 By Jacqueline Bickerstaff,
re-printed by permission of Owner Per
Erik Olsen, (website here)
The owner says "Most of my motorcycles have been subjects for newspaper
articles. But only once have I been honoured with a main feature in a
Motorcycle Magazine.Jaqueline Bickerstaff was our guest for a few days as
overseas secretary of HRD/Vincent Owners Club" This feature was first
printed in the October issue of the 'British Bike'
magazine in 1995.
Ding dong bell, something's in
the well, - but it's not a cat!.
In Norway Jacqueline Bickerstaff discovered a 1936 Indian 750cc
Standard Scout
that was never a traitor.
|
| Closer Look?.. Pages
1,2,3,4 |
| It was the summer of 1941, and Norway was occupied
by the Germans. They were running short of materials and
confiscating vehicles built after 1930, which would have included
Karl's pride and joy, is 1936 Indian Standard Scout. Rather than
give it up, or help the Germans, Karl hung the Indian down the well
of his farm by a log through its rear wheel; then he covered the
well over thoroughly, and left for neutral Sweden whose border was a
mere 35 miles away. It was to be five years before he could retrieve
his bike, which he kept until his death in 1984.
Karl Kakneset was born in 1898 but didn't become a motorcyclist
until fairly late in life. He was a tenant farmer until, in 1936, he
finally bought his little farm.
Finding there was some money left over from the transaction, Karl
bought an old 600cc Indian Scout. The ageing bike proved a bit slow,
which caused his friends some amusement, so that when his sister and
brother-in-law, on a trip to Oslo, left him with their Harley
outfit, he went straight to his Oslo dealer and traded in the old
model for a new 750cc Standard Scout. After that, no one could catch
him! |
 |
Karl's first Scout stands behind
his
"pride and joy" 750 Standard Scout,
in front of his farmhouse |
|
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Indian leaf sprung trailing
link suspension |
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For the duration of Norway's occupation, the Indian
had to remain hidden until, in 1946, Karl could return and recover
it. Up to 1953 he rode the Indian in Sweden where he worked, before
returning to his farm in Norway to work in the forest and keep
stock. The bike was kept on the road, officially, until 1958 when he
handed his plates in. But he enjoyed showing the Indian off to
youngsters until the day when someone stole the Chief front lamp, of
which he was so proud. Thereafter, he hid the bike away and became
increasingly reclusive - even to the point of chasing people away
with a gun.
In 1968, Karl asked at the revenue office whether he needed to
declare the old bike as an asset. Luckily, a motorcycle friend only
interested in Triumphs were handling the declaration and was invited
on a visit. He asked, Per Erik, who was already seeking out old
bikes from all over Norway, to come along. Later he visited Karl,
gave him rides in his car and listened to stories of the old days
since his work was close by. The bike was not for sale, and the old
man still regarded the Indian as his pride and joy, so much so that
when a curator from the social service called at Christmas 1984, he
found he had to help Karl with the rest of manhandling it from the
shed and into to his kitchen! He had already spent two days hauling
it through the deep snow. Sadly, it was only a few days later that
Karl suffered a fall and spent two days lying in the snow before
being found. He had been a strong man, but this proved too much for
his constitution and he died in hospital at the age of 86. Karl's
nephew knew of Per Erik's friendship with the old man, as well as
his enthusiasm for motorcycles and, therefore, offered him to buy
the Indian. |
|
| The Scout was
a never restored, one owner machine so, naturally, Per Erik snapped
up the offer. But, there was another pleasant surprise to come.
Together with the Indian's papers, Per Erik found some from Karl's
little old Indian which he had kept for such a short time. It turned
out that these papers matched the numbers on a dilapidated 600cc
Scout that Per Erik had salvaged from Hamar. He had both of Karl's
old bikes!
