Questions about my latest Lil Indian

Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#1
#1
Hi Guys. I found another Lil Indian!! Its older than my yellow bike. The frame is made with a smaller diameter tubing and the forks are narrower. The neck is smaller diameter. I don't see any numbers on the rear axle plates, like on my other bike as well. Finally, the rear fender mount looks different. Rather than a flat plate welded inside the frame Tubes. It is welded along the tubes an there is a twist in it that makes the mounting surface flat. The front fender mounting looks wrong and the mount I'm used to seeing on lil indian forks is missing.

It does have a mount for the ever hard to find disc brake caliper, though it has a semicircle cutout that I've never seen on other bikes The cutout looks original, but I'm not sure.

I believe the engine is original to the bike, though I'm not sure. The number on it is 60212-0175 and the year code is 66, so its in the right era at least. I believe these bikes came with 2.25HP motors at some point, which would fall into the 60212 series, but I've yet to find a way to tell if its a 2hp, 2.25hp or 2.5hp.It still has what I believe is an original chain guard and a clutch I've never seen before.

My Questions:

1) Can I pin down the year of the bike based on the frame characteristics? Any other details I should look for?
2) Is the odd rear fender mount original?
3) Is the cutout on the disc brake mount original?
4) How can I tell if the engine is original and whether its a 2HP, 2.25HP or 2.5HP?
5) Is that clutch original?

Here's the pics!!!


 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#2
#2
OK, I found an ad supposedly from 1965 that shows the twisted fender mount, so I've got my answer on question number 2:



According to the Ad, the presence of the rear fender mount would make it a 500model in 1965, which came with a 3HP engine, so I may have my answer on the engine's originality, but we'll see. Maybe in 66 they just put the fender mount on all models, including ones with the smaller engine. I'm gonna give Allied Leisure a call to get some of the small stuff and maybe an answer on the year, model and engine.
 
minibikin'

minibikin'

Sho-nuff
#3
#3
That bike was a killer deal. It's a shame for the re-weld on the frame rail at the neck. Nice buy. We are on vacation at the shore or I was heading right over to get it lol.
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#4
#4
Yeah, that was the one "Yeah, but" on the frame. However the re-weld isn't too bad. Whoever did it at least lined the tubes up nice and didn't bugger it up, so all I should have to do is clean up the welds Everything else looks Clean as a whistle!

I'm surprised you didn't get it if you were at the shore. The Guy lives in Toms River.
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#7
#7
Yeah, that could be a problem....unless you put the bike in her lap...better yet, just by her a greyhound ticket and you'd have plenty of room :laugh: Either way, I'm glad you didn't have room :thumbsup:
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#8
#8
Bill,

Do you think it ever ended up in Tom's river :shrug: Better yet, did the front fender mount up with conduit clamps like in my pics??? I'm still going back and fourth on whether the front fender is original or homemade. Also, just because you bought it in 69 doesn't mean it wasn't built earlier. This one's engine is from 1966, that much I'm sure of.

Honestly, even if this was your bike, you'd have to fight pretty hard to pry it out of my hands.
 
Bikerscum

Bikerscum

Active Member
#9
#9
The caliper bracket is correct. The notch is to clear a different type of caliper, like this... caliper


Those calipers are available on ebay brand new for even less if you search a bit.

The front fender mount is an add on.

Nice find!
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#10
#10
Thanks Bikerscum.

Glad to hear the caliper should be easier to find than the usual unit. Does this mean that the calipers some on OldMiniBikes will work?

On the front fender, how were they originally mounted? The usual welded flat bracket? Does the lack of mount on the forks indicate that the bike just didn't come with fenders, dispite it having a rear mount on the frame?
 
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Bikerscum

Bikerscum

Active Member
#11
#11
I'm at work right now, when I get home I'll look thru my brochures & see about the fender mount.

Here's a pic of minibiketodd's Lil Indian showing the calipermount (other side as it's a 2-speed) and yet another caliper...

 
MINI-MATIC

MINI-MATIC

Active Member
#15
#15
Bikerscum said:
The caliper bracket is correct. The notch is to clear a different type of caliper, like this... caliper


Those calipers are available on ebay brand new for even less if you search a bit.

The front fender mount is an add on.

Nice find!
Click to expand...
The notch in the bracket for the brake is correct,but,these are not available on ebay,although the ones are simular on ebay,they will not work.The correct brake would be a KH-200,in 65 they used a HH brake,a division of kelsey & Hayes.You will be lucky to see one of these show up,maybe once a year on ebay! 60212 on the Lil Indian was a 2 1/4 hp,no visual difference from a 2hp or 2 1/2 other then sometimes they have used a different carb/stroke to obtain the same rating.:thumbsup:
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#16
#16
DOH! So much for it being an easy caliper to find. Any hints on where to find them? Also, what markings should I look for to determine it's the right caliper? Is that one on ebay that Bikerscum sent the link to correct?

For the year of the bike, is it safe to assume the 66 engine means its a 66 bike?
 
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MINI-MATIC

MINI-MATIC

Active Member
#18
#18
All models had the rear fender mount,the front,if it originally had a fender would have mounted to the bottom of the triple tree.This was this way from 64 through early 66.:thumbsup:
 
Truckasaurus44

Truckasaurus44

Member
#20
#20
When you say it mounted to the triple tree, you mean there was no welded on bracket, it was just bolted on with the neck bolt?

I don't think I've ever seen a lil indian set up like that. If you've got a pic of one, I'd love to see it. Being that this one has the smallest engine option, I'm guessing it didn't have fenders anyway, but I'm just curious.
 
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