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.
