Ridge Roamer takes you along for a beautiful afternoon ride aboard an antique 1946 Indian Chief motorcycle. Rider perspective camera angle showing how to work the controls as you ride. Enjoy!
Thank you for sharing what wonderful Motorcycle, it's my age too, you certainly live in a pet spot, reminds me of my Home here in North Devon, Southwest Britain.
No disrespect intended but listening to that non synchronized 3 speed took me back 50 years when my daddy was teaching me how to drive his 51, Chevy truck. In-line 6, purred much like that Indian! Thanks for the unintentional memories.
Two wheeled art, the gear box sounded smooth, I thought I was a good rider till I rode my Dads 741 "left hand throttle, right hand timing, foot clutch, and doing hand turn indicating😲" Loved it😍😍
Back in 1939, Dad owned a 39 Indian He said a lot of his riding friends had various years of them. He also said the Illinois State Troopers had Harleys and the Indian riders would speed just to watch the Harleys fall by the wayside. The Harleys had a bad habit of overheating.
When I sold my first Chief, the buyer wound up on neighbor's lawn across the street. Best to practice on a deserted parking lot and understand how foot clutch works. Chief clutch was supposed to hold in disengaged position, sometimes it didn't and would suddenly engage and send you into the intersection.
Magnificent! I've ridden Japanese, German and Italian but never an American classic! Hope that will change in the future! Keep enjoying that wonderful machine!
thanks for the ride along.Our family has some 8mm film of my uncle riding his Indian, the same model as yours, (not sure of the year exactly) It's so awesome, from the early 1950's, leather jacket, goggles and all. I think I may invest in one of these jems someday.
It cracks me up how much that thing sounds like an old Triumph.. I guess those loud tappets and chains make them all sound similar when you don't have the Harley unpowered revolutions going on... at least for twins.
In Europe we call this 'suicide shifting'. Because of the lefthand shifting and at the same time lifting the leftfoot for the clutch. It makes riding at that moment a little instable.
Thanks for the ride. My '48 Chief has not run in 10 years. Seems like you're having to shift often. Camera setup gives illusion of high speed at 40-50mph. Watch for patches of mud and wet leaves on curves.
Thanks for watching. Part of the video purpose was to show controls from rider's perspective, so there was certainly some gratuitous shifting in the video. That 3 speed gearbox doesn't need to shift that much. Good eye.
Thanks for a awesome video! Could you also mention things like fuel consumption, how it rides on gravel and tarmac compared to modern bikes? What is the weak spot If this bike and so on. I would be grateful If you could upload a movie about those things
What adjustments are you making with the spark advancer during the ride, when do you tune it down/ramp it up? I’m naive, trying to learn. Awesome video btw!!
@PhantomofTheOctagon moving shifter is easy, just a couple bolts and linkage change. But the throttle should be opposite side of the shifter, so you would then want to swap throttle and timing grips.
Yes. The clutch is engaged with a rocking pedal with the left foot. He has made a video before on the operation of the systems, I think just before this one.
There's something about the throttle and take up on the old bikes... smooth as silk. I find that modern bikes have a choppy throttle and grabby brakes. My '69 BMW R69 is probably the one of the smoothest bikes I've ever been on, and the side valves like The Chief are also right up there.
In a spark ignition internal combustion engine, Ignition timing refers to the timing, relative to the current piston position and crankshaft angle, of the release of a spark in the combustion chamber near the end of the compression stroke. The need for advancing (or retarding) the timing of the spark is because fuel does not completely burn the instant the spark fires. The combustion gases take a period of time to expand and the angular or rotational speed of the engine can lengthen or shorten the time frame in which the burning and expansion should occur. In a vast majority of cases, the angle will be described as a certain angle advanced before top dead center (BTDC). Advancing the spark BTDC means that the spark is energized prior to the point where the combustion chamber reaches its minimum size, since the purpose of the power stroke in the engine is to force the combustion chamber to expand. Sparks occurring after top dead center (ATDC) are usually counter-productive (producing wasted spark, back-fire, engine knock, etc.) unless there is need for a supplemental or continuing spark prior to the exhaust stroke. Setting the correct ignition timing is crucial in the performance of an engine. Sparks occurring too soon or too late in the engine cycle are often responsible for excessive vibrations and even engine damage. The ignition timing affects many variables including engine longevity, fuel economy, and engine power. Many variables also affect what the 'best' timing is. Modern engines that are controlled in real time by an engine control unit use a computer to control the timing throughout the engine's RPM and load range. Older engines that use mechanical distributors rely on inertia (by using rotating weights and springs) and manifold vacuum in order to set the ignition timing throughout the engine's RPM and load range. Early cars/motorcycles required the driver to adjust timing via controls according to driving conditions, but this is now automated.
