Indian Commander Horns 1948-1953

[JTR249]

Recently several of us have discussed the true OEM of this range of years production for the Indian horn. A couple of common responses have been the typical Sparton open center 4/4 slot horn which is perhaps the most common mount seen in any Indian text you have. Looking at Service Shots #202 and a recent visit to caimag.com led me to a post by Terry Marsh who said the original was much different than the Sparton and not of that company make. A Delco-Remy representative said if you see any Delco-Remy horns with the same design, they should be regarded as suspicious because DR did not make them for Indian. Also, speaking to another expert, he said the Sparton was a replacement part, though he didn't know who the original company was.

To further complicate the matter, I recently purchased a 1948 accessory catalog from Ziggy's and there are two not one horn depicted on page 10! They were regarded as "Indian Commander Horns," though there only with commander in quotes. Go figure.

I have recently contacted the US Government Patent Office to resolve this and the foundry forge stamping question as no one has any clear information on that issue either.

The following photos are here posted to help other interested people in their searches for the truth and accuracy of "original" parts.

Hope someone else can help clarify the information.

Thank you.
-JTR249
364501948 Indian Accessory Catalog p 10.jpg
Original Indian Commander Horn 2.jpg
Indian Horn BR REF 2.jpg

[Mark Jennings]

From what I have discovered the 48-53 style horn is the same type and style that was used on the post war Willy`s Jeeps. These were made by Autolite which would make sense seeing that Indian used Autolite Distributors, Generators and Voltage Regulators.

[JTR249]

Thanks Mark. I'll see what I can find on Autolite. I recently emailed the Esta Manthos Museum and no one there had any records on foundry stamps either. I realize its kind of a picky thing to ask about, but when you are building a bike and you want to be as accurate as possible with most of the parts, you want to know what the factory originally used.

Best,
-John Robinson
36450

[Mark Jennings]

Your welcome John, I hope you find one that will work for you. Mark.

[JTR249]

I wanted to add another photograph that I rediscovered in flipping through Jerry Hatfield and Hans Halberstadt's text, Indian Motorcycles from 1996 and 2007 on page 135. Here we see a picture of actors that Indian recruited to promote the verticals when they were introduced. The horns on the sides of these bikes are not like either the originals, four slot that some say Sparton manufactured. They are not either like the Commander Horns made reference to in the accessory catalogs from later years after production. These look like cans. I would like to know if anyone reading this actually knows what these horns are? Maybe in researching these horns, there will be a link established to develop the true origin of the alleged four slot Sparton. I'm hoping someone can show me early literature to prove the horn is a Sparton. I know several of you have already told me and I have no reason to doubt accomplished restoration experts or any reputable person with an interest in Indian history.
Take a look and let me know.

-JR
36450
Indian Vertical Ad.jpg

[Joe G]

I know this post is 9 months old, John I think you figured out the Commander Horns were an accessory and not what came on your bike when new. I do have a set of Commander horns (one NOS) and a NOS relay if someone needs a picture. I am not sure if I have the mounts, if someone has a picture of the Commander horn mounts it would be much appreciated.

Joe

[JTR249]

Thanks, Joe. Time between post and response doesn't matter. We are all looking for answers that were never documented, so anything you can contribute will help.
Yes, many people told me the four slot Sparton / Autolite horn is the correct factory horn. I still have not seen anything in the literature about the four slot. Maybe factory parts were never placed in ads? I don't know. That might be a question I never thought about. Recently I met a vintage bike horn restorer, Roger Long, who provides original and reproduction four-slots for this year range.
Does anyone out there know if this is the reason we don't find any period literature on specific parts like the four-slot horn (except in brochures for model bikes) or other parts like the moto lamp?
Every bike Indian built had a spare parts list and some of those parts, especially in the later years, were illustrated in the manual. In this sense, it just doesn't make sense that there would be no documentation on the manufacturing of the parts.
I still have not heard from the research company on trademarks. I will post what they relate to me.
Thank you, Joe.
-John
36450

[JTR249]

Here's a photo of one I saw online the other day. The back is very uncharacteristic of the Sparton replacements that were placed on the verticals.
notice the back of this one is not anything like the standard ones which are correct.

Thank you to the techs who reduced wait time between image upload and post. That was much appreciated.

-JR

[JTR249]

Here's another photo of original Sparton horns contributed by Pete Sink. Note that there is one horn in each of these photos that is identical to the one I posted from the online source. That owner said that the horn I found online had been on a bike for about 30 years. In Pete's reference photo, the identical horn is the one on the lower right that has the tag, "Bad Coil."

-JR

[JTR249]

Here are two more horns from the same time period that actually have Sparton stamped into them.
These are online from various sellers. Interesting for contrast.
-JR

[JTR249]

The type posted above on January 26th (smooth-backed Sparton horn) was on a Harley Davidson Servi-Car for 30 years.
-JR

[JTR249]

Here's another one someone has online for sale. This one came from an Indian Chief.
could be me, though I notice that the side profile of this one looks a little different. Don't know why. Could be due to loss of factory paint.
-JR