My plan will soon be complete....

[Carlo]

My 1958 Royal Enfield built Indian Tomahawk 500cc twin.
Trial assenbly of completed frame and wheels, posed with the 1966 Interceptor cafe race I built in 2013.
Contrasting color schemes.
Hoping to have it done in time for the 1Show in Portland this coming February.
I'll probably bring it to our annual Fourth of July Bolinas trip.
More pics as things progress.

 

[SFMCjohn]

Bike looks great!
... love the red and gray ... :cool

 

[budman]

Live, rebuild, ride and love!!

Go Carl!!

 

[firstbuell]

so, I'll admit to being confused about yer cool 500cc twin:

was it built in India?
or
was is built in UK & branded "Indian" for US sales?

 

[bpw]

so, I'll admit to being confused about yer cool 500cc twin:

was it built in India?
or
was is built in UK & branded "Indian" for US sales?

Pretty sure Enfield bought the trademark when Indian went out of business and for a few years produced English built Enfields with Indian branding for the US market.

Carlo can correct my details I am sure.

 

[Carlo]

Other way 'round, sorta.
The Indian Sales Corporation, which was responsible for selling Indian motorcycles., was a separate company from Hendee Manufacturing who actually made Indian Motorcycles
Both companies had rights to use the Indian trademark, and when the factory was purchased by Brockhouse in England, indian Sales Corporation, which was also importing several makes of English motorcycles, including Vincent and Royal Enfield, asked Royal Enfield to ship their bikes over without badges, which were applied in the US. Trans-continental badge engineering.
They even put little Indian script badges on the engine timing covers.
They also had several models that weren't available as Royal Enfields, including my bike, which most closely resembles a Constellation with a 500cc Meteor Minor engine in it instead of the 700cc high performance upgrade of the Meteor engine. They also had a 700cc model which was named the Chief, based on the Enfield Meteor with fat 16 inch wheels, and specially made forks and swingarms to accomodate the fat, American style tires.
Here's a sales brochure featuring the "Chief" for police use. NYPD bought some of these.

 

[Carlo]

Not gonna make it for the 1Show, but should be ready for the OVM May show, and our Bolinas vacation.
Some progress since first post, but there are too many details to finish in two weeks.

 

[firstbuell]

[edited]Other way 'round, sorta.
.....They also had a 700cc model which was named the Chief, based on the Enfield Meteor with fat 16 inch wheels, and specially made forks and swingarms to accomodate the fat, American style tires.
Here's a sales brochure featuring the "Chief" for police use. NYPD bought some of these.

way cool, Carlo - thx for the Chief details & foto

got mo? [that one, or other aberations]

 

[Chip Seal]

Here you go Carlo!

 

[firstbuell]

View attachment 490652

dude!

that foto's either cool or cruel - dunno which.....

 

[Carlo]

way cool, Carlo - thx for the Chief details & foto

got mo? [that one, or other aberations]

View attachment 490652

Those are aberations ok. Some of the more "modern" 350 Bullets produced in India. Legacy of a factory that recieved tooling in 1954 to produce Enfields for the Indian Army, and never stopped building them.
There's a thriving aftermarket in India that cranks out endless variations on custom parts for them.