1911 Indian

[wyatt emp]

Hope no one wants one of them as I just checkd the site and I guess they are no longer in buisness........

[wyatt emp]

Tributes

Just checked the site today and it is back up. http://deucemotorbicycles.com/

[Michael.Voice]

I know I wont be popular for saying this, but personally, I feel the best tribute that could be made to the original motorcycles and manufacturers like Indian, Excelsior, Henderson, Cyclone etc - would be to put an axe and a gas axe through the lot. Me, I view these pretend bikes as an insult to the real thing and would feel happier if the name DUECE, or who ever is making them would use their own proprietary name, not the name of a great motorcycle to be reduced to looking like a piece of s**t with a little kiddies pedal motor in it. At least 'Timeless' use their own original name. I think they are crap too, but at least they don't claim on the tank to be what they're not.

Imagine if the unknowing and unsuspecting public see these and start believing this is what was produced in the pioneering days of bike manufacture. Not exactly a compliment to their memory is it? Just my unpopular view, I hate fakes.

[c.o.]

Michael, I can't say that I disagree with you, however I do feel for the folks that have a deep desire to have an early machine and are not able to get their hands on one. I was one of those guys up until recently. I don't have a problem with cheap "tribute" bikes but they should be just that, interpretive tributes. I am a little sickened that they place imitation decals of the "real" deal on their products. I'd like to think that this stuff couldn't possibly be miscontrued as legitimate but I've heard some pretty wild questions from the general public at bike events and some equally wild answers as well! Add some patina and conjure up a good story and well, it isn't that unimaginable that some people would believe. A couple of years back I was at a bike show and was having a gander at a bitsa 101 Scout. It was a whole mix match of parts with something that resembled a washing machine transmission. An older fellow that knew the bike noticed me eyeballing it and felt compelled to tell me the "story". He indicated that it was a proto-type 101 that was built by Al Crocker himself!!! I nearly burst out laughing but contained myself. I started to explain to him the long list of incorrectness that this machine was all about and that it couldn't have possibly had anything to do with the mighty Crocker but he was so passionate and adamant about the story I gave up. So it is possible that the uneducated could buy into the b.s.

[Michael.Voice]

I am a little sickened that they place imitation decals of the "real" deal on their products. I'd like to think that this stuff couldn't possibly be miscontrued as legitimate but I've heard some pretty wild questions from the general public at bike events and some equally wild answers as well! - . So it is possible that the uneducated could buy into the b.s.

My point exactly Cory; even Wyatt thought this fake might have an original frame from an Indian. This shows the danger of these fakers, they stick an original name on their modern con copy, and people become doubtful and uncertain of what they really have. I get really pissed off when people are conned out of mere uncertainty. I can accept a copy of the real thing where the frame etc is made so original parts may be used to make a bike that is a true copy or semi-repro, for the purpose of getting a bike on the road.
But when its a "tribute" with a two stroke 50cc engine in it.... what the hell sort of tribute is that???!!! This is an insult when the put the name of Indian, Cyclone, Harley etc on it. If someone can barely afford the real thing, they can just buy an old Harley, they are cheap enough. It is the danger of turning our old bikes into a b.s. land story that concerns me.

Even I am likely to use a vintage Harley 3 speed transmission to get my Dayton on the road, but I'll never claim its an 'experimental' trans made by Dayton; or by Al Crocker.

[gboblebeef]

So let's see where this goes....ebay item 290557379035. I have no affiliation with this bike or the seller.