Indian 1919 N-19 PowerPlus 998cc 2 cyl sv 3410

Indian 1919 “ N-19 ” PowerPlus 998 cc side valve V- twin engine # 82M971

By 1915 the Indian Board starts to have worries about the financial situation of the company, because the IOE engine and Hedstrom-designed carburettor are costly to produce. The inlet-over-exhaust configuration was adopted by most American manufacturers and was basically a good design, but it had one weakness: the inlet valve pushrods and rockers were external to the engine and thus exposed to the elements. This could give rise to rapid wear and owners needed to be continually cleaning, re-lubricating and adjusting their pushrods and rockers to keep the engine well-tuned. So designer Charles Gustafson gets the task to come up with a new engine that is powerful, robust, reliable and production friendly. Gustafson has been with Indian since 1903 and is a self-taught engineer. Around 1906 he’s been away from the company for about a year and during that time he has designed a full side valve engine for Reading Standard that has proved its efficiency and reliability. He decides to go for this configuration with the new Indian engine and the resulting 998cc “PowerPlus” engine is an immediate success. It’s introduced in the Autumn of 1915 for the 1916 sales season and the first year of its nine-year production run it will be installed in the old-style IOE rolling chassis.
The mighty engine drives a three-speed, hand-change gearbox with foot-operated clutch and has all-chain drive. The side-valve engine of the PowerPlus proves utterly reliable and almost unbreakable, even in the hands of the tuning shops which develop it to its limit to achieve that extra ounce of power.
The expensive Hedstrom carburettor is exchanged for the almost generally adopted Schebler instrument. For 1917 a completely new rolling chassis is available and the PowerPlus will become one of the most coveted American vintage motorcycles. For model year 1919 only minor changes are made: the gearbox gets larger bearings and an oil groove in the enlarged mainshaft improves lubrication. The valve chambers are larger and the engine main and bigend bearings are made to closer tolerances for better wear resistance.

The machine we present here comes in largely original paintwork and is fitted with acetylene lighting. She’s in good mechanical condition and a fine runner.