subject: Cursory Information About The 1923 Indian Motorcycle [print this page] The Indian Scout's introduction into the market happened in the 1920s. This particular model of motorcycles proceeded to become the most popular when it came to speed racing. The 1928 101 Scout became the most popular motorcycle even in the line of India's most popular motorbikes.
The Prince, the Four, The Chief and the Big Chief all started in the 1920s. This ten year period was important in laying the foundation of Indian motorcycles becoming the favorite in America.
It was important in the 1920s to find a new motorcycle to replace the Powerplus engine present in Indian especially because Harley Davidson was producing motorbikes that were more advanced. For this reason Charles Franklin who was both an engineer and a racer received the influence from Indian to make something new. Harley Davidson gave Indian some competition and the other competition was from car companies that began producing many cars.
The bike that Franklin introduced in 1922 had a 61 cubic inch (1,000cc) V-twin engine. Its shape was more enhanced compared to other Indian Motorbikes in addition to having a lower seat. This bike also had helical gears instead of the conventional chain drive transmission. The new motorbike's weight was 425 pounds and it had the ability to reach the speed of 90 miles per hour, which was a new thing in those years. Its name was the Chief.
However, Indian improved their motorcycle further in 1923. Despite the fact that the Chief was a great motorcycle, Indian increased the size of new motorcycle motors to be 1,200 cc or 74 cubic inches. Thus, Indian introduced the Big Chief in 1923.
The Big Chief was designed to carry a sidecar, and several people used that combo for transportation, since cars were not yet ruling the individual transportation market. Though the 1923 Scout could be fitted with a sidecar, the Big Chief was better at handling the extra load.
But many of solo riders thought the 1,200 cc engine was just what they needed, too. It wasn't a long time before the 1923 Big Chief was Indian's top seller. There were other changes in store for Indian in 1923.
The main changes that occurred include the change of name of the company into Indian Motocycle Company with the word Motorcycle lacking the letter "r". The other change was the change of name of the PowerPlus engine into "Standard". This was a way to clarify the fact that the later engine was more powerful than the previous engine.
It does not matter if Indian had the knowledge about it or not, the Big Chief motorbike they produced at the time was a classic. In our day, if you would get an Indian Big Chief motorbike manufactured in 1923, its selling price can exceed forty thousand dollars if it is in excellent condition.
