Indian Fender Identification Help

[JTR249]

Can anyone help me identify the year and model this fender was used on? Most Indian early 30s and 40s fenders have an arc on the front and flared ends trailing. This one is squared off like a military fender and I compared the photos with what I could find on the 741 Scout and 841, some 44s as well and nothing matches.
Could this be military HD?

Thanks.
-JR Indian Fender 1.jpg Indian Fender 2.jpg Indian Fender 3.jpg

[tgarcia]

John it looks like a trailer fender made for a bike of some sort,not really an Indian fender.

[Rubone]

70's up aftermarket chopper fender, they came in 4", 5", and 6" widths.

[JTR249]

Thanks, Robbie and Travis.. I thought those welded on fender stays were off a bit. Never saw that on an Indian.

Merry Christmas.
-JR

[JTR249]

What about this one? Indian?
-JR Fender 1.jpg Fender 2.jpg Fender 3.jpg

[Jerry Wieland]

Looks like mid 40's essential service Indian Chief.

[ChiefTwoKicks]

There doesn't look like there are any clips or holes drilled for exterior wiring like the military fenders. The wider drilled fender brace looks Indian, and there is a hole for the sidecar light on the top of the fender. But no provision for the wires anywhere from the pic you have. The arc of the middle part of the fender looks unusual in that, to me it looks fatter through the middle part. Its my guess the fender is indeed a sidecar fender.
You might ask Ziggy up in Washington State. At one time, he had a bunch of non-skirted fenders, I bought a couple from him about 10 yrs ago. I also found there at least 3 versions of the non-skirted "military" as they are generic in description. However, there are domestic, export, EU, and some with a rolled edge. Also the wire harness drilled holes for very obvious wires to the taillights, and the one that I used with (I don't remember) 5-6 little flat clips where the wiring follows the curve of the fender on the inside back to where the taillight is located. Also the size of the hole for the tail light. The larger hole would be for the tail light as on a '46 skirted Chief. The smaller hole would be for the fender with the flat clips, and no hole at all for a military model 344. There are not alot of these non-skirted fenders around, on the war bikes, many of them were destroyed from spills and hard riding. They were designed to be easily replaceable. Many were so beat up, they were simply left laying in the ditch... it was easier to simply take the fender off and ride off without it, rather than fuss about trying to straighten them and bolt 'em back on.

I went through the non-skirted fender maze when I put my '45EU together. that part of the project was the most difficult. The front fenders out there , most of them were shortened "bobber style", while the back ones were bent up pretty severely, and were difficult to straighten enough to mount them. I've got several... bent, holes, brackets with fender stays broken or twisted badly.
Its no wonder the non-skirted fenders (good ones) are rare. Front and back non-skirted fenders make an easy swap to a "bobber". I think they're pretty cool... mostly because you don't see many
and its certainly easier to change tires on a plunger frame, without the fuss of a full skirted model, not to mention the chain guard... we all know what thats like !! Good Luck C2K

[JTR249]

Thank you for the information. I see fenders sometimes advertised/described as military 741 and a similar issue comes up. The fenders look similar, though there are a few differences, so you don't know if you are looking at a misidentified fender or if someone is selling a roughed-up reproduction that they are calling original. This notion of 3 different styles makes me wonder about all the advertised 741 fenders I have seen and then went to the repair manual for comparison photos.
-JR