Monday, October 15, 2018

John Donovans' Indian Bobber



I've posted this Chief before...but I really like it.  It was built by John Donovan in Vallejo, Calif.   When I lived in Vallejo years ago I lived a few blocks from J.D. and you could hear him coming from blocks away.  Those straight pipes made a racket !

About that time was when I decided to get back into motorcycles after being away from them for years.  By chance I had picked up a copy of Rebuilding The Indian by Fred Haifle and it really rung true for me.  I'm from Montana and I guess I was in my early 40's.. some of the same stuff he was dealing with.   I was working for Vallejo Fire Department and was doing pretty well so I started looking around for a project bike.  Preferably an Indian since my Dad had one.   I found a beautiful 1946 Chief in Fairfield.  That thing was drop deal gorgeous !  It was painted the deepest, darkest blue and really shined.  Too much $ for these pockets so I continued looking for a project and heard Jim Trochets' name dropped quite a bit.  He has a shop on Indian Alley in Vallejo and I went to see what he might have for sale.  By chance he had a '48 Chief project for sale with a rebuilt drive train.  It was pretty complete and he was an honest guy so I bought it for $10K 

I asked Jim about the JDs' bobber and he told me where John lived, like I said he was just a few blocks away so I went over and met him.  Super nice guy with cool motorcycles..the Chief is what really grabbed me though.  JD passed away a short time later, from an aneurysm I believe.  I tried to buy this bike but I was too cautious and let it slip away.  If you are in the Bay Area and need an engine built Jim Trochet is tops.  I heard he had cancer so I hope he is still there.

Vallejo had all kinds of interesting motorcycle guys back in the day like Jim Trochet, John Donovan, Stan Dishong, Harry ? (had an old bike shop down town ), Ted Phelps and Doug Horst.  There are a bunch of other names that I just do not remember anymore, but Vallejo was and still is a blue collar town.  It's a bit rough but I called it home.


This is the Chief I bought from Jim Trochet after I finished it.  I had John Bivens build my wheels and front end but I pretty much fit everything and sourced everything.