1917 Powerplus

[gww]

enjoying the read and info. any updates? thanks. gary

[exeric]

Looks fantastic Dale. Tires are a major hurdle and white tires really make the difference.

[painterdale]

Thanks for the kind words, Gary and Eric! No progress lately. I have a habit of getting to a point in a project then moving to another one for a while. Eventually I will get back to it. This way I am assured of never being "finished" with anything! Seems to work for me. Nothing's done. I'll get back on it soon. I appreciate the interest! Dale

[Shaky Jake]

What a great bike.

[gww]

Alright! New year, new questions. Can anyone shed some light on the significance of the RX engine number? It doesn't follow the standard pattern for their numbering system and I've only seen it referred to as Model J "special". Dale

morn n, was wondering if you have found any more info on the RX case numbers? Linda an I are slowly also working on a 1917 RX that have some interesting differences. hope you dont mined my jumping in on your writings. gary
no toad stools with exposed valve springs. believe cyls to be big valve.
049.jpg
050.jpg
and the parts box had two diff. cam profiles. would you know the common one used?
047.jpg
043.jpg

[painterdale]

Don't mind at all, Gary! Please jump right in. The more the merrier! This is all new to me so I am learning as I go. I have not found any more info on the RX numbers other than what we already knew. (Model J "special"). I know nothing about the internals past what I have learned from Kevin's (Shaky Jake) project. I imagine you have been following his thread, also? I figured that if I could absorb as much info as possible, I would feel more confident if I should have to go inside the engine. Hopefully I won't have to in order to get it running. I'm thinking my next move is to see what is frozen on the decompression lever that shuts it down. Please feel free to post lots of pictures here, too. This is for all of us! And "Hey" Kevin. Good to hear from you. It's been a while. Dale

[Shaky Jake]

morn n, was wondering if you have found any more info on the RX case numbers? Linda an I are slowly also working on a 1917 RX that have some interesting differences. hope you dont mined my jumping in on your writings. gary
no toad stools with exposed valve springs. believe cyls to be big valve.
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16199[/ATTACH]
[ATTACH=CONFIG]16200[/ATTACH]
...

Very interesting. On my '16 the valve stems are 2 1/8 inches apart, so yes, it would appear that your engine has big valves which would require the stems to be further apart. Does anyone know, do all big valve Powerplus motors have no toad stools?



Kevin

.

[gww]

morn n, i looked at a later big valve photo (1921) that did have toad stools. not having hands on, my guess is the later cases must have been casted differently to allow for this. don't know.

[robert vajda]

Really enjoy your pcs. My name is bob vajda and I have a 1921 Indian powerplus that I am restoring.I noticed that your seat is for a 1921 Indian.I am looking for a seat for my bike. I believe 1921 is the first year for the long cans over the springs. Would you consider selling the seat? I have a seat for a late 20's Indian that I would trade. You can reach me at rvajda@sbcglobal.net. Thank you and keep up the good work. I am also following Kevin. Indian Motorcycles by Jerry Hatfield is a good source for the changes Indian made over the years.

[painterdale]

Hi, all. I got in touch with Bob and explained that if I could get my hands on a correct seat in like condition (well used) that looks right on the bike, then I could let the seat go. But I don't really want a bike with no seat at all. So I thought I would "throw it out there" if anyone has a seat to sell for a '17. In the meantime, he had a few questions on the mounting so whether mine is right, wrong or indifferent, I am posting a few more pictures. Hope it helps. Does anyone know the dimensions of the springs inside the canisters? Dale

[painterdale]

Also found this on E-bay. The one on my bike had broken off long ago. It was advertised as for a Powerplus. Looked right (as far as I knew). So the time to buy it is when you see it. I bought it. Only took 8 days to get here from Australia! The width and spacing on the rivets look good so maybe I got lucky! Dale

[robert vajda]

On your tool box,what wires are attached to it? Nice pics of the seat. I have some L shaped brackets that I think are for the seat height adjustment. Thanks again. Bob

[painterdale]

Bob, the wires are for the fuse box. Mine is an electric model, although it is missing some of the bits and pieces such as the taillight and ammeter, the headlight and fuse box survived. I believe the headlight is a Hawthorne horn/light. Dale

[painterdale]

[robert vajda]

Dale,once again great pics. I have the NE model also. My fuse block is a little different. More of a T shape. I think one wire comes from the ammeter thru the block and then to the pos. battery.Maybe somebody can enlighten me. My headlight is a two bulb set up,low and high. The two wires come out thru the on/off switch at the rear of the bucket. I don't have a metal name tag on mine. I also need a tail light.I have the bracket and lens. Thanks. Bob.