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Tempting

  • B0nes
    B0nes
    17 days ago
    Never really been a huge fan of the newer Indians but this one could be the one. If I had the room and the funds for another bike I would serious consider this. I'll take the black one thank you.

  • Hilly
    Hilly
    17 days ago
    In red please, I'd buy that over any of the current HD's, what a ripper bike 😁👍
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    17 days ago
    Yeah, I'd take the red one too. It's a lovely looking bike, and the 116 engine is a ripper.
    And the one piece crank will never twist, the cam chains for the 3 cam motors don't seem to chew the tensioners, you'll never replace a primary chain again, gear primary, and right hand side belt so you don't need to strip the primary out to replace a belt. Hilly, your Slim is echoing the same periods design cues so it's doesn't surprise me you like it.
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    16 days ago
    It's an interesting motor the Thunderstroke, whether 111 or 116.
    Across the motor rocker arms, pure Vincent; 3 cams, S&S X wedge; direct geared primary, pure classic Indian. I
    Could have put this in the video thread, but this is the right place for it. A teaser preview from before the bikes were released in 2013.
  • speedzter
    speedzter
    14 days ago
    Obi, you sound like a fan 😁

    A few interesting things to note, a plastic drive gear on the oil pump, and a plain main bearings for the Crank.
    The rocker arm system is interesting.
    The nicest part is the one piece Crank, something HD maybe should have looked at, but much harder for the aftermarket
    to replicate.

    Interesting rebuild video showing good detail.

    https://youtu.be/K6OpL8G_Sf0?si=Y0L9IYj8enK8-ElK
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    13 days ago
    Thanks for posting that vid Speedster, really good look inside the motor.
    Plain bearings on the mains,  just like the Victory motor. Seems to work in Vic's, and seems to work in cars too. I think the reason for it is the massively rigid one piece crank that doesn't need rolling element bearings to cope with small amounts of shaft deflection, and also means you have to have plain big end bearings. So if you need an oil pump that puts out enough pressure to cope with plain bigends, may as well up its volume and let it cope with plain mains too.
    Dunno about the plastic oil pump drive gear though. And to think I was originally worried about the chain drive oil pump on Vic's. I know that Kawasaki had plastic oil pump drive gear failures on one version of the Vulcan's then went to metal. But plastics now can be literally bulletproof. Driving a gerotor oil pump should be a pretty constant load.
    Looking online I can see 3 cases of failure recorded.
    So am I a fan?
    I've riden the cast alloy frame ones with the 111 motor a few times, never riden the slightly smaller and lighter steel frame ones. It's a lovely motor to ride, all grunt and no whizz and as I get older I appreciate that more. And the styling just sceams real motorcycle, just as Softail Slims and CrossBones do.
    The hardest part about owning one would be coping with the fringe and tassel mob who've drunk the koolaid and believe the 1901 stuff.
    Not gonna buy one, just stay happy with the Sporty and the 2 Vic's.

  • Hilly
    Hilly
    12 days ago
    Good vid, them spark plugs are way down in there, rockers look similar to some cars I've worked on, is the cam chain tensioner spring loaded? I couldn't quite make it out on my phone screen, interesting non the less. 
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    12 days ago
    Hilly, while I don't know the answer, the vid shows a small torsion spring pushing on the camchain tensioner, but then another unit is bolted on, could be a hydraulic plunger, or possibly a non return  ratchet.
    They don't have a rep for premature failure. Used to mingle with Indian owners once a month on shop rides out of the Brisbane dealers. They used to moan about how another Vic rider and I would care through the pack and push the lead rider a bit, not about their cam chain tensioners.
    Just one more point about ease of ownership, they're a one oil engine, primary and gearbox.
    Not gonna buy one, but might try to scab a test ride.
  • Hilly
    Hilly
    11 days ago
    Well that's different, I like the simplicity of this method of cam change but the lifters don't get a look over doing it this way, I'm a bit of a fan of adjustable rods for setting lifter depth, ie bottom them out and just clearance them, I wonder if they have the same issues some HDs do with lifters? 
    Cams, flash and out the door.
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    11 days ago
    Another interesting vid Speedzter, thanks.
    Been doing a bit more surfing on this motor. Yeah, there's nothing hydraulic in the tensioners, just the spring backed up by a ratcheting plunger. I did find that the current motors are on the 3rd version of the ratcheting plunger, problems became apparent when Indian and the aftermarket released higher lift cams.
    And that procedure for changing cams helps explain another problem that I heard about from the early years of the motor. The valve springs come from a subcontractor, a small number have been found on the edge of  of spec, putting high lift cams in that way resulted in some unlucky owners finding that tolerance stacking on their parts was causing coil binding on the valve springs. They're beehive single springs so it shouldn't happen.
    Supposedly it's fixed now, and wasn't a problem with the stock cams.
    But buggered if I'd change cams without checking for coil binding in the valve springs.

