1958 Enfield/Indian Trailblazer - Kustom Cafe Racer Project

Re: 1958 Enfield Indian Twin - Kustom Cafe Racer Project

I had a very fun and productive couple hours after work today. I took the exhaust off of the Chief and fabricated it into a 2-into-1 exhaust! I was a little nervous about cutting up the exhaust because I was afraid once I started welding the pipe it would just start burning up. But it came out really great! The metal took the welds very nicely, and I even ended up with a better flow angle than the original 2-1 exhaust that came on the Connies. I'm very happy with the results and I can't wait to hear what it sounds like!

Re: 1958 Enfield Indian Twin - Kustom Cafe Racer Project

Being that Indian went out of business in 1953, how does one have a 58?

Re: 1958 Enfield Indian Twin - Kustom Cafe Racer Project

Head Knocker said:

Being that Indian went out of business in 1953, how does one have a 58?

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It is a Royal Enfield. The model is an Indian.

Hence "Enfield Indian" in the title.

Re: 1958 Enfield Indian Twin - Kustom Cafe Racer Project

Head Knocker said:

Being that Indian went out of business in 1953, how does one have a 58?

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Allow me to quote myself from page 2, because I don't feel like typing it all over again:

rundown said:

I'm pretty weak, apparently, on my old Brit bikes. It appears that the Royal Enfield Constellation, "Connie", was imported to the US and branded as an Indian in the 50s? Also, is it safe to assume that the Constellation isn't one of the models that the current Royal Enfield, an Indian (as in South Asian) company continues to make and export world wide? Anyway, a very nice build.

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From 1955-1959 Joe Brockhouse worked out a deal with Royal Enfield to build bikes and badge them as Indians and import them to the US. The twins were actually based off of the Super Meteor platform, the Trailblazer being pretty much identical except for badging, and the Chief got 16" wheels and the fat fenders. There was also a Woodsman 250 and an Apache which was based off of the Connie. At the end of 1959, the contract was cancelled, and the merger of the tooling and name of Royal Enfield was beginning to be transferred over to the country of India. Enfield/Indian bikes were sold up unto 1963 when Indian finally closed their doors, but they were all built by 1959. When India took over all manufacturing towards the early 70's only the 350 Bullet was produced. In the late 80's the 500cc Bullet was reintroduced, and by the mid 90's the 500cc Bullets were being imported to the US and other countries. In 2010, the UCE Bullet model was released with EFI and electronic ignition, and just this spring they released the 535cc Continental GT. Ironically, ALL of these models are still based off of the 1950's British engineering.

My parents and the rest of the guys at their Indian shop buried the American Indian in 53.
I did not know RE stole the name and used it just to confuse me 60 years later

Head Knocker said:

My parents and the rest of the guys at their Indian shop buried the American Indian in 53.
I did not know RE stole the name and used it just to confuse me 60 years later

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Like I said, RE didn't "steal" the Indian name. And Indian didn't officially close until '63. Yes dealerships were going under rapidly after the piss poor engine design that ultimately sealed Indian's fate in 1948, but they didn't Officially go bankrupt until '63. Joe Brockhouse "owned" the Indian name, and he attempted to keep it alive by buying whatever bikes he could and slapped the Indian name on them. There are a metric F-Ton of "Indian" dirt bikes out there from the 60's and 70's, but good luck figuring out what exactly it is. It took me almost 3 weeks before I figured out that I actually had an Enfield, took me another month to figure out what model, and a another year to realize my bike is extra special with all kinds of different model parts on it.

I love my bike for several reasons: 1) It's old and cool as hell. 2) All the Harley riders think I'm the cat's ass for owning a '58 Indian. 3) Most Brit riders get confused over the "Indian" name and clear British engineering. 4) And every once in a while I have someone come up and say "Holy shit! That's an Enfield Indian!" and we talk for an hour about bikes.

Not sure exactly when it happened, but Harley Davidson has been selling bikes with parts made in India for years and they still call them American motorcycles. Now they are building HDs in India and selling them globally. Dodge doesn't own Ram Trucks anymore, it belongs to Tata, another India based company. India has been taking over production of American and Brittish designs for some time now.
Awesome bike you have there. I'm a little confused by the fork brace, but I'm hanging in to the end to see how it all comes together. Nice work so far, keep it up.

Thomas_Hudson said:

Not sure exactly when it happened, but Harley Davidson has been selling bikes with parts made in India for years and they still call them American motorcycles. Now they are building HDs in India and selling them globally. Dodge doesn't own Ram Trucks anymore, it belongs to Tata, another India based company. India has been taking over production of American and Brittish designs for some time now.
Awesome bike you have there. I'm a little confused by the fork brace, but I'm hanging in to the end to see how it all comes together. Nice work so far, keep it up.