By the 1930s, American motorcycles had grown big and heavy and,
in truth, the Scout was not the Scout of old but a redesigned (and
cheapened) 750 Scout engine in the bigger Chief frame. With a foot
clutch and left-hand twist grip to cope with, I was a little
apprehensive about my first ride but, fortunately, Norway is thinly
populated and there isn't much traffic outside urban areas. |
 |
|
The Standard Scout is a
genuine one-owner, unrestored machine, seen here outside Karl's
old farmstead; note old tyre by the door |
|
|
| But first, I had to start it! Not that the Indian should
be difficult, with a modest compression ratio and coil ignition, but
should you sit astride the. bike or start it from the side? Per Erik -
and all the books say from the side, but I am used to being astride my
bikes. Well, I continued to do it my way, but I can tell you that from
the side is better for the Indian aficionado. |
 |
|
Karls old 600 cc
Indian Scout, now owned by Per Erik Olsen along with the later
Standard Scout. It's not a runner |
|
Why? Because the inside of your thigh catches the saddle pan
and, with all one's weight behind the kick, it hurts. For my first
take-off I pushed the Indian into the road, facing straight ahead,
before attempting to pull away. The clutch began to take up fairly
controllably, but finished with a bang -probably much more so than
when new and well adjusted.
The heavy flywheels generally looked after things so that it
didn't prove much of a problem, though I never got to be slick with
it. Gear changes were no problem, though a bit slow. Roll both grips
away, press the clutch pedal, haul on the gear lever with the right
hand, then push the clutch pedal back and roll the grips towards
you.
Unusually for a hand-change bike, the throttle hand (left hand)
is in control throughout; the right-hand grip only controls the
ignition advance. |
| Once underway, the bike wasn't as heavy as I had
expected. Throttle response was poor and ignition response vague,
suggesting stiff cables and loose pivots at the throttle butterfly
and ignition distributor. Every indication, however, was that this
was a result of wear and neglect, rather than being inherent.
|
| With a
little more speed and throttle, the engine ran surprisingly
strongly and at lower speeds gave a lovely vee twin exhaust
note, too. It was very flexible and quite happy to cruise at
anywhere between 30mph and 60mph, I would guess, although there
was no speedometer to check against. At higher speeds, I can
understand why American models were popular in Norway before the
war. Like the Americans, they had a sparsely populated country
with primitive roads, and long distances between towns with few
facilities. Sturdy and fairly fast bikes, with fat tyres, were
well suited to these conditions and the low traffic density did
not require quick handling or stop-on-a-sixpence braking.
Ah, braking. The manufacturer's advertising was adamant that
Indian brakes did not grab, and I assure you that grab they do
not. |
 |
|
The Standard Scout
used a redesigned enlarged Scout engine in the new Chief
frame |
|
|
 |
|
Dirt
roads are still common in rural Norway and the Indian still
copes with them admirably |
|
Haul on the front brake lever as you will, it
doesn't grab; the right hand, then push the clutch pedal back
and roll the grips towards you. in fact, it doesn't do too much
to stop the bike, either, although the rear brake (which is of a
similar size) is reasonably effective. Since the drums are quite
large, I would put the braking performance down to o1d age and
wear were it not for the fact that contemporary road tests echo
my own conclusions.
On Norwegian country roads there was little need for harsh
braking, so only on a single occasion was I made fully aware of
this limitation. I was just getting the feel of the Indian, and
approaching an interesting twisty section, when I realised that
the tarmac surface gave way to dirt between me and the bends. I
couldn't scrub off the speed quickly enough and went in faster
than I would have wished, expecting things to get quite lively.
All it actually proved was that the big American bike handled
better than I had expected. |
|
| |
| The fat
tyres absorbed bumps and washboard surface surprisingly well,
and the heavy rigid frame remained stiff and true. I began to
really understand why the Norwegians had favoured the big
Harleys and Indians. Riding to Karl's farm involved more dirt
roads, followed by the farm track, but the only time the Indian
became a real handful was when I rode around in front of his old
house for the camera, as there were numerous rocks hidden in the
grass to bounce over! During the riding shots, the modestly
finned side-valve became quite hot, but continued to run as well
as the sloppy controls would allow. But later, on the open road,
it began to spit and pop, running very poorly towards the
finish. My conclusion was that rare problem on an old bike;
- too much electricity!.
|
 |
|
Foot clutch and left
hand throttle proved not too fearsome, although control
cables needed attention; sprung seat provided rider comfort
|
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|
 |
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Fun on the open road
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|
I had checked the voltage at one point, finding
something like 13 volts which is just about right for a 12 volt
system. However, both the books and the Autolite generator
confirmed that the Indian was running a 6 volt system, so what
was up? Well, the original specification called for a large, 24
amp? hour battery whereas Per Erik had only an ordinary, and
old, standard (about 12 ah) item which the substantial dynamo
easily overloaded with its crude "third brush" regulating
system.
