1915 Indian 8 Valve Board Track Racer

Manufactured in USA.

Engine # 81G431

This amazing 1915 Indian 8-valve racing motorcycle with a 1000cc twin cylinder was made by the  Indian Motocycle Company for 1915. 
Based on the Indian twin-cylinder engine introduced in 1907, the eight-valve (four for each of the two cylinders) was created strictly for competition purposes.
The few that were made were reserved for the Class A factory racers and for qualified customers.
These machines were used mostly in board-track racing, in which riders chased around steeply banked ovals built from  wood planks, at speeds of 100 mph or more and on skinny 2 1/4-inch tires and without any brakes.
To start the engine the bike was towed, pushed or got a bump-start to light the engine.
Then the rider had, in this case, only two things to operate: the left handgrip, which functioned as a spark advance and a compression release; and a kill switch, currently not present on this machine.
Mostly, they’d leave the throttle wide open and hit the kill switch or spark advance for speed control.
The real stunning things are those exotic four-valve, extra ported, heads, operated by a pair of slender push rods and the base-ported cylinders.

This spectacular eight-valve racer is equipped with the shorter version of the Indian racing fork and the gas tank is a slightly longer version of the production model’s tank. 

This 1915 Indian 8-valve racer is in a condition one would like to find a motorcycle always, fully restored by Serge Bueno in Los Angeles.  

Firing up this amazing piece of history, means loud,  screaming and thrilling sound and a lot of flames, from the ported cylinder heads,  ported cylinders and short exhaust pipes.

This fine and unspoiled racer runs extremely well, but it would take a brave man to exploit its full potential on the dirt or board track.