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Hello All. Been a cycl enhusiast for 35 years. Bought my first bik and first street ridden bike in 1984. I bought a 1982 Sturgis. Never road a street bike ever before. Might as well start big. I always dreamed of owning an Indian and then the stars lined up and own 2 Indian chiefs. A 1947 and 1948. I also own some smaller bikes. A 1962 Honda Sport Cub, a 1965 65 Super Cub and a 1970s Vespa. Im also a Hotrod and Kustom car addct. If it has wheels I love em!!! Looking forward to belonging to the group!! [ATTACH=CONFIG]2487412..jpg61136282_10157190682327726_7780436937214525440_n (1).jpg[ATTACH=CONFIG]2487747689175_10156799483767726_1002589527463690240_n.jpg
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Welcome! Cool stuff.
Steve Slaminko -
Welcome Little Chief.AMCA #765Comment
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The Little chief name came from the old owner who had the bike since 1952 had a last name of Little. So it's the "Little Chief" . In memory of the man. This bike was last on the road in 1958 when his wife said she wont marry him unless he sells or parks the bike in the barn. So there it sat. I heard of the bike when I showed up on my 2 year old 1982 shovehead Harley Davidson Sturgis at work when i first bought it in 1984. My friend and fellow laborer said that his Dad had an Indian chief in his barn since 1958 and was put away running. I asked if his Dad wanted to sell it and he said No my dad doesn't sell anything. I asked him maybe like 10 times in the next 7 years and the answer was always the same. Then he told me tragedy hit the Indian. Someone stole it out of the barn and stripped the heads off of it. They found it in the ditch on their property. So they rolled it back in the barn. Then about 6 months ago I looked my old friend up and caught up a bit. I never asked about the indian but about 4 weeks ago he messaged me and asked if i wanted the bike. I was first in line. Well I went out to the property the next day to look at the bike. I looked around and tere was no barn, just black berries about 5ft high pretty much everywhere. Then my firend pulled up and i asked him where the barn was. He said i was standing about 5 ft in front of it!!! What? When did the barn collapse? He said at least 20 years ago!!!! So he said he'd keep me informed as his son in law ws coming the next day wth a backhoe. I didn't know what to think as the bike was also in a flood plain and the area was super wet. So the fist picture the next day he sent me was this one. Te barn was huge. I couldn't imagine anything surived after 20 years being under it when it collapsed. The bike was actually in the smaller milk barn on the side behind the truck. I was standing 5 ft from it and couldn't tell anything was there at all!!!! I had it now for 10 days . I'd say its a big impovement over the first picture. I've ordered about $3,000 worth of parts. Yep, Im obsessed!!!Originally posted by len dowe View Post
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I've only had the bike 10 days and have made pretty good progress from the first picture.
The black and white photo her is the old owner on the bike I own now. It's the one in the back. Amazing after 35 years I finally own it but it's bitter sweet. The owner died just recently and the bike sat decaying for those 35 years , had been stolen, had been submerged in floods, been crushed underneath a barn for 20 years. I will charish it and preserve it!!!
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last time it was on the road shows on the plate 1958.
Check out the shot gun pipes. Back then an Indian or a Harley were just ordinary bikes as there weren't hardly any others .These were ridden and modified . Shotguns made back in the day!!! LOL!
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Wow! Great story and pictures. I've built lots of bikes over the years but never started with one quite as neglected as yours. I can sense your passion in you messages and have no doubt you'll have it on the road in the not too distance future. Good luck and if I can offer any assistance please ask! Where are you located? We have a pretty large Indian Chief group here in Central Illinois.
Thankfully my future wife didn't ask me to give up something I loved. In fact, right before we got married in 1980 her and I spent every last dollar we had (which wasn't much) on a 1939 Indian 4. Still have the same wife and same bike to this day. Both look pretty much the same as the day I met them.
Steve SlaminkoComment
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Welcome! Boy....quite a story, thanks for sharing! And good on you for sticking with it and finally bringing it home, that’s going to be quite a save!Pisten Bully is Harry Roberts in Vermont.Comment
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The cool thing is the engine and frame and the original regsitration and all the paperwork are all matching. !!!!Originally posted by pisten-bully View PostComment
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Not sure how long it will be as I have other projects that have to be completed!! this one is the one i need to finish first and it wll be a very demanding project. All done in lead. The chrome will be about $10,000 and the paint at least double and then the interior Ugh!!!
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I'm also very fortunate as my wife supports me on whatever i do or bring home. This can be a little bit of a problem as I ended up getting this bike but thought it was going to slip through my fingers as most things do and then have my dream of ever owning an Indian end. Well late one night I was on Ebay looking up indian parts so that if i finally got this bike i could see what things were going for and damned if i didn't fall in love with a fully restored Indian. I put a bid on it at 12:30 AM. I tink I was super tired or something !! What was i thinking? Anyway the next mornng i won it so now I had to figure out how to tell the wife, how to ship it home and how to come up with the money. Ooops. Well I cam up with the money with a little juggling funds and found a shipper and then wouldn't you know it , my friend called and said pick up the barn find bike. Now I end up with 2 Indian chiefs!! One 1947 and one 1948. When my wife saw the 47 she turned away with an ugly look on her face. ths was not what I had expected. So i felt totaly fu$%@d how to tell her that I also bought a fully restored one. yikes!!! Anyway I walked in and she actually said she wasn't feeling well and said it was beautiful. Im talking the blue one!!!! Phew!!!! So then i told her it was my dream bike and that I always wanted an Indian not just to look at . So I placed the colored picture of the bike I bought on Ebay and waited....... She said "you are ging to make the blue bie look like this? I said Nope and the time it takes to restore the blue one will be a long time and Im getting older so I bought one that actually rides. She asked me "You bought this one"? I said yes and she was fine with it!!! LOL!!! So not only do I have the blue barn find but a restored one that I can compare with to do the restoation!! This is my restored bike.Originally posted by slamiste View Post
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I have also owned this bike for 35 years!!! As long as I knew about the Indian!!!
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Great post Little Indian, your bikes and cars speak volumes about your passion which we all share; like others who've commented, please keep us abreast of the restoration work on the '48 Chief and your cars...AMCA # 3233Comment
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welcome aboardComment
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