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indian 741b parts suppliers


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Ive managed to get me hands on an Indian 741b basket case,the bike has been civilianised so I am looking for most of the military parts as well as footboards, exhaust, complete seat assembly as well as some engine bits.can anyone point me in the right direction

Cheers

gruff

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As Ron said, Juergen in Germany is a great guy to deal with and has most things, good quality parts too.

 

For Engine upgrades (well worth doing if you want to ride it on the road!) get in touch with Robin Oakley http://www.rtoengineering.co.uk/ he is a genius with these old bikes.

 

Tony Leenes can be helpful too http://www.tonyleenes.nl/

 

The best i can recommend doing to a 741b is to get some more power out the engine (i went to 563cc and larger valves), put a larger gearbox drive sprocket on and fit kevlar clutch plates, makes the bike so much more usable in todays traffic, mine was happy cruising at 60 mph and gear changes were a dream with the kevlar clutch plates.

 

 

Best of luck with the bike.

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Apart from my standard 741 military. I am also building a special with a 741 engine. I bought some big bore pistons and larger inlet valves from Juergen for my special, I think it gives me about 580cc.

 

I love my 741 military, but unlike Barry, I find it's not the easiest bike to ride. So I'm building an easy to ride Indian.

 

Ron

Indian S 047.jpg

Indian S 060.jpg

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Congrats on your new project. Ok to start things off i understand Jerry and Juergen to have some very good parts. THere are a number of tricks you can do to greatly improve your engine and bring things up to a modern pace of life very easily.

Firstly the 741 was originally a 750cc Sport Scout, but due to the Army contract stating no larger then 500cc they reduced the size of the bore and stroke. That other brand starting with H ignored that part of the contract and kept producing 750's. Over here in NZ we bore and stroke our motors back to 750cc which greatly improves performance and you can happily keep up with most modern traffic. (rider dependant)

Original sport scout flywheels are becoming increasingly harder to find but if you can find an old iron head Harley the flywheels will work. A set of Honda Civic pistons and a few mods to the gudgeon pin clip and you have a nice 750cc Army Indian. Great for when you are loaded up with all the extra gear. In most cases you do not need to change the carb throat size or the valves unless you intend to race as the tolerances back then allowed for greater scope. Mine work fine as they are and it will do 100kph fully loaded.

 

Generators can be tricky but there is a company in the USA who makes a replica in 6v or 12v with reg/rec inclosed in the case. It is a very nice unit. Remember to always check the gene chain as they can really ruin your day if they come adrift.

 

 

If you have any issues PM me. I have restored a number of these and have another on the bench at present. Might even be a pic on the forum but definately pics on our website.

 

 

Best of luck

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I find the 741's not well suited to convoy work, of which I do a little. Better for lolling along in top gear. The 15bhp engine combined with three speed box and time lag when changing gear, often means I am in the wrong gear. I figured by increasing my engine power to say 17bhp and with a foot change four speed box, should give me what I need.(not convoy duty). Considering I am using a BSA M20 as my chassis which as standard is only 12bhp. (14bhp with an M21 engine).

My intention is to make a 1930's look alike Brit V twin with some bling and pin stripes, that I can use at Indian rallies.

 

Here is my military 741. Ron

741B 039.jpg

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  • 1 month later...
I find the 741's not well suited to convoy work, of which I do a little. Better for lolling along in top gear. The 15bhp engine combined with three speed box and time lag when changing gear, often means I am in the wrong gear. I figured by increasing my engine power to say 17bhp and with a foot change four speed box, should give me what I need.(not convoy duty). Considering I am using a BSA M20 as my chassis which as standard is only 12bhp. (14bhp with an M21 engine).

My intention is to make a 1930's look alike Brit V twin with some bling and pin stripes, that I can use at Indian rallies.

 

Here is my military 741. Ron

 

Hi Ron, I am also building a 741 engined M20(1!) so would be very interested to hear how you are getting on with yours.

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Hello Windy, where are you located? Any pictures of your special? I've done a bit more to the build up of mine. I'm about to work on the forks with some mods to the headlamp arrangements. I have a 1938 BSA petrol tank with combined oil tank and a 1935 BSA steering stem to fit. The intention is to make the whole thing, not easily recognisable. Ron

Indian S 067.jpg

Indian S 068.jpg

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Hello Ron,

thats looking good. Especially like the petrol/oil tank, might try this too if I can source one as it looks like it makes the rear exhaust pipe route much easier as you don't have to clear the original oil tank. I only have teles on my frame at the moment but hoping to pick some girders up one day. Have put location in my profile now. Looks like I will have to build my bike with the M21 engine to get an age related number plate, then change to the Indian engine once this has been procured, unless anyone knows of an easier route, as I have no documents for the bike at the moment. Should have all the 741 engine parts ready to build up soon, just working on a belt primary that can be swapped from one engine to the other. Got a BSA belt drive crank sprocket & Triumph clutch basket thats been converted to belt drive, need to obtain internals to mate it to the M21 gearbox then should be able to assemble the bike in M21 form for now. Will get some pics soon.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Congrats on your new project. Ok to start things off i understand Jerry and Juergen to have some very good parts. THere are a number of tricks you can do to greatly improve your engine and bring things up to a modern pace of life very easily.

Firstly the 741 was originally a 750cc Sport Scout, but due to the Army contract stating no larger then 500cc they reduced the size of the bore and stroke. That other brand starting with H ignored that part of the contract and kept producing 750's. Over here in NZ we bore and stroke our motors back to 750cc which greatly improves performance and you can happily keep up with most modern traffic. (rider dependant)

Original sport scout flywheels are becoming increasingly harder to find but if you can find an old iron head Harley the flywheels will work. A set of Honda Civic pistons and a few mods to the gudgeon pin clip and you have a nice 750cc Army Indian. Great for when you are loaded up with all the extra gear. In most cases you do not need to change the carb throat size or the valves unless you intend to race as the tolerances back then allowed for greater scope. Mine work fine as they are and it will do 100kph fully loaded.

