Eric Stavish and Rick. The original crash box threespeed was just a set of cases, and the search for parts became frantic. Rick was able to gather all the parts but unfortunately, he learned that there are several different length main shafts for each application and he didn’t get it right the first time. Eventually, however, he buttoned it up and tied it together with an original Indian primary set up. Now all this mechanical goodness needed to be suspended between the wheels by something and Rick started with a 1961-ish Triumph T100 frame that he extended six inches in the middle and hard tailed before fitting the Indian components to it. The motor and trans plates were custom made
82
December ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
for this application and make for a sanitary assembly. Up front, a set of Kawasaki forks were mated to an 18 inch high shouldered alloy wheel with an IRC tire with no brake. Outback a 19-inch Akront wheel sporting a Tokico fourpiston caliper, an 11-inch rotor and a Shinko tire keep it all on the salt The rear fender is a spare tire cover from the 30’s. The fuel tank and oil tank were handmade, and it all was painted red by Shawn Hanson with some subtle pinstripes done by Rich. Rick also made and upholstered the simple sprung seat. The bars are clip-ons with hand controls for the rear brake and fuel shut off. Shifting is a tank mount shifter with a foot clutch, and the
speedo is a radar on the flats. The final assembly was finished at the salt, as was the first startup and heat cycling. When the last bolt was tightened, the bike went straight to tech and reached 82 mph. Rick was so focused on the operation of the motor and trans that he didn’t even pay attention to the chassis dynamics until halfway through the first run…luckily it traveled arrow straight. The bike has run a top speed of 85mph competing in both AV/G 650 and AV/F 650 classes. Rick has no intention of running the bike in any sort of ‘period correct’ category and will do whatever it takes to get his bike to run faster which may include exhaust sensors and other mods to
