Forum

[Norm]

There is an Indian Chief on its way to Aus at the moment and I am a little curious about the gearbox. It is an Albion but from the pictures the outer cover looks very similar to the left shift Albion but this one is certainly a right shift. This one is an ex police bike, not sure if they did anything special on these. Anybody have any info on these

[Mark M]

Norm, I have 2 Chief projects here, (yes, I know,) what do you want to know? Police Chiefs seem to have been fitted (in the USA) with different equipment according to the Force that ordered them but some possible extras are footboards, radio mounted on a rear rack, crashbars, Harley type sprung post saddle, siren friction driven off the rear wheel, 150 mph Stewart Warner speedo and much more. You will find pics of a NYPD Chief in the National Motorcycle Museum UK but beware, it's not totally right, Les (who restored it,) added a toolbox from a Super Meteor, the Chief type is different. The gearbox is a heavyweight M series Albion also used on some Trailblazers I think? It has different gear tooth form and count so little is interchangeable with standard Albion boxes of the time. Finally, the Police Chief usually has 2 exhaust cams fitted, identified by "2X" stamped on the crankcase at the left front near the exhaust cam cap. Can you post pics? There is one in the Used Bikes here at the moment. Phil Dolan has some info at REIndian.com
REgards, Mark

[Norm]

Hi Mark, it was only the gearbox I was curious about I thought they might have set them up so they could be used left or right shift whatever. I forgot about Phil he lives about 15 mins away so we can get him to take a look when it arrives and get the good oil on it. Thanks again