Retrospective: 1955-1959 Indian Woodsman 500
1956 Indian Woodsman 500
Here was a nice piece of equipment for enjoying the unpaved places, advertised by Indian as a ?Flashy, rough-and-tumble scrambler?most versatile of any competition model.? A quickly detachable headlight meant you could ride to the races, take off the light, win your race and hopefully get home. That was the spirit back in the 1950s, when races tended to
be local and fun.
The big 500cc single put out some 30 horsepower, using an undersquare alloy cylinder (84mm bore, 90mm stroke) with cast iron liner and a two-valve head. If the 8.5:1 compression ratio wasn?t enough, the dealer recommended taking out the copper and asbestos head gasket and raising it to 9:1. And if that made it difficult to start, the cylinder head had a ?decompressor.? Great American machine, proud to wear the war bonnet of the Indian marque. 1956 Indian Woodsman 500
Only problem was that the bike was not American. It was British, a Royal Enfield Bullet done up in Indian Red, with Indian writ large on the gas tank and the right-side timing cover. So how did all this come about"
Following World War II Indian was definitely running a distant second to Harley, with the overhead-valve Harley engine much preferred to the Indian flathead. Then the president of Indian, Ralph Rogers, decided that what the company needed was a new breed of motorcycle, essentially copying the British-styled OHV singles and twins. In the summer of ?48 the dealers received crates containing the 220cc Arro...
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