Joe Lucas could have learned a lot from Mr Autolite! The
battery was fairly thoroughly "dead" and, even if this didn't
harm the ignition system, no doubt it caused plenty of misfiring
or points burning. A pity, because the Indian could be so nice
when running well.
|
|
| Per Erik has some beautifully restored machines in
his garage, a Henderson and one of the earliest post-war Vincents
among them. Fortunately, he has no intention of restoring the
Indian. It would be a travesty to destroy an original machine with
such a history, to create some better-than-new concourse machine; of
that we are greed. However Per Erik is reluctant to do anything more
than necessary to keep it barely running, even though he has ridden
it on one or two long runs. |
|
| If it were
mine, I would undertake a little more refurbishment to get the
controls, carb and ignition working smoothly, as well as the lights
repaired. It would be such a pleasure to ride, then. In the early
days of the US motorcycle industry there were numerous
manufacturers, such as Yale, Thor, Cyclone, as well as better
remembered marques, like Henderson and Excelsior. The two big names
are, of course, the still-surviving Harley Davidson and, at one time
the largest manufacturer of them all, Indian. It is perhaps fitting
that so many Indians survive in Scandinavia, because Oscar Hedstrom,
one of Indian's most famous designers, was Swedish, and the company
employed many Scandinavians in their Springfield machine shops.
In 1911, Indians were some of the most advanced and fastest bikes
around, as they proved by humiliating the British industry with a
1-2-3 in the Isle of Man TT. By 1937 they were big and heavy bikes,
typical of late American practice and that is clearly visible in
this Standard Scout, its engine looking a little lost in the frame
designed for the 1000cc Chief. The buyers and dealers of the time
thought so, too, and it never achieved the reputation of the earlier
101 Scout of circa 1928. All the same, the Standard Scout quite
impressed me, denting my patriotic bias for British machines.
I look forward to the day when I can sample one of those nimble
101s, or maybe a big Indian Chief. |
 |
|
Norway's road system was
similar to the USA's and American Bikes proved ideal for
tackling poor surfaces and long distances |
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| |
SPECIFICATION 1936 INDIAN STANDARD SCOUT
|
| |
ENGINE
|
TYPE
|
42 degree V-twin side valve |
BORE & STROKE
|
73 x 89mm |
CAPACITY
|
745 cc (45 cu.in. |
COMPRESSION
|
n/a |
POWER
|
25 bhp approx |
CARBURETION
|
mm |
| |
TRANSMISSION
|
CLUTCH
|
Multiplate, foot operated |
GEARBOX
|
3 speed |
RATIOS
|
4,66 6,45 11,5 :1 |
PRIMARY DRIVE
|
Quadruplex chain |
FINAL DRIVE
|
5/8" x 3/8" chain |
| |
|
|
ELECTRICAL
|
IGNITION
|
Coil / distributor |
GENERATOR
|
Autolite 6 volt, 3 brush |
LIGHTING
|
7 in headlampm, 6V 24ah battery |
| |
CYCLE PARTS
|
FRAME TYPE
|
Duplex,brazed lug |
SUSPENSION
|
|
front
|
Indian Leaf spring, trailing link |
Rear
|
Rigid. |
WHEELBASE
|
61,5 in |
SEAT HEIGHT
|
29 in |
GROUND CLEARANCE
|
6 in |
WEIGHT
|
430 lb |
TYRES
|
4,00 - 18 front and rear |
BRAKES
|
7,5 drums front and rear |
FUEL TANK
|
3 gallons |
OIL TANK
|
4 pints |
| |
|
|
PERFORMANCE
|
TOP SPEED
|
75 - 80 mph |
ACCELERATION
|
satisfactory |
FUEL CONSUMPTION
|
50 mpg |
| |
HISTORY
|
MANUFACTURER
|
Indian Motocycle Company, Springfield
Massachusetts |
PRICE NEW
|
£ 95 in UK |
MODEL LIFE
|
1932- 1937 |
OWNER
|
Per Erik Olsen, Kongsvinger, Norway |
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