
Twindian
1. 1915 twin-engine race/street bike.
2. Created in the mid 1920's by William "Bill" Arnold 6/14/1901-2/27/1985.
3. Power: 2-61 cubic inch 1916 Indian "PowerPlus" engines.
4. Restoration: Tim Williams, Concord, Ca. & Quality Machine, San Jose, Ca.
5. Tank fab.and exhaust resto: Bob Munroe, Pleasant Hill, Ca.
6. Plating: Jim Lattin, Encinitas, Ca.
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It's a 1916 style year Power Plus that the original owner converted to a
twin engine sometime before 1924. The engine numbers are very low so I'm
pretty sure it was made in late 1915, making it eligible for the Horseless
Carriage Club.
The guy who built it married his widow (who sold it to me) in 1924, and by
the time they got married he had converted it from a single engine and run
it enough to put a lot of wear on it and parked it. Sometime in the 50's
or 60's their son tinkered with it and got it running, much to the chagrin
of the "old-man". After the "old-man" died in the 80's I got the call to
help the widow and daughters (the son died in the70's) sort out a couple
of acres of junk, interlaced with "pearls". Among the stuff were several
Flatty engine blocks, a couple of 1934 Ford PU's, a Tuckercar, a Lambretta
motor scooter in the original crate, and an extensive collection of
motorcycle parts and pieces.
Some motorcycle collector had already bought most of the bike stuff before
I came on the scene, but for some reason the Twindian was still there,
either because he didn't want the hybrid or because the widow wanted to
find a better home for it.
I spent parts of a couple of years sorting through the stuff, directing
them to either "dumpster" or "swap-meet" the items. I took a shine to the
Twindian and the widow took a shine to me, so it ended up in my
collection. It needed some TLC, but after building a new gas/oil tank,
chiselling the fossilized tires off the rims, rebuilding the carburettor,
and replacing the spark plugs the thing came to life.
I made the local antique motorcycle meet circuit with the thing for a year
or so, then turned it over to a local machinist to restore. He had it a
year or so before getting a lot of the basics done, then it sat in my home
for several years waiting for someone to do the detail work and get it
running again.
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