 

Generators can be tricky but there is a company in the USA who makes a replica in 6v or 12v with reg/rec inclosed in the case. It is a very nice unit. Remember to always check the gene chain as they can really ruin your day if they come adrift.

 

 

If you have any issues PM me. I have restored a number of these and have another on the bench at present. Might even be a pic on the forum but definately pics on our website.

 

 

Best of luck

 

Hi Adam,

 

I read your post carefully, but do have some serious misgivings with your statements, I have had a couple of 741's and have read up on them, and have all the original manuals and parts lists, and have upgraded to a 1942 Mod 640 recently.

 

A 741 was designed as a 600cc - 37 cu in, (basicly a Scout, not a Sport Scout, that Military version was the 640) but the British and the other allies didn't want a 600, they wanted a 500cc for road tax reasons, That's when Indian took their new cylinders and drilled them for 2-1/2" pistons instead of the original 2-3/4".

 

There is so incredably lots and lots of misinformation about these models, it's not funny anymore, all the books written in the 70's and 80's had it all wrong, and are being quoted all the time!

 

So time to set it all straight, although it will take decades to do so!

 

My source here is a chief judge on Indians in the US AMCA, who owns every type of military Indian (exept the model 144 and 148, if there is interest for this I can post some pictures)

 

Re. the tyre pattern, there are perfect Firestone tyres now, that are an exact copy of the originals, and made in the US, a bit more expensive, but sooooo much better then the Chen Sings, email me for details.

 

Ron, I still regret selling that nice rear mudguard that's on your hybrid now!

 

Cheers,

 

Lex Schmidt

Edited by welbike
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Hi Adam,

 

I read your post carefully, but do have some serious misgivings with your statements, I have had a couple of 741's and have read up on them, and have all the original manuals and parts lists, and have upgraded to a 1942 Mod 640 recently.

 

A 741 was designed as a 600cc - 37 cu in, (basicly a Scout, not a Sport Scout, that Military version was the 640) but the British and the other allies didn't want a 600, they wanted a 500cc for road tax reasons, That's when Indian took their new cylinders and drilled them for 2-1/2" pistons instead of the original 2-3/4".

 

There is so incredably lots and lots of misinformation about these models, it's not funny anymore, all the books written in the 70's and 80's had it all wrong, and are being quoted all the time!

 

So time to set it all straight, although it will take decades to do so!

 

My source here is a chief judge on Indians in the US AMCA, who owns every type of military Indian (exept the model 144 and 148, if there is interest for this I can post some pictures)

 

Re. the tyre pattern, there are perfect Firestone tyres now, that are an exact copy of the originals, and made in the US, a bit more expensive, but sooooo much better then the Chen Sings, email me for details.

 

Ron, I still regret selling that nice rear mudguard that's on your hybrid now!

 

Cheers,

 

Lex Schmidt

 

I think we will just let this go as its not majorly important, but suffice to say i own a large number of Indians and my main (not my only) 741 has been judged by a US AMA Judge as the best Military Indian M741B in New Zealand. Also the Military contract was an American contract for the US Forces and at that time had nothing to do with what the Commonwealth Forces wanted. Whilst loosely based on the 640 (and i say that very loosely) the entire engine was a detuned version of the 1934 re-developed 45cu (750cc) V Twin for the Sport Scout, frame was a modified Sportscout frame with lengthened forks, modified generator mount, instrument cluster mount and gear level mount point and those beautiful valanced guards were brutally attacked for a more Army look.

End of the day all due credit to those who have restored one of these classic bikes and hope you have fun and safe riding.

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Ron,

 

Was only joking about the rear guard! but that Indian 340, it cannot be real, they were all sunk enroute to France!!

 

Another fine example of misinformation in the books and on the web, look on page 113 of the excellent book "An American in Paris" that explains it all.

 

Adam, I will ask Robin Markey to reply here in person, if he has the time and inclination, I know he's very bizzy on the "Virtual Idiots List"

 

Cheers,

 

Lex

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Yes Lex! This 340 was in a sorry state when I recovered it from the English Channel..... I wish I knew how to post an icom with tongue in cheek!..... Also where do these Velo MAF's come from that were supposedly sunk to the bottom of the Channel?

 

Ron

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;) Ron, this ship, the Hanseatic Star was supposed to have been sunk somewhere in the Atlantic, exept that it wasn't!

 

The Velo's though is another story, a friend was going to dive in the Channel, to take pictures, but the currents and depths are too severe for any diving.

 

But they were not MAFs but WD's MAC's

 

Cheers,

 

Lex

Edited by welbike
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Yes Lex! This 340 was in a sorry state when I recovered it from the English Channel..... I wish I knew how to post an icom with tongue in cheek!..... Also where do these Velo MAF's come from that were supposedly sunk to the bottom of the Channel?

 

Ron

Ever heard the one about fish with bicycles? :D

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  • 3 months later...

Things are moving slowly with my special. Forks are being re-bushed and I'm fettling the oil pipes before the tank goes for plating. The manifold is being extended and the flange converted to take a brass Amal 76 carb.

Ron

Indian S 086.jpg

Edited by Ron
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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Not a lot further on, but still a few hours spent. Not least with the new chrome tappets tubes. The chrome was in the fine threads and took ages with fine grinding paste and twiddling back and forth to get them to screw up after assembly. Ron

Indian S 165.jpg

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