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After inventory of
the parts, things generally looked OK as the motor and frame serial
numbers matched. Some things were odd. There were four wheels, two
seat pans, two clutch pedal linkages.
The motor was beyond
my capabilities. In checking with several bike shops servicing all
brands, Bob’s Indian was the only name mentioned. As in “the
only place that can deal with that stuff is Bob’s”. I called
them and spoke with Robin Markey, who gave me directions. They are
located just a little south of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania USA. Near
where the PA Turnpike meets I-83. Speaking to them in the shop, it
was obvious that I had come to the right place. Bob and Robin
explained that I would need to get the frame ready so that when they
were done with the motor they could just bolt the frame around it.
Then they went
through the wooden box that my Scout had traveled in from Bolivia to
Chile, via ship to the USA and eventually to their doorstep.
Hopefully to be reborn. In listening to their comments, I felt a bit
lost. “This part is from a 741.” “So is this one.” “Boy
this motor sure had a tough life.” “This rim is from a Chief not
a Scout!” I left with a bunch of parts that had nothing to do with
my Sport Scout except that they had resided in the same box for a
while.
I visited Bob and
Robin periodically until the motor was done. At that point, they
reunited it with the frame and the rear wheel, and we loaded it into
my van wheelbarrow style. But that took a while. A lot happened
during that time both at Bob's and at my garage.
The rest of the tale
will cover what was done to various sections of the bike
 FRAME
The parts that just get cleaned up and painted I would deal
with. First thing was the frame. Took the sidecar mounts off, and
pulled out the chain adjusting bolts. The battery hold downs were
busted off in their threaded holes, but I got them out with an EZ
out. I knew of a local media blaster who does a lot of classic cars,
so he got the frame and front forks. They were down to bare metal in
about a week, along with the front fender and the chain guard, which
both looked reusable.
The frame looked
nice and clean, but at the rear section where the side stand mounts,
there was a strap of steel welded onto the casting. Obviously a
repair that had been made in Bolivia. And it must have worked,
because I got a side stand with the basket, indicating that it had
stayed in the neighborhood of the bike long enough to make it to me.
I checked out Michael Breedings website, and found that he makes a
repair casting piece for this. It must have been a common problem.
Apparently they changed this area for 1941. I did not like the looks
of the repair, so went down the road to visit my brother in law who
has gas welding stuff. Over a few beers we blended the repair into
the casting with some brass and ground it down. Then I took the
frame home and degreased it, cleaned up the repair a little more and
sprayed a couple coats each of primer and black paint in the front
yard. This attracted a little attention from the neighbors, but it’s
better than painting in the garage (stinks up the house).
Now here is a chance
to save some aggravation. In the February 20, 1942 Operation and
Maintenance Manual on page 55-1 there is a discussion on
frame. Of course I didn’t figure that one out until I got
the front end on the bike. A year later. What if the fork head is
not in proper alignment with the rest of the frame? Check your frame
alignment carefully before painting and assembly. I have checked
with a straight edge across both wheels and things appear pretty
straight, but I am not yet comfortable with it. Check it out before
the motor goes in and the bike gets heavy!
A couple of
important parts that attach to the frame are the side stand and the
center stand. I had a side stand. The center stand was purchased
from Michael Breeding who has a reputation for making strong parts.
He also makes a sidestand for my bike, and I am considering
upgrading to one of his just for the peace of mind a stronger
sidestand will bring. Robin installed these two items and the
floorboards when he put the motor in the frame. So when I got the
bike home even without a front wheel I could set it on a 6x6 under
the motor, and the rear wheel would hold the back off the ground.
This is how it sat while I messed with the Front Fork.
FRONT FORK
There are two kinds of front forks for your Scout. The right
kind and the wrong kind. I had the wrong kind. A 1940 civilian Sport
Scout should have small mounting tabs that hold the fender skirt. My
forks had a weird broken off piece at the top. Consulting Jerry
Hatfields Indian Restoration Guide, I determined that the forks I
had were from a 741. As there had been two 741s in the barn where I
got my bike this was no big surprise. Later I got a chance to review
the videotape that showed the parts of all the bikes for sale. Sure
enough there were my forks being grouped with a 741. Somewhere out
there is a guy trying to figure out where the forks for his 741 got
off to. They are in the loft over my garage! I was lucky enough to
run into a fellow in Germany who facilitated the purchase of a NOS
military 640 fork (thanks M.). It did not come with triple trees or
side linkage. At the Oley meet I picked up a complete fork set with
upper and lower triple trees and links. Did it again at the
Chesapeake meet. Still don’t have the right lower links so its
together for now with lowers and a lower back connecting bolt from a
741. The 741 has a 1/2 inch thread as compared to the 7/16 on the
sport scout.
The best place for
me to get an understanding of the forks turned out to be the Jerry
Greer catalog. It has exploded views of the two types of forks I was
trying to make a set out of: 741 and Sport Scout. There are also
exploded views in the competing catalogs and the parts manuals. Most
of the little parts are readily obtainable as reproductions, but the
forks, triple trees and links must be found at swap meets.
The only major thing
I had to do to my NOS forks was make mounting tabs. This was
actually pretty easy for me because I had the original front fender,
and it was in great shape. I centered the fender in the forks and
bolted it up to the forks at the upper inside bolt. Then I laid it
out so that the mounting holes for the tabs were equally offset from
the sides of the forks. Got an approximate distance from the hole to
the fork and added a little over ½ bolt head width to give a good
reveal. A little work on the grinder and I had 4 tabs that could be
bolted on to the fender in the original mounting holes. Pressure
held them against the forks while they were brazed into place. The
heavy duty sheet metal of the fender did not appear to take much
notice!
After the brazing
was done, I cleaned up the forks and painted them black. There is a
big spring that goes in the middle of the forks. I had three of them
of which two were real nice. One of these was already chromed, so I
had it cleaned up and re-chromed. At the same time I had the seat
springs and handlebars done. This is not stock, but I like it better
that way.
 KICKER
When the bike came back from Bob’s Indian there were four
studs on the back of the motor. These turned out to be the kick
starter bracket studs located on the back of the transmission case.
I ordered a NOS kickstarter crank stud and bracket, NOS kicker and
spring. The kicker and crank stud and bracket were cleaned up on the
wire wheel with the Dremel tool used for tight spots. Then I wiped
them down with acetone and plated them using Caswell copy cad.
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