Jim Coe purchased his 1953 Indian Chief in 2012 from a friend he had known and ridden with in the Las Vegas area since 1980. While attending a gun show in 2012, Jim ran into his old riding buddy, where he informed Jim that he was selling his Chief. Although he already had four Chiefs, Jim was looking for a project for his upcoming retirement. After looking the bike over, the asking price was agreed to.

 

Since Jim was retired, he stripped everything down and went to work. Because most of the sheet metal on the bike was incorrect when Jim purchased the bike, all sheet metal was replaced with new sheet metal. It took awhile, but a seat was finally sourced. The engine only had 5,000 miles on it since the last overhaul, so Jim decided not to rebuild it. What you see in the photos below is the finished product. Nice job, Jim!

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The final year of production for Indian was 1953, and production was only about 500 for the final year.