Indian 101 Scout Prepared for Motorcycle Cannonball

Pictured from left, Tim Raindle, George Yarocki and Jeff Alperin

By Bud Wilkinson of RIDE-CT.com

With only days remaining until the start of the Motorcycle Cannonball endurance run, vintage Indian expert George Yarocki was in his Torrington workshop last week attacking a checklist of tasks that needed to be completed before hitting the road. “We’ve got a lot of oil leaks we’ve got to fix,” Yarocki said, referring to the 1929 Indian 101 Scout that owner Jeff Alperin plans to ride in the cross-country event. “We just spent five weeks rebuilding the motor and the wheels. We put new spokes in one wheel.”

At that moment, though, the 101 Scout was elevated on a motorcycle stand across the shop, and away from the hubbub, as Yarocki machined a bushing for a generator drive housing for “The Beast,” as Alperin has dubbed his Indian. In an adjoining room, mechanic and Yarocki protégé Tim Raindle noisily tested a separate motor that was mounted on a stand. Components from it will be brought along as spare parts.

Alperin’s goal is to ride the Indian from Newburgh, N.Y. to San Francisco in 17 days, starting Friday morning from the Motorcyclepedia museum. More than 70 riders will participate in the Motorcycle Cannonball, all operating motorcycles built before 1930. There will be nearly three-dozen old Harley-Davidsons, including a 1929 Model JDH owned and ridden by “American Iron” magazine publisher Buzz Kanter of Stamford. There will also be as many as 17 Hendersons, including a 1925 Henderson Deluxe owned and ridden by Dan Emerson of Woodstock.

Eight participants are expected to ride ancient Indians. “I’m looking forward to the time of my life with wonderful people,” said Alperin, who currently lives in Florida but who spent most of his life as a Connecticut resident. Yarocki and Raindle, who flew in a week ago from his native England to help the effort, will drive the support van and tow the trailer filled with tools and spare parts.

“I’m hoping The Beast will go all 3,928 miles without failure. We’re very lucky because we have a great many spares that other motorcyclists will not have. We have the most valuable thing there is on this ride – we have George,” said Alperin.

As RIDE-CT has written in the past, Yarocki is world’s leading authority on 101 Scouts. He bought his first one at age 14 in 1941 and has been restoring them for 40 years. His role in helping Alperin in the Motorcycle Cannonball can best be described as “crew chief.” Not only is he contributing elbow grease, he’s also supplying unmatched knowledge. He’s also looking forward to the adventure. “I’m 85. It’s probably the last trip I’ll be taking of any consequence – except up to Hillside,” he said, referring this time to Hillside Cemetery.

Alperin bought the 101 Scout in 2001 from Yarocki, who had assembled the bike roughly eight years earlier from his extensive parts collection. These days for a bike to be “original,” there must be matching vehicle identification numbers stamped on the engine and frame. However, Indian didn’t begin stamping frames until 1931. “I put several thousand miles on it,” Yarocki recalled. He then sold it to Alperin.

In preparation for the run, Alperin tested the 101 Scout’s rebuilt engine in Florida in late July. While riding on July 25, he stopped to adjust a carburetor and a deputy pulled up to inquire if he needed assistance. When Alperin went to ride away, he forgot to put up his kickstand and crashed. There was no serious structural damage to the bike but Alperin suffered a broken right wrist and broken right ankle. He’s still mending.

“My hope is to just make all the miles,” Alperin said. “I’m confident that we will,” said Yarocki, who took a similar 4,000-mile trip himself with friend Warner Squires in the spring of 1945. They rode two-up on a 1928 Indian 101 Scout on a 23-day trip that took them to Florida and back. He knows what a 101 Scout can do.

The Motorcycle Cannonball will take the trio through Milwaukee, Sturgis, S.D., Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National Park and conclude at the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco on Sept. 23. The bikes begin the run at 9 a.m. Friday at the Motorcyclepedia and a crowd is expected to cheer them on their way.

(Originally published in “The Republican-American” on Sept. 1, 2012.)