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 In
the summer of 1998 I decided to get a motorcycle. I had ridden three
or four times before, but never had the interest to get one. Living
on a nice road through a wooded area, it is easy to develop an
awareness of bikes. Packs of up to 50 Harleys blow by on the main
road every nice Saturday and Sunday and the sound is a little hard
to miss.
Several years
before, I had clipped an ad from a magazine. The Franklin mint
Indian 442 model. I liked the look of it and kept it in my sock
drawer for 5 years or so. My folks had moved north from Florida, and
placed some photos in the hall. One was my grandparents on an old
bike. I asked my Dad what it was. He said he thought it was an
Indian and the photo was taken around 1917. Looked like it was time
to find out some more about these Indians…
The local bookstore
had some information. They actually had several books, and these led
to a few more Soon I was flipping on the computer and searching the
net for information. Came to understand that a Chief is the most
common model, and you can buy a maxed out restoration for about 25
thousand or so.
OK. Well I didn’t
have that kind of money. Actually I didn’t have any money. So if I
was gonna get a bike it would have to be via a loan from the
friendly dealer. Only Indian dealers with loan programs are a little
scarce around here. Looks like it’s gonna be a Harley, and I can
be like any yuppie with a credit card - walk into the dealership and
ride out as an instant easy rider. It just didn’t feel right.
Might be different if I had ridden junk bikes for years and saved up
for my new HOG. Besides, Gramps rode an Indian.
Back to the WEB for
a look at used bikes. Wow! The 'useder' they get, the cheaper they
get! And if you restore one, you get the fun of putting the old
parts together. Well it looks like with a real well used one, buy
the parts as you go and you have a deal sort of like a loan. The
difference will be that you won’t be able to ride until the last
payment is made, ‘cause that will be for an essential part like a
wheel or battery or something…
So by the end of the
summer of 1998 I had decided to get an Indian, was looking actively
for them and had asked everyone I knew where to find one. No luck
anywhere. Then I saw an advertisement for basket cases. At the time
I thought it meant a bike in a box and you assemble it. Now the
truth: It’s the mental state of a guy who purchases one of these
so-called kit bikes. The seller sent me a video of several bikes he
had for sale. I called him and arranged to drive to a barn in
Vermont and pick up my new pride and joy.
It was November 13
1998. A Friday.
Stopped in Springfield at the Indian
Motorcycle Museum on the way up. No one there but Esta the
curator. Kind of a sad place with a bunch of bikes that look like
they never get to be ridden. I was the only customer. Nice bikes
though! Got a t-shirt, then on to Vermont.
 The
place was only a few miles from the highway, but on a back road.
Sheds full of old dirtbikes and a couple of beat up snowmobiles in
the yard. There was no one there. I had just driven for seven hours
to pick this thing up. &%$#@!!! At around 5:00 PM Stan, shows
up. Real nice guy. He is helping to sell 7 or 8 Indian Basket cases
for their owner. Tells me an involved story about how they got from
Bolivia to a barn in Vermont. I just want to get all the parts in my
van and get back on the road. All the parts. Not that I’d know
what “all the parts” consisted of. We got all the parts from the
video loaded and I split. Another 7 hours and I was home. The next
day I got up and pulled the “bike” out of the van. I assembled
it into a sort of bike sculpture and my neighbor took a “before”
shot.
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