Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
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Indian's Last Stand i1e it hasn't been hustled around a racetrack in anger since the mid-'50s, the motorcycle you see here represents the trickest of the trick, a holy of holies as far as dirt-track relics go. It all started in 1948 when Indian, desperate to steal the AMA National Championship away from rival Harley-Davidson, took 50 of its 5cout models and seriously reworked them, creating the competition-only 5cout 648, the numbers being the model designation and not the displacement, which was still AMA-mandated at 45 inches, or 750cc. Indian's hope was that the 648 would be just the thing to vanquish Harley's might at the National Championship, which was actually just a single race on the big mile in Springfield, Illinois. A National title could bring some much-needed attention to Indian, which was clearly failing to keep pace with Harley's sales. Indian's hope was not fulfilled right away. Harley continued to dominate Springfield, with Jimmy Chan winning do? Indian was clearly on the ropes in the showroom and on the racetrack. Enter Dick Gross, a young tool and die maker from, of all places, Fon du Lac, Wisconsin, effectively Harley's own back yard. Blessed with a heart for motorcycle racing and a head for problem solving, Gross was more backyard engineer than shade-tree mechanic. Gross-prepared Indians were among the fastest bikes to be found on the track anywhere, and he had become tied with the brand to the point that the factory would happily supply him with anything he needed to get the job done. What Gross figured that the Indian 5cout 648 needed was four cams. Now, Harley already utilized a four-cam arrangement with its WR racers, and they were four cams in the truest sense of the word - four single lobes on four separate shafts, one cam intake and one exhaust cam for each cylinder. Gross' design for the Indian Scout utilized only two camshafts but with two lobes on each shaft rather than just one. Internally, the new design Scout chassis, employing such tricks as machine-oiled wheel hubs rather than greased hubs - the oilers offering far less rolling resistance, aluminum fork links, and a frame that seriously skirted the rules. AMA mandated that the all Class C chassis remain stock, but several competitors had found ways to lighten the heavy production units by drilling holes in their chassis, covering the holes with tape and then painting over them. Savvy tech inspectors knew the game, though, and more than one competitor was thrown out when a tech inspector poked holes in the illegal chassis with a screwdriver. Gross circumvented both the rules and the tech inspectors by drilling out his frames and then plugging the holes with aluminum buttons, thus averting any potential problems from an errant, prying screwdriver. When all was said and done, Gross' Indian Scout 648 four-cammer with the slick hubs and a chassis that was a whopping 45 pounds lighter than before did the trick, toppling Harley from top dog to also-ran from 195 I to 1953. Gross' own rider, Bobby Hill, won the National Championship for Indian in '5 I and '52, while Bill Tuman won the title aboard a similiarly prepared machine in 1953. Even Harley's attempt at retaliation - in the form of its new footshift KR racer - failed. Well, it did at first, anyway. History shows that what the KR lacked in performance to the four-cam Indian, it made up in longevity. In describing Indian's plight, author Allan Girdler stated in his fantastic book HarleyDavidson and Indian Wars. "In the long run there was no long run." Indian would go under in 1953, killing off what could have been an even hotter rivalry between the redskins and Milwaukee at a time when the National Championship was just getting set to take off as a full-blown series in 1954. What a shame. This particular version of the Scout 648 four-cam was once owned by Iowa Indian collector Paul George. Purchased in pieces in 1988 as part of a basement buyout by the Georges from Gross' widow, Ann, the bike While probably not the exact machine that Bobby Hill rode to back-to-back AMA National Championship wins in was then restored by George's son. Kelly, 1951 and '52 (pieces of it may haye been used), this Indian Scout 648 four-cam dirt tracker was designed and also known to flat-track racers as steel shoe built by Hill's tuner, Dick Gross. The bike was purchased from Gross' widow in 1988. maker Hot Shoes By George. After Paul George's passing, the bike was sold to a collector and back-to-back National titles in '48 and '49 on a Harley reqUired new lifters and pinion shafts, but to the naked WR, while Larry Headrick did the deed aboard the same eye the four-cam 5cout looked virtually identical to a is now believed to be somewhere in Northern California. More than a championship-winning model, model in 1950. 648. the only giveaway being a slightly wider cam cover. The new engine performed better, but Gross figured it stands as a beautifully shining example of a time in Clearly something more than just the standard 648 and that term was already being used loosely to describe that the four-cam mod by itself wouldn't be enough, so flat-track racing when David went up against Goliath 01 the machine - was needed to beat Harley. But what to he employed other tricks to lighten up and speed up the and David won. 86 SEPTEMBER 7,2005 • CYCLE NEWS