This Indian Chief was just pulled out of storage where it had been sitting for the past 15 years. The seller’s description of where the bike was found is hilarious, “Fresh from a farm building, not really a barn but there were chickens and ducks living in the building. Bike still has dust, dirt and feathers on it.” Hmm. This barn find thing is fun and all, but when did dirt and feathers add value to anything? Anyway, this is a cool old bike that you don’t see very often anymore. It doesn’t have the traditional looking springer fork found on earlier bikes, but the big 1,210 cc V-twin is retained. The engine does run, but the seller recommends an overhaul before using too much. It’s located in Spokane, Washington and can be found here on eBay where the reserve has been met.
Sounds like a chickenshit opportunity to me. (Sorry, couldn’t resist after looking at the pics on eBay.) Seriously, a great old bike and a great candidate for a “rustoration.” I’d be all over it myself except for two minor problems — (1) I quit riding about three years ago due to left shoulder issues and (2) I couldn’t afford the price of admission.
Good set of pictures and the video is a nice touch.
Way to big for me..
Jesse, unrelated to this one, you just posted the 67 Firebird, why can’t I pull it up to comment on it?
This Indian brings back good memories. The first bike I ever had a ride on was an Indian ex-police bike that had been retired from service. My uncle Phil owned it and took me for a ride right after buying it. I remember it as being bigger than the one in this Enay listing, but since I was about 6 years old maybe it just looked bigger to me than it really was.
It popped and snorted and was pretty scary to a 6-year old, especially since I was trying to keep my bare leg away from the hot exhaust pipe. Anyway, it was one of those terrifying but exciting firsts in your life, and the memory has stuck with me all these decades. My uncle Phil is still driving, altho not bikes like this, and this bike definitely reminds me of him.
I really like the video in this listing—the idea of setting up the camera and then just doing a video of the bike being started up and run. Whenever I consider buying a vehicle that’s being sold as a runner that I am not close to, the first thing I ask for is a video of the engine (with the hood open) being started and run for a minute. You can tell a lot from that, and I have passed on some bad deals based on just that information, and also gotten some good vehicles that way too.
This seller is smart to put that kind of video right in this listing. If I was in the market for a vintage flathead bike I could see buying this one.
still has the throttle on the left, gear shift lever on the right and foot operated clutch. interesting but i pass. i had enought trouble when i had 2 bikes, 1 with rear brake on the left/ foot operated heel/toe shifter on the right and the other with rear brake on the right and toe shifter on the left. ( if it is not 1st down, neutral between 1st and 2nd and the rest up i do not ride ). nice find
Ditto on the video. What impressed me the most is that there was no vibration from the bike at all! I love looking at vintage bikes but riding them is a different story. The oldest bike in my collection is a ’91 and the difference can really be felt when I get on my ’04.