Indian 640 Canadian

[David Dunlop]

Definitely a different look between the two side cars in this thread. Any indications if this was specific to USA and Canadian Contracts, or just a variation between early and late overall production?

David

[welbike]

David, better disregard the sidecar in my picture, that is I believe a pre-war Indian Princess sidecar, not necessarily Military.

Here an original Canadian picture of a 640 with sidecar;



And another, with the civvy aircleaner visible, pictures from Canadian Archives via Clive Law.



Cheers,

Alex

[DenisLutman]

Hi, I accidentally ran across this forum and was excited to see a thread about Canadian Army 640s.
I'm restoring one as well and have learned A LOT about these motorcycles and would like to share some information.

First, here's mine as I bought it. It came from way north of Saskatoon.



Here are two photos as it stands now, nearly finished.

[derk derin]

I call shotgun!
Derk

[DenisLutman]

Deal!
It's really close: wiring, making sure everything is all tight, etc.

There are some things worth noting about Canadian 640s:
1. There IS a parts book specifically covering the 550 640s Indian sold Canada. Ziggysmotorworks has copies available. Many of my comments are based on the parts book, which is pretty accurate.

2. Sidecars and a passenger seat setup on the rear fender were part of the Canadian package. It's interesting to note that the photos previously posted do not show the sidecars. It's possible they simply weren't mounted on the 640s shown in the above photos.

3. These had neither blackout lights nor oil bath air cleaners.

4. They had the early '40 non-keyed ignition switch.

5. They had an auxiliary toolbox mounted to the rear fender above the taillight. I think this was a larger toolbox than the standard one found on the right side of Sport Scouts.

6. The left side passenger foot peg was actually a kicker pedal mounted to a stud in what is the rear crash bar casting on the frame. The right side passenger foot peg was another kicker pedal mounted to a bracket on the sidecar frame.

7. The rear passenger seat was similar to the British Lycette style with springs radiating out from the front seat mount. The passenger grab rail was a square handle pointing forward.

[welbike]

Hi Denis,

Great! wish I was that far, but have most of the missing parts now.

Please share more info, yours seems to be a truly Canadian one, as it has the duo passenger seat brackets.

Cheers,

Alex

ps, here's mine as it looks now;

[DenisLutman]

Originally Posted by welbike

Hi Denis,

Great! wish I was that far, but have most of the missing parts now.

Please share more info, yours seems to be a truly Canadian one, as it has the duo passenger seat brackets.

Cheers,

Alex

ps, here's mine as it looks now;

Yours looks good so far! I love that tag. Looks original! I have a photo from the Indian factory of a bunch of military 640s in final prep and they all have tags. Many of us thought they were issued tags only once they had been sent to various units but the photo casts doubt on that.

[DenisLutman]

This is invaluable if you have a Canadian one.



Here is the page showing the passenger seat parts.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Denis, Alex,

Really interesting stuff! But could you please attach pictures (see link) rather than inserting links? Our experience shows one day the links will disappear and then this thread will be worthless.

Thanks,
Hanno

[welbike]

Like this??

Lex

ps, sorry, never knew how to do this! but you are right, there are several forums where the picture host went bust, and all disappeared

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by welbike

Like this??

Lex

ps, sorry, never knew how to do this! but you are right, there are several forums where the picture host went bust, and all disappeared

Yes, thank you Lex!

Read this and learn how to insert your attachments in the position where you want in your text.

Regards,
Hanno

[DenisLutman]

Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra

Denis, Alex,

Really interesting stuff! But could you please attach pictures (see link) rather than inserting links? Our experience shows one day the links will disappear and then this thread will be worthless.

Thanks,
Hanno

Great, I'll use this moving forward. Thanks!

[Rob Beale]

Nice to see a 640 put together. Nice too that the engine and frame numbers match. Well done with the resto.

Years ago when I restored my 741B it used to bug me that many of the pics in the 741 manual were of the 640 model! The extra brace in the rear forks was a giveaway.

I have had the same issues on projects at our local technology museum on which Work-scheme people were used to strip them, and the supervisor had lots of enthusiasm but no mechanical knowledge. I have used old site photos to identify what was parked nearby to search for (and find) missing parts.
Fortunately we exert a lot more control now, and restos proceed more smoothly.

Wish I could visit sometime. The Gregg collection would be great to see.

Rob

[DenisLutman]

Well, after many years work, my buddy and I got my 640 running! It started on the first kick, too. That was major relief, I tell you that!

Will post a video at some point soon. Pretty darn cool old motorcycle!

Does anyone have contact information for Clive Law, who supplied some of the archival photos posted earlier?

Thanks!
Denis

[welbike]

Denis, great that it's running!! pictures please!

Have Clive's email somewhere, he posts here too sometimes, maybe you can look him up? if not send me a pm.

But I got all the pictures from the book, and the ones not used, as I helped him edit the book, so let me know what you're looking for.

Cheers,

Alex

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Servicepub aka Clive Law: http://www.mapleleafup.net/forums/member.php?u=40

[DenisLutman]

Originally Posted by welbike

Denis, great that it's running!! pictures please!

Have Clive's email somewhere, he posts here too sometimes, maybe you can look him up? if not send me a pm.

But I got all the pictures from the book, and the ones not used, as I helped him edit the book, so let me know what you're looking for.

Cheers,

Alex

Thanks, Alex! Trying to upload short clips. Let's see if it will work...

[DenisLutman]

Originally Posted by welbike

David, better disregard the sidecar in my picture, that is I believe a pre-war Indian Princess sidecar, not necessarily Military.

Here an original Canadian picture of a 640 with sidecar;




Cheers,

Alex

I suspect this is US Army model sent to Canada for testing since it has the blackout light on the front fender. However, it looks like the Canadian spec seat is mounted to the rear fender and the passenger may have his hands resting on the grab rail.