How do like to own an Indian Chief

Oh, those Indian Chiefs. Everybody seems to have heard of Harley Davidson. But the Indian motorcycle company of the United States ceased to exist in the 1950s (It was taken over by Royal Enfield of UK which sold their products under the Indian badge. But, as far as aficionados are concerned, Indian died the day ownership changed hands).

In its heyday, India was renowned for mighty products such as the Indian Chief shown in the photograph. Standing next to the sidecar, barely visible in the picture, is Mr. Sanderasekaran, the proud owner.

I have never met him. Sanderasekaran, now domiciled in the United Kingdom, has given the photograph and a document consisting of two typed pages to a Sri Lankan friend and fellow classic bike enthusiast, who gave it to me. The document relates the saga of his Indian Chief, which is unfortunately no longer in Sri Lanka. It is now with him in the UK. But, after reading the travails of both man and machine in this country, I felt that no one could really blame him.

This is not the first Indian Chief Sanderasekaran has owned. In 1960, when he was in his thirties, he had owned a sidecar combination. After using it for more than three years, he sold it to someone in Jaffna.

The foolhardiness of youth, evidently regretting his decision, Sanderasekaran began looking for another Indian Chief, which was easier said than done. The mighty machine was never a common sight on our roads even at that time. Only someone of substance could afford one. In today's Sri Lankan motorcycling world, we don't have any equivalent of the Indian Chief.

Sanderasekaran had to wait a long time. In 1990, he found at last the motorcycle of his dreams (registration number CY 3634), also a sidecar combination; but its Jaffna owner had no intention of selling it. An Indian Chief was even then a rare sight and a highly desirable and collectible machine.

But dreams are there to be pursued. Sanderasekaran didn't give up, and he was able to buy the same machine five years later. He was talking to the owner of the Indian Chief one day when artillery shells began falling about 300 metres away. The neighbourhood people began evacuating to safer places and the panicky owner decided then and there to sell his Indian Chief. He transported it in a tractor to Sanderasekaran's residence the next day.

It turned out to be a 1200cc military model, made in 1944 and brought here before the end of World War II for military purposes. Sandarasekaran presumes that a civilian would have bought it in an army auction sale and taken it to Jaffna.

It had changed hands quite a few times. It had been bought by an inspector of police in 1970 and then sold to a mechanic. The last owner (preceding Sanderasekaran) had it for ten years but could not restore it due to lack of spares.

Just two weeks after Sanderasekaran had bought the bike, the war spread to his area, too. He dismantled the bike and transported it to the East. When he returned home six months later, it was in ruins.

But conditions began to improve three years later, and Sanderasekaran reconditioned the bike and shipped it to Colombo as the land route was closed. From Colombo, it was shipped again to the UK.

That's quite a story for a motorcycle - somehow befitting, I think, so majestic a machine. How many Indian Chiefs are there in Sri Lanka? The only one I knew of in the recent past was bought by someone in Negombo. I hope it's still in Sri Lanka.