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Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Mystery Bike

The Bike I was crying about..[because I thought he 'blew it up']
Is an EXTREMELY RARE......
1941 Indian Military Model 841.
Only a thousand were made...And all but one was shipped to CA for testing by the armed forces.

The 841 also came with several other new features, including shaft drive, a foot shift, hand clutch, hydraulic girder spring fork, rubber-mounted handlebars, a sprung rear hub and 8-inch drum brakes, all of which made it onto postwar Chiefs.E. Paul duPont, who controlled Indian, had so much faith in the 841 design that he got one for his own use. He rode it around the country, stopping to show dealers and friends, and had grand plans for turning the military 841 into a civilian tourer.But none of that was to be.Although Indian built more than 1,000 examples of the bike and put it through extensive testing in the desert of California, the military never adopted the machine for wartime use. The same was true of Harley’s BMW-like XA. Instead, the primary motorcycle used by American forces was the 750cc V-twin Harley WLA, augmented by Indian’s 500cc V-twin 741 and the 750cc 640B, basically a military version.


Most were deystoyed in testing or scrapped...Never intended for civilian use...As such very few examples exist today...and nearly all that are...are in museums.

When I saw the photo of a civilian owning one...I just about fell off my chair.

11 comments:

Dean "D-Day" said...

What an awesome piece of history! I love stories like this!

mq01 said...

what a beauty!! hey maybe we should get out our metal detectors and go play in the desert?!?...hmmm... great post!!

Ann said...

Don't give him any ideas, mq01. His metal detector is always at the ready. :)

Willy D said...

Now I’ll have to try and build one from the picture.

FLHX_Dave said...

I dug out some of my pictures last night of the motorcycle museum in San Diego and almost matched it up but wasn't sure.

Awesome info BigD. It's always nice to get some spec info on this blog deal. diggin'it.

Learning to Golf said...

Great history lesson on a really cool old bike. Thanks Big D for this post.

"Joker" said...

It's not how many posts you put up; it's how fucking good they are!

Those old pics are really cool. What any of us wouldn't give to own one of those rare old bikes!

What kills me is I know there's some old widowed lady living alone in a farmhouse out in Kansas somewhere, who has one that's all stock and in great condition out in her barn under a tarp. She'd probably think you were doing her a favor getting it out of there for her too!

Saw an old FLH shovel at the BY last night. It was turquoise blue with white saddlebags - not exactly my choice of colors - but I understand the whole retro look thing. What killed it though? The saddlebags had black splotches on them so to resemble a cow. I wish I had of had my camera with me...YUCK!!

Sticks said...

Glad you guys enjoyed, I'll send over some more when I get the chance...
Sticks

Mr. Motorcycle said...

It'd be cool to see more bikes like these around. I went on a ride once with a guy who had a bike similar to the one you described here.

WooleyBugger said...

It always makes me wonder why a company puts in all that time and effort then scraps the whole deal.

Loved the Pictures and history.

Chessie (Chesshirecat) said...

I luv history lessons...
and I love the pictures...
and I hate you have her down...
and I wish you fingers crossed...
and I know you will prevail...

Be well,
Chessie