  • obisteve
    obisteve
    9 days ago
    One last post then I'll give it up as flogging a dead horse. Getting back to the threads subject, the Chief Vintage, I dont reckon too many owners will drop in cams or the full range of Indian go fast stuff. Save that for the Sports Chief, the one that's channelling the Low Rider ST.
    It would be granny abuse on the Vintage. Sure, you can hop your granny up on 'roids and speed so she can go through her Tai Chi class twice as fast as the instructor, but why bother?


  • Hilly
    Hilly
    8 days ago
    But is it really 125 years, the brand did fold, don't get me wrong I'm glad the name is still around, same as the others that have come back from the dead but claiming linage seems a bit rich, still, we live in a world of alternative truths so I suppose reality is what you want to believe it is, not you speedzter, I know you get it. 
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    8 days ago
    Hilly you obviously missed out on the Koolaid ration. Hey fellas, a glass of Koolaid for that bloke done there on the speck in the ocean near Australia's south island.
    I get a laugh out of it too Hilly, same as I do for modern Triumph and Ducati fan boys.
  • Stuart
    Stuart
    8 days ago
    Quoting Hilly on 26 Feb 2026 12:37 AM

    But is it really 125 years, the brand did fold, don't get me wrong I'm glad the name is still around, same as the others that have come back from the dead but claiming linage seems a bit rich, still, we live in a world of alternative truths so I suppose reality is what you want to believe it is, not you speedzter, I know you get it. 

    "a world of alternative truths" - fuck you make me laugh Hilly. In a good way though - that has cheered me up no end :-)
  • speedzter
    speedzter
    8 days ago
    Yes, I did have a laugh when I saw the 125th anniversary - what a Crock !!
    This is at least the third  "coming" of Indian after the last failed attempt in the 2000's with the S&S powered models.
    It should be closer to 75th anniversary in actual years of production.

    I guess Harley could have gone the same way, especially after Indian could have bankrupted them over patent's .
    And then the AMF era .
    But I do quite like the Indian 125th paint !
     
  • Hilly
    Hilly
    6 days ago
    Quoting obisteve on 25 Feb 2026 11:01 AM

    One last post then I'll give it up as flogging a dead horse. Getting back to the threads subject, the Chief Vintage, I dont reckon too many owners will drop in cams or the full range of Indian go fast stuff. Save that for the Sports Chief, the one that's channelling the Low Rider ST.

    It would be granny abuse on the Vintage. Sure, you can hop your granny up on 'roids and speed so she can go through her Tai Chi class twice as fast as the instructor, but why bother?


    I don't have a logical reason to offer Steve, but whatever it is in me that makes me do it it doesn't stop at motorcycles, anything I own with an internal combustion engine has been "massaged" to some degree, I just can't help myself. 
  • Neale
    Neale
    6 days ago
    It’s a nice looking bike but I’d bet those wheels could be a bitch to get off with the big valanced guards.
  • obisteve
    obisteve
    5 days ago
    On the cast aluminium frame ones you can easily remove a circlip and pull a pin that frees the rear suspension and let's the wheel stay on the ground when you jack it up.
    When they were released, techs at the Vic/Indian shop in Brisbane told me it was easy to unbolt the back mudguard and lift it straight up and off.
    Or you could try the way I found easiest to repair roadside punctures on the tubed tyres on the Vic bagger.



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