IN PURSUIT OF SPEED…’46 CHIEF

 

 ..Landspeed Racing..

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Could it be the World’s Fastest Indian…Chief?

RECORDS

Bonneville Speedweek (SCTA)

 A-VF 138.170 (Dave Iversen 8/07)

APS-VF 134.572 (Dave Iversen 8/07)

El Mirage Dry Lakebed (SCTA)

A-VF 140.936 (Dave Iversen 9/07)

Motorcycle Speedtrials by Bub (AMA)(Bonneville)

A-VG 114.534 (Dave Iversen 9/05)

A-VF 117.972 (Samantha Morgan 9-06)

This 1946 Indian was 90% complete in it’s journey to becoming a competitive landspeed racer when Jay Allen purchased it from Buck Lovell in 1994.  Jay is an avid motorcycle collector and owner of the famous Broken Spoke saloon, the world’s largest biker bar.  This Indian Chief had Jay dreaming of one day racing down the salt at Bonneville.  Shortly after the purchase Jay contacted his good friend Dave Iversen about getting the bike running.  Dave has been building motorcycles and street rods his entire life but between Jay and Dave they had zero knowledge about landspeed racing.

The frame on this bike was built using a 1936 Indian as a model.  Late into the original build it was discovered that the top frame rail was to close to the heads and because of that, the only spark plugs that would fit were a type used in small lawnmowers.  Dave finished hooking up supply lines and necessary linkage and got the bike started on those plugs for it’s initial (and slightly illegal) test run down a state highway.  Jay and Dave had spent a great deal of time in their lives riding vintage bikes and this Indian’s power and speed impressed them both.

Dreams of Bonneville still didn’t happen until many years later.  The initial test run was shortly after it was purchased in ’94 and it’s first run down the salt didn’t happen until 2004.  The years in between had the Indian traveling in the back of a Broken Spoke semi being taken to motorcycle rallies across the United States.  It didn’t reach Iversen’s California shop until late 2003 and Dave finally got started on doing some serious research and work on getting it ready to race.  He took the bike for it’s first race in ’04 at El Mirage in Southern Ca.  It passed technical inspection and made it’s debut run in the A-VG class.  The 11 year old record was 126.760 mph and their first trip down the lakebed was a disappointing 71 mph…the magneto failed.  Since that time the bike has been within 3mph of capturing that record.

El Mirage’s racing season is from May-Nov. and in the past three years only one meet has been missed.  The Indian has also raced all 3 years at Bonneville’s Speed Trials by Bub event and in 2006 the trip was made for the first time to Bonneville’s Speedweek.  In over 70 plus runs this bike has never failed to complete a pass and it never fails to draw a crowd.  Since the release of the movie “The Worlds Fastest Indian” interest has spiked and we can proudly bill this bike as not the worlds slowest Indian!

This 1946 Indian Chief has set 3 records:

A-VG Bonneville Speedweek (11 yr old record)120.50

A-VG Bub’s @ Bonneville AMA record 114.534

A-VF Bub’s @ Bonneville AMA record 117.970

Landspeed racing “fever” has hit our household hard.  Dave is currently building a 1941 Indian Jr. Scout for Jill to race next season and his plans for a 1946 Harley Davidson Knucklehead are on the drawing board. Jay Allen has also gone on to build a newer Harley Davidson that holds an AMA record of 169.07 but his Indian Chief still brings the biggest smile.  It all started with Jay seeing a beautifully crafted motorcycle and a dream of racing down the salt flats of Bonneville!  Thanks Jay!

Sponsors

Broken Spoke Saloon

Iversen Originals

S & S Cycles

Top Oil

Kiwi Indian

King ClutchKing clutch.com

*********************** Update May 2007 *********************

The first meet of the season was May 5th and 6th. A significant tailwind was present the first morning and our hopes were high.  It didn’t go as planned.  The new clutch, installed just prior to the first race, wasn’t adjusted properly, causing it to slip.  Time posted for our 1st run was a dismal 85mph.

W

the name of the link

Jon Peddicord injunwiz@yahoo.com

…….a special thanks to Jim Robinson of Hi-Tech Machine and Nick Nicholson!

************UPDATE-MAY 2007*************

The first meet of the season was May 5th and 6th. A significant tail-wind was present the first morning and our hopes were high. It didn” t p mph.< 85 a�dismal was season the of run first our for posted time slip. to it causing properly, adjusted wasn?t race prior installed clutch new the that. planned-imagine as well go>ith an adjusted clutch we got the second run in early afternoon but our bonus tail-wind was gone. Dave finished with a personal best on the old Indian at 133.598 -still shy of the 137mph we needed for the record. We were feeling great.

Second day of racing our two runs held in the high one-twenties with a cross-wind that changed  to a head-wind.

Next race is June 10th. We’ll gear up another tooth and head for the record again!

*****************UPDATE-July 15 ’07 *****************

I didn’t get anything reported for June..had one good pass but trouble with the clutch. July was hot, hot hot! I mean  temps of 110 or higher and Dave still made three runs plus tested out the new Jr Scout. The second run of the meet brought him a whopping 135.917 – the fastest the old Chief has ever gone and just shy of the 137.000 needed to set a record.  We were pumped for the third run but the tranny went.  Back home to re-build and get ready for Bonneville Speedweek August 11-17.

 

*********UPDATE AUGUST 24 2007********

 Could it be the World’s Fastest Indian…Chief?

We just finished a fantastic Bonneville Speedweek 2007.

Dave set two new records at the beginning of the week.

A-VF (old-110.360) NEW 121.955

APS-VF (old-119.929) NEW 120.894

While getting those records felt real good, Dave thought he could get the bike tuned to do much better.  Just prior to Speedweek the old Chief had ran it’s personal best of 135.917 so we knew if it could be tuned for salt flat conditions we should be able to raise those numbers.

With adjustments and some disappointing runs, the end of the week we achieved our goal. Racing against our own new record Dave brought the numbers way up.

Is it the World’s Fastest Indian.. Chief?

New SCTA Bonneville Records

A-VF  138.170

APS-VF 134.577

We’d like to thank all of our support and sponsers, especially Kiwi Indian for super fast delivery of needed parts.

A great big Thank-you to Rob from KingClutch.com -our new clutch held up beautifully!

Thanks to Bill Service for fantastic moral support on the salt.

 

***********UPDATE 9/27/07***********

Victory at El Mirage. On the morning of Sept.16th, we had high expectations of finally setting a record at El Mirage. The first run of the morning brought in a disappointing speed of 122.928, a bit short of the 137 mph minimum needed for a record.  With some minor adjustments, the second run was what we had hoped for. Dave set the new record at 140.936…a personal best for Dave and the Chief!

*************Update 11-25-07************

The race season is officially over for ’07. In October we made a hard decision not to make the three hour trip to El Mirage due to the weather forecast. We made the correct call, the race was called after 10 runs because of the high winds.

The season’s final two day meet was on November 10 and 11.  We switched into the partial streamline class with a minimum speed needed of 144 mph. Dave made one run on Sat. with a respectable speed of 138.218. With some small tuning changes we were in line, ready for a second run, when the meet was called for the day. Sunday morning the race was called again due to high winds. Now we have six  months to dream big for next season!

***UPDATE 2008***

Opening weekend at El Mirage had Dave racing the new Knucklehead he spent the winter building. Check out the new page on the Knuckle build.