Indian Day presents a love for part of city’s historyDate: 7/31/2019 SPRINGFIELD – There was more than just vintage Indian Motocycles on display at the Springfield Museum’s 10th annual Indian Day on July 28.
There was an opportunity to become an owner of a classic Indian made here in Springfield.
Indian owners from around the region drove their bikes to the museum grounds for the daylong celebration of the nation’s first “motocycle,” and two of the participants came with Indians for sale.
Al Spada of Kingston, NY, had set up a table with various Indian related items for sale, but what caught most people’s eye was the 1953 Indian Chief that Spada had for sale.
What makes this bike so interesting is that, according to its serial number, it is among the last 100 Indians made in Springfield.
He described it as a “rider,” meaning that the bike was in the condition of being used.
Spada confirmed there are two schools of thought about Indians: some people want to restore them so they look as if they are brand new, while others want their Indians to show the wear and tear of age and use.
His Chief fell into the latter group. He said it would be up to the new owner to restore the bike or to use it with its patina of age.
Ron Pelletier also had an Indian for sale, a 1947 Chief. That is, he had most of an Indian for sale.
The Royalston man has a collection of 21 bikes he had restored and had bought the Indian 17 years ago with the intention of restoring it. He said he had bought the bike from a person who had stored it for more than 30 years in his basement.
The former owners had taken the bike apart carefully and had stored the pieces. Pelletier lovingly assembled it.
The bike has its frame, motor, transmission and front gear, but is missing a front fender, handle bars and a seat.
“I didn’t want to sell it, “ he said. “But I have to let it go.”
Pelletier was looking for $8,500.
The Museums has hosted Indian Day for the past 10 years. Indians were made in the city from 1901 to 1953. From 1980 to 2005 the event was hosted by the former Indian Motocycle Museum on Hendee Street, owned by Charlie and Esta Manthos.
This year’s event was dedicated to Andrew Donald (1948-2018). According to the information supplied by the Museums, Donald was “an architectural draftsman for the non-profit preservation commission, English Heritage, who purchased a 1948 Indian Chief from Chicago in 1987 and had it shipped to his home in London, England. The Chief was in poor condition and over the next two years he fully restored it. For the next 30 years, Andy rode his Indian Chief to many motorcycle events in Britain and on the continent. For Andy, in his own words, ‘it was the ultimate motorcycle.’
“After retiring in 2012, Andy moved to his family home in Exeter, and became the editor of Indian File, the magazine of the Indian Motocycle Club of Great Britain. He contacted the Wood Museum later that year in search of information and photographs from the Indian Motocycle archives donated in 2007 by Esta Manthos. Over the next six years, Curator of Library & Archives Maggie Humberston corresponded with Andy Donald, and the two became friends as she responded to his requests for all things Indian. Andy was a skilled and thorough researcher who wrote some excellent articles about the history of Indian Motocycle, which appeared in the Club’s magazine.
“Donald passed away in July 2018. The Springfield Museums were subsequently contacted by the executor of his estate with the news that Donald’s beloved 1948 Indian Chief would be gifted to the Wood Museum of Springfield History.”
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