Back in 1952, Pappy Hoel still owned an Indian Motorcycle dealership inSturgis, SD. If you don’t know Pappy’s story, he’s the dealer whobrought together a group of riders forming the original Jackpine GypsiesMotorcycle Club. It’s the same group responsible for that very firstweekend of racing back in 1938. It started what became the biggestmotorcycle event in the world. Pappy’s business, though, was sellingmotorcycles…and this is one he sold a few years later.
This 1952 Indian Chief is believed to be all original—right down to thepainted gas and oil caps on top of the tanks. It was purchased new fromPappy, and owned by the original buyer until his death. It’s been riddenfewer than 5,000 miles. Since the original Indian Motorcycle Companywent out of business in 1953, this motorcycle was manufactured close tothe end of the original Indian era. The Chief was stored in a basement,in a house for many years, before being uncovered when the home neededto be torn down. While this bike is – by itself – a great addition tothe Sturgis museum, perhaps even more exciting is the vast memorabiliaconnected to the bike, and retrieved when it was loaned to the museum.
The museum received every license plate the bike ever sported – and evena few pristine plates were never even installed, but remained in sealedDMV envelopes. There are letters and receipts signed by Pappy Hoel tothe original owner of the bike. This bike also came with a set ofIndian “PowWow” magazines (featured in an earlier article here onBikernet.com – see http://www.bikernet.com/pages/story_detail.aspx?id=10383),plus a terrific license plate holder – we’re not sure if it was everinstalled. The bike came with everything from AMA tour pins tomotorcycle toys. It even came with some era specific apparel and ridinggear.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Museum is proud to have this excellent collectionof memorabilia making the history of the motorcycle even moreinteresting. Fantastic collections like this one help keep Indianmotorcycle history alive.
