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1948 Indian Scout,74 CI. Anyone familiar with maintenance?????

jimfj

jimfj

Forum Mentor
So I have a lucky friend whose better half agreed to the purchase of a 48 Indian Chief. The bike has just been freshly rebuilt. He has about 275 miles on the motor after the rebuild. I haven't seen it yet but hope to this week. I will get the particulars of what was done and post them but the reason I am getting involved is because the motor is running extremely hot and from what the guy says, poorly. Those two go hand in hand.

Going through my head are the following things to check:

valve clearances---I have no idea how though on a side valve engine?? Any help appreciated..

Air leaks around the intake side of the manifold. Only one carb, how hard could that be!!!

Exhaust leaks--

Carb adjustment--Too lean??

Cylinder heads too loose or not torqued properly..

What else would one want to check that might be a contributing factor? My knowledge base is inline fours and twins. I understand all the principals but I do not have a bunch of experience on V twin motors. Kind of excited to see how it all works.

He has a rider manual form back in the day that he says goes over the maintenance as well as a service manual. I have not seen either, yet.

Any advice and comments welcome. And yes I will post pics when I can get them.

Thanks
 
The manual will be pretty comprehensive. I'd initially suspect ignition timing, it's easy to set it at full advance but the mag retarded...which gives too much advance when the spark control is moved.
I'd also ask about the rebuild. who bored it if it was rebored, what pistons were used....
 
do you have a link to a procedure for this so I might be able to study up before I see it?

Too much advance in timing sounds very possible. Symptoms are there. Thanks!
 
jimfj said:
do you have a link to a procedure for this so I might be able to study up before I see it?

Too much advance in timing sounds very possible. Symptoms are there. Thanks!
Click to expand...

No link sorry, All my info is paper...If you can find a copy, Modern Motorcycle Mechanics by J R Nicholson which is a Canadian published book covers the big Indians pretty well. Mine's the sixth edition, 1969 and the Indian info is still in there at that date.
 
I went to see the bike over the weekend and again, sorry for no pictures, but it is really pretty.

My friend put on an electronic ignition and we tried to start it. Found out he forgot to put the rotor on the dizzy. Tried again and it would pop but not fire. it kept spitting out of the carb. Started smelling like fuel so we turned the petcock off and started to check the timing.

I found that the rotor shaft would move, about 15 degrees of play, when i tried to gently turn it. This would negate all almost all of the dizzy advance or retard. Dug a little deeper and found out that the slot that the rotor shaft fits into was wallowed out on the ends and that the bottom of the shaft (think flathead screwdriver blade) was worn as well.

Found the timing mark on the flywheel and looked to see how the rotor lined up with the electrode for the plug in the cap. Looked about right but if you account for the slop in the shaft it can change things alot. Would this have a huge bearing on starting and running??

We finally put everything back and tried to fire it again. It started and ran but only fully advanced. if we gave it throttle or retarded the timing it quit and wouldn't start.
 
Used to be a place out in Arizona ( i think it was ) that was a huge warehouse of 30s and 40s Harley stuff. Some Indians too as I recall. Used to have an add in the back of Easy Rider. Maybe go to get a copy and look thru the classifieds in the back. May still be there and youll have a parts source.
 
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If it gets hot running, the spark is retarded, makes for an easier start but bad for when its going, after you'd rebuilt it and would only run full 'advanced' then you have a timing issue for sure. you need a *** paper and a wire through the plug hole to know where the piston and fire point is. I bet you're close but going the wrong way with your adjustment and it sounds like you're a tooth out on timing. get us some pictures.
 
What's up with the damn spell checker? *** paper is normal speak. Cigarette paper.
 
tatu said:
What's up with the damn spell checker? *** paper is normal speak. Cigarette paper.
Click to expand...
It's not the spell checker, it's the nanny filter. That word might be 'normal speak' for cigarette paper,
but it's also considered to be a derogatory term for gays, therefore it's not allowed.
 
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