indain scooter

[YamaGeek]

Originally Posted by JerryH

Ok, I checked the ad and did some research, and I can see it is real. Should have checked first. I admit I don't know much about Indians, and never knew they made scooters. It is not a brand I have any real interest in, partly because all the recent attempts to "revive" Indian have, IMO, made a mockery of the name. Again IMO, some things should just be left alone, and Indian is one of them.

I do own a totally restored 1967 VeloSolex S3800 cyclomoteur, A French made moped/motorized bicycle, which I cannot even ride, as it has a load capacity of 160 pounds. I destroyed one very expensive rear wheel before I found that out. Nobody seems to have a clue what that is either. It was France's version of the Italian Vespa. Cheap transportation for the masses.

No they aren't "France's version of the Italian Vespa." they were an entirely unique Motor Bicycle that was designed to get the French worker to and from his job/farm/office cheaply, just like the early Citroen 2CV automobile was. For one thing the rear wheel of the Solex is unsuspended, and secondly, there were only 28 spokes in the wheel. But it was built with stout rims and spokes, so it would have taken a awful big hit to have destroyed the wheel of this bike.

[JerryH]

They are certainly not a "copy" of the Vespa, but they were built for the same purpose, to get people around as cheaply as possible. I am a member of Solex Owners of America, on Yahoo Groups. I located my Solex with the help of Brian Colter, one of the worlds foremost experts on the Solex. He was also invaluable in helping me restore it.

I have no idea what happened to the rear wheel, other than it was simply overloaded. I did not hit anything, I was just cruising down the road when spokes started breaking. Normally it would be fairly easy to simply have a really tough mountain bike wheel built for it and solve the problem. But the Solex uses 23" wheels, so there are no rims that will fit. It also has a drum rear brake, and as I found out, the hub is also made of really soft metal, and before my spokes started breaking, they had elongated the holed in the rear hub. I have ridden a few really cheap Chinese made Walmart bikes, and never had that happen, so I have no idea what the cause was.

Many people do not know that the Yamaha Vino 50cc and C3 also have ridiculously low rated weight carrying capacities. I bought a 2007 Honda Met without even giving any thought to the load capacity. It turned out to be 270 pounds, which seems about right for such a small scooter. Then I found that the Vino 50 had a weight capacity of only 170 pounds, and the C3 wasn't much better at 190 pounds. The Piaggio Fly 50 has a load capacity of 400 pounds.

[PhilB]

That Indian scooter is rare and neato. I wouldn't pay that for it, unless I had so much money that it didn't matter, but that's me. I do think that a big part of the value is just the name, and that many collectors of Indians have a lot of money (a good late Chief can fetch $40K these days).

Technologically, it looks a lot like its contemporaries such as the Cushman; primitive and unsophisticated compared to the European scooters. But a cool collectors find.

PhilB

[JerryH]

Looks it has. And character, IMO. I just love those old American scooters like Cushman, Salsbury, Harley Topper, and now Indian.

[klx250sfguy]

Not an Indian scoot but pretty cool and a great price IMHO.

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...eaturedAdZtrue

[fullmetalscooter]

Originally Posted by klx250sfguy

Not an Indian scoot but pretty cool and a great price IMHO.

http://halifax.kijiji.ca/c-cars-vehi...eaturedAdZtrue

Kind of cool but something when I look at is off.. Don't know what it but something says this is wrong , very wrong.

[MiniBike]

Went inside McDonalds yesterday and dang if they didn't have an old Indian spinning around on a turntable inside the dining area.