Description
Indian
8 valves
What more could you want...
Indian 1000cc 8-valve racer with a superb patina and in running condition... who dares.
The normal Indian model used a semi-culled valve? The phrasing is tricky in French; here we mean a model with a semi-overhead valve. For racing, Indian built a racer with 4 valves (2 valves per cylinder) or 8 valves (4 valves per cylinder). These were never sold though they appeared in the catalogue, but were loaned only to factory riders and the most promising riders. These bikes are rarely put up for sale. They were the machines that reached speeds of over 200 km/ h on the wooden killers in 1914! These motorcycles were pushed into motion on banked tracks or pulled into motion by another bike using a rope. Then they did a lap behind the pace car and got a good start for the race (here’s a nice video: - details above ). These bikes had no brakes. It was too dangerous to ride because you could hinder a rider behind you by braking abruptly. These bikes also did not have an accelerator cable as they were typically driven at full throttle (operated by a lever on the carburettor) and the speed was controlled with the ignition timing advance and the kill switch on the handlebars.