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Thanks Thomas. The HD plant started production in India in the spring of 2014. They are already building Police bikes, and many locals and RE enthusiasts are NOT happy about it.

I'm still uncertain on the fork brace. I'm looking into other options. One option I'm not interested in is the only fork brace specifically designed for the Enfields, Hitchock's fork brace. At $300 after conversion rates and shipping, they can give my white ass a big ol' sloppy kiss. But just this morning, I found a site Fast From The Past, and they have a whole array of fork braces for $99. None for Enfields, but one of their biggest FAQs is "will this brace work on that bike?" And their answer is "maybe". So they actually took the time and put all the measured specs of all their different braces onto a spreadsheet. I now have 4 printed pages of all the different braces with center-to-center measurements, tube size, and mounting diameter. So when I go to work on Monday, I will take measurements again, but I'm pretty sure the Euro spec Honda CB750C is going to work for me. Between 4 pages of info, I'm sure I will find at least one that will work.

Also, I will be sending in payment to Bedlam Werks for my custom seat pan on Monday. A big shout out to Travis there for helping me out with this project. I can't wait to see it! 8)

Awesome. I like what you're doing with the bike and will be following the build. Keep it up and good luck on the search for the brace.

High On Octane said:

I'm still uncertain on the fork brace. I'm looking into other options. One option I'm not interested in is the only fork brace specifically designed for the Enfields, Hitchock's fork brace. At $300 after conversion rates and shipping, they can give my white ass a big ol' sloppy kiss. But just this morning, I found a site Fast From The Past, and they have a whole array of fork braces for $99. None for Enfields, but one of their biggest FAQs is "will this brace work on that bike?" And their answer is "maybe".

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Check these guys too: http://superbrace.com/ I never got them the Enfield measurements, although some guys at the Enfield board had also thought about trying a group buy for one custom-made for the fork. But I think several of us had different styles of fork in the end.

That said, I can't imagine why you don't want a $300 fork brace with "Hitchcock" CNC'd into it... :

Love the work so far ...... but the fork brace doesn't work for me. Tarozzi do a fair number of "older" fork braces - certainly NOT for the Enfield, but maybe could be modified for a lot less than the cost of getting a custom made jobbie ?

I just took measurements. I have a few ideas now but have to wait for my machinist friend to get back from vacation before I make decision.

http://www.fastfromthepast.com/servlet/StoreFront
Cool site and great prices, even taking into account the cost of shipping across the pond.

Yep! I just talked to them today. I'm going to email him some pics, he already has the measurements. He's going to mix and match the different parts I need to make one that works.

Hrm. Let us know... I may have to call him, too!

AgentX said:

Hrm. Let us know... I may have to call him, too!

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Yeah, when I speak to him again I'll be sure to mention to him to make a note of what parts he is using to put my brace together. I'm sure there are lot's of other Americans who don't feel like giving Hitchcock's $300 for an 8" piece of aluminum. 8)

It's been a slow week with the bike. I was pretty busy with work this week and just didn't have much motivation at the end of my days. I did however get some work done. Tuesday, I was able to get my new 5/16" barrel ends installed on the the clutch and front brake cables. The new levers are butter smooth, especially compared to the 50+ year old levers I pulled off of there. Aside from the fork brace, and whatever I decide to do about a fender which may be nothing at all, I am now finished with the front end for the time being. Eventually I want to install the wider front end without gauges, have the wheel rebuilt with a 17" rim and twin leading front brake, but I'm just going to leave it as is until I have a few extra hundred dollars to rebuild it.












Yesterday, I finished up the Y joint on the exhaust and also wrapped the pipes with black header wrap. I received a message from a friend yesterday on the RE forum and he is going to be sending me an EMGO Dunstall muffler to finish my exhaust. I really like the cocktail shakers, but the Dunstall will look much more appropriate on the bike I think. How do you think the Dunstall will look painted white with the black wrap? ???

Also, Bedlam Werks is supposed to be starting on my new custom seat pan this coming week. Super excited for that!

Yesterday I ordered new composite head gaskets directly from Cometic, so I should have those before the end of next week. Also Bedlam Werks got started on my seat pan yesterday and it's already looking fantastic.

High On Octane said:

How do you think the Dunstall will look painted white with the black wrap? ???

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Just leave it chrome, man. White's gonna get all funked up after the first week and draw attention to itself. The bike is awesome, but let's not get too precious with things, especially the way you plan to ride it.