1940s Indian 741b

[rs200nz]

Hi all,

New to the forum as I was searching google for answers and thought I would try Kiwi Biker. I am trying to locate or get some information re the 1940's Indian 741b used by the NZ troops. My grandad used to ride one in the war in Egypt and I was thinking of trying to track one of them down or even try to start a build from scratch. There only seems to be limited parts on Trade me so wondered if anyone knew of someone that may have one or any parts. My email is bbygtr@gmail.com if anybody knows of something.

Appreciate it

Cheers
Brad

[peril 787b]

Get hold of these guys... http://www.kiwiindian.com/ or Paul Hanes 0274 987 838.

They'd be your best first point of call, from memory Paul is the NZ agent for Kiwi Indian (could be wrong tho)

[smmudd83_1999]

Yup.There's two specialists I can recommend that live nearish to me in Wellington.
1) There's Dave, who is something of an Indian nut and can identify an oil oil pump housing model and year just at first glance... He's down here on the Kapiti Coast at Twin Cam Motorcycles which are primarily HD but his first love is Indians. Not surprising given the number of HDs on the road it makes for a better business model to be a HD rather than an Indian specialist. But he's good.
2) Have you tried the guys at the Iron Horse club?
3) Right now if you jump on TradeMe there's an Indian for sale in Upper/Lower Hutt - $20k! (Mind you it's a nice example with 12V electrics conversion) I've been led to belive it's being sold by a chap in Silverdale who has a small sideline in Indian rebuilds? He might be able to help. Though he has told other enquirers he has no spare parts for sale.

I think if you have a spare $6k for a few boxes of parts to show you're serious to acquire a project and not just another tyre kicker they might be more willing to help.
I'm sure these guys get a lot of dreamers hoping to secure projects for a couple of shillings and the family cat.

[jellywrestler]

I'm sure these guys get a lot of dreamers hoping to secure projects for a couple of shillings and the family cat.

25 years ago i wanted a mid twenties scout basket scout, i know i wouldn't have to travel more than two hours and pricing was a lot different... and army ones were even easier.
they're a bit of a cult bike now and pricing is up there so my advice would be unless you've got a fat chequebook aim for a single cylinder 50's plus british bike to cut your teeth on in the old bike world, then once you know it's what you want and can manage aim for a 741B otherwise you're likely to have a pile of bits without a realistic finishing plan both cost and ability wise.
Also the 741B's have foot clutch and hand change gears, not the bestest for modern traffic whereas the pom bombs have foot change and hand clutch like 'normal' bikes
good luck too, it's a great game to play in

[Paul in NZ]

25 years ago i wanted a mid twenties scout basket scout, i know i wouldn't have to travel more than two hours and pricing was a lot different... and army ones were even easier.
they're a bit of a cult bike now and pricing is up there so my advice would be unless you've got a fat chequebook aim for a single cylinder 50's plus british bike to cut your teeth on in the old bike world, then once you know it's what you want and can manage aim for a 741B otherwise you're likely to have a pile of bits without a realistic finishing plan both cost and ability wise.
Also the 741B's have foot clutch and hand change gears, not the bestest for modern traffic whereas the pom bombs have foot change and hand clutch like 'normal' bikes
good luck too, it's a great game to play in

Wot e said...

Basically - they are an 'aquired taste'.... And fortunately not a taste I've ever aquired.

They are a worthy bike and a distant echo of an earlier time as Mr jelly said because they have hand change and foot clutch. That makes them tricky to master. What he didn't mention is that they a full sized american (of the time) bike but only 500cc and are thus slower than slow. In the 70's when I was dabbling with old pommy wrecks and Indians were still relatively affordable we used to get them on Classic bike club rides.. If we went any distance I'd get to the next stop on my Norton Atlas along with all the other big twins. The 500's would turn up shortly after and then the 500cc singles followed by the 350's wheezing along... After everyone was heartily sick of waiting there would be a distant snuffling and eventually the 741B corps would arrive... exasperated and moaning...

You can punch them out to 600cc which helps a lot but while they are a wonderful wonderful things... You probably pay more money to go slowly than any other bike...

Still - if it turns your crank... GO FOR IT!

[rs200nz]

Cheers for the posts guys. It's just one of those things I have always wanted to do. Seeing the pics of him sitting on his bike in the war and then thinking how cool it would be to build one up to have a ride. Will check out the recommendations you guys have left to see what I can bring up The only other one I really like is the Triumph TR6? from The Great Escape Movie. Maybe it would be cheaper to start there :S

I'm still waiting for a copy of his Army Service Records to arrive to see if there is anymore info as to the exact model. Fairly certain it's the 741b. I see they have one in Waiouru museum. Hand gears must be hard to ride :S

[BIG DOUG]

Dave works at harley speed and custom in pukerua bay.