1949 Indian 63D 3 Wheeler

I put this in here today because I have a friend that I work with who lives in a ‘Retirement‘ community and does property management there. He likes vintage motorcycles but needs something a bit cooler than his golf cart to get around the community. I think this is the perfect vehicle.

There is a lot of strange and interesting history when it comes to Indian motorcycles, way too much to put here but I love it. At this period in time, post WW2, both Harley Davidson and Indian were trying any and everything to keep sales up. Small bikes, which both companies pretty much failed at, service vehicles (which Harley did a much better job at) and even scooters.

Indian partnered with Lowther Scooters to build up the 63D model. A three wheel service vehicle that was easy to drive, very functional and inexpensive compared to the Harley Servicar. In truth, the 63D didn’t even come close. As a matter of fact only 8 were built. The 63D had an either 4 or 6 hp motor, a centrifugal clutch, the 63D had a differential for 2 wheel drive, If you had a small farm or ranch (or a modern retirement community) it was probably just fine but as a true service vehicle…nah. However it is pretty cool.

Lowther Scooters built some of the craziest most futuristic scooters ever…check these out…

I found a 63D model on ebay this morning that is a good runner starts on the first or second kick, shifts through the gears just fine and the lights work. This particular model is the ‘high horsepower’ model….all 6 horses are there so it’s going to be quite a handful! It needs some love for sure but nothing too serious.

It ain’t cheap but it is really cool. Click on the pic’s below for a lot more info and more pictures. It is a very interesting peice of Indian history and now I’m really interested in Lowther Scooter company history. More to come.

1949 Indian 63D Three Wheeler

1983 Suzuki GS 750E

In 1983 I was working in a Suzuki / Kawasaki dealership in Southern California and business was great. This was due largely in part to two particular bikes, the Kawasaki Ninja 900 and the Suzuki GS750. We had at least three models of the GS750, the T (a standard model), the ‘E’ with a Bikini fairing and and the ‘ES’ with with a frame mounted half fairing. The ‘E’ model was the best seller of the three. Why? Because it was the best of both worlds. Sporty styling and very comfortable.

The 1983 GS750 was a one year only model and had some very significant changes from the previous years. For one, the bike was around 28 pounds lighter!! The front wheel went from 19″to 16″ which was the current trend to quicken steering response (shortly thereafter everybody went up to 17″ which is still the standard today). The front fork got a size increase and anti-dive. Anti-dive was popular for a very short period of time and we actually did a lot of disconnecting it, but the increase in fork size was very good indeed…though it seems tiny by what is being built today. Granted, that was when a 750 had a whopping 75 HP and a Flexi-Flyer chassis.

I was lucky enough to have a GS750E to ride for three months and I have to tell you that it was one of the most fun motorcycles I have ever ridden. The motor was not as peaky as the Ninja, didn’t vibrate much as the GS1100 (which I also really loved) and the chassis was far more stabile and responsive than my CB750F. The GS would handle daily commuting duties, spirited canyon riding and was quite comfortable on a five day tour criss-crossing the Sierra passes. The GS750E was, in my book, a just about perfect motorcycle. It was a super easy to ride motorcycle and it was great looking too!

The GS750 was the base platform for an incredible racer. More than one National and World Champion got there with a GS750. When Superbikes were 750’s it was between Honda’s Interceptor and The GS750 and when Superbikes went to 1000cc it was all Suzuki.

I found a really nice one on ebay this morning that has less than 10K miles, is all stock and super clean. This is truly a, pack your riding gear, a set of saddlebags, a stack of maps…fly to wherever the bike is and ride it home. Well, unless the bike is snowbound like in Minnesota?!
Click on the pics below for more pictures and more info. This is a really cool bike.

1983 Suzuki GS750E

Hodaka Super Rat

There isn’t a motorcycle brand out there that delivers as much fun and giggle factor (in so many ways) as Hodaka. The Dirt Squirt, Road Toad, Thunder Dog, Wombat, Combat Wombat and of course the Super Rat. These are names that live on both in good memories and in infamy. Little bikes that brought so many people into the world trail riding and even racing.

Hodaka’s were reasonably priced, well built and above all, fun to ride. Having cool names didn’t hurt either. A long time friend of mine has probably around 12-15 Hodaka’s in his barn in Northern California and wouldn’t part with a one and he still rides a few of them..when he’s not surfing.

The Super Rat got its name when it came to America as a bored out Ace 90 (now 100cc) with the letters SR on the air box cover. The ‘SR’ moniker was actually for “Special Racer”, the guys at Pabatco (the importer) asked if the ‘SR” stood for Super Rat? The name stuck. These bikes sold for around $500, what a deal! So much of a good deal that they sold almost 20,000 of these little bikes!!! They were inexpensive, fun to ride and low maintenance (especially compared to my Bultaco!). Because they were so popular lots of companies made hop-up parts for the Hodaka’s.

This one I found on ebay this morning is a great bike for a good price, might just a tiny bit of TLC and then you’re off riding a really fun bike.

Now a short side story here about my first experience with a Hodaka, I don’t think it was a Super Rat but at the moment, from my vantage point, all I recognized with the chrome tank. It was during a ‘family enduro’ sponsored by the Sportsman Racing Association in Southern California, I had taken a bit of a tumble and was laying in a small cactus patch. As I was pulling cactus needles out of my body an older lady, could have been my grandmother, rode up looked down the edge of the trail and asked if I needed help. After I said I was OK, she rode off finishing the enduro with a better score than me.
Click on the pics below for more info on this really cool little Motocrosser

Hodaka Super Rat