1940 Indian Thirty-Fifty Jr. Scout, Model 540 — PRICE REDUCED!!

The owner of this 1940 Indian Thirty-Fifty Jr. Scout purchased the bike June 7, 1991 in Couer D’ Alene, Idaho, where the previous owner had a bike shop there for many years. She had her choice of several Indians, a 741 Military model, a Sport Scout or the Jr Scout. She chose the Jr Scout as it was small enough, 350 lbs., to handle and pick it up if tipped over. The current owner has included a photo the day it came out of his basement after 30 years. The bike was 80% complete.

This bike is EDO 501, which makes it the 400th bike built. The owner believes there were 450 of them made. She knows of 12 others as of today.

The back fender and tanks are original. She had the primary cover, but it had been shot with a shot gun and her mechanic couldn’t repair it, so a NOS was purchased from Jerry Greer. Many of the small parts such as petcocks, and other parts were from Greer’s, along with parts from reputable dealers such as Rocky’s and Bob’s Indian Sales. She had a Chief seat pan but opted for an original seat she found on eBay. The exhaust was also found on eBay. The front fender is a 1937 Pony Scout fender and sheet metal was added to make the skirt. The owner searched for 23 years for an original front fender and never found one. The handlebars are not correct for the year and no one is sure what they are from, but they are wide and unique, and she liked them, so she kept them.

The owner’s mechanic, Joe Milani, was a Harley mechanic for 37 years. He started the rebuild four years ago. He had support from a lifelong Indian motorcycle guy, Lowell Hendrickson, who worked with Sam Pierce.  The motor was fine and was cleaned up and reassembled. It took four years to find original parts for this bike.

Just above the kicker you’ll notice the small chain guard part is missing but the owner has it and it’s the original. The mechanic forgot to put it on during the rebuild. Photo of that part is included here.

The original photos she had when she first bought the bike (and before the start of the restoration) were lost or misplaced when her mechanic died suddenly. He had a lot of old Harley’s and Bull Taco’s and people showed up and the frenzy was on and the original photos disappeared. The photos pictured here without the seat and generator were from after Joe died and Lowell took over. Afterward the owner put the bike in a show and won 1st place.

There is an issue with the right-side tank. The inside wall that separates the gas and oil, has a pin hole at the top, and will need to be repaired. The current owner did not put any gas in that tank, only oil. When this bike was painted it was it was done in the wrong color. The new owner can paint the bike the color they choose. Period-correct colors for this year/model were seafoam blue, yellow or green. Current owner wanted black with a red overcoat but came out some shade of a dark purple color. They also pinstriped the Indian logo, which the owner did not ask for and it does not have any tank badges.

Owner has all the receipts from the rebuild. This bike was never titled as the small-town Sheriff didn’t really care, as it was just used to putt around town, avoiding the highways. Owner did get a VIN inspection and will title if requested. There are about 50 miles on this bike since the rebuild. It has been stored in the owner’s indoors since the rebuild.

View YouTube Video — 1940 Indian Jr Scout Thirty-Fifty