing are there but no strap. Dale

I noticed that too. I'm not sure when they started using the safety strap, my '16 fender doesn't even have the holes for it, even though Hedstrom's '13 prototype had one.

I also see that your bike had an electric tail light at one time and it appears to have been removed, and it has a speedometer drive gear but no speedometer. Also it would have originally had a hand brake on the left handlebar that operates the brake band on the outside of the brake drum. The foot brake operates the brake shoes inside the same brake drum. Something looks funny about your foot brake linkage, but I can't tell what from the pictures. I'm curious about the small holes that are neatly drilled in each of the upper valve stem covers, I could be wrong but I don't think those holes were originally there. Pretty much all of the nickel plating appears to be gone, and very little of the original paint is left, which is a shame. It doesn't have the luggage rack, but I don't think they all came with one.

I'm no expert but I still say your bike is one of, if not the, the most complete unrestored '17's out there. It has a lot of the little things, like the priming cups with the angled top, which are frequently missing. And the little bracket under the gas tank that holds the spark plug wires in place is still there, you rarely see those. All of the handlebar control linkages are there and the decomp lever is still hooked up. It gives me the impression that it hasn't been worked on a lot over the years. Also the tanks and fenders are relatively dent free, and all of the fender stays are still there. The exhaust pipes look pretty good and the muffler is there, although the tailpipe has been broken or cut off of it. The shifter is intact and unmolested. I can't see any broken cooling fins on the engine, it seems like most of the Powerplus engines have some broken fins, because they are so thin.

Does the engine turn over?




Kevin

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[painterdale]

The engine does turn over. I used a turkey baster to put a bit of ATF in the cylinders. Then every couple weeks I work the rear wheel back and forth. The valve lift or decompression lever seems to be frozen. Got some Kroil working on that. Underneath all of the grease and grime there is still some red paint.
Being an electric model, it still has the fuse block on top of the battery box which has this cool little latch that still works.
I never paid too much attention to the holes in the valve covers. Maybe someone can enlighten us. Dale

[painterdale]

The biggest problem I see is the magneto is incorrect. Being electric it should have a Splitdorf Mag-Dynamo. This appears to be an H-D magneto. I believe Indian should have "42" on the arm. Is that correct? Would this bike have ever run with this mag on it? It obviously has been there a while. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

Dale - on my Dixie magneto the 42 degrees is stamped on the drive side, not on the arm. I thought the Bosch mags were that way also, for example here is a link to one on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/351244975569...569%26_rdc%3D1

The Splitdorf mag/dynamo's come up occasionally on ebay, but they are apparently very precious.



Kevin

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[exeric]

Dale, here are pictures from the 1916 Indian catalog supplement. Somewhere, I have some Indian literature that shows the Splitdorf retrofit kit that used the Splitdorf DU5 generator, and Splitdorf magneto for electrifying earlier non-electric models, and replacement of the mag/dyno unit. As Kevin mentioned; the Splitdorf mag/dyno units are very rare, and very expensive, and usually don't work. Gene Harper recently rebuilt one and said they are quite a challenge. The retrofit kit would be the way to go, and would be period correct if I could find that literature. . . I'll keep looking.

[panthersteve]

Here is a Bosch 42 degree mag/dyno if it is of any interest. http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Veteran-B...item1e96240ef8

Cheers Steve

[painterdale]

Great info! Thanks everyone. At least there are options. Had to go out and check the drive side of the mag. No marking except the 1 & 2. So does anyone have an opinion on whether this was running with this mag? Dale

[panthersteve]

It is my understanding that they will run with the wrong degree magneto. It just means that with one cylinder correctly timed the other will be 5 degrees out.

I would want to have the correct degree magneto even though they will run.

Cheers
Steve