Jim Mosher is the man who built, owns, and races this amazing motorcycle. We’re still smarting from the loss of Speed Week in 2014 so forgive us this little wistful Bonneville clip today. I am not a decades grizzled salt veteran but I certainly have my favorite vehicles that have spun my crank during my own visits to the salt and this is one of them. With a pair of stroked 1945 Indian V-Twin engines running on gasoline (and nitrous when he wants), this bike is immaculate and there are so many custom parts and pieces it would make your head spin. One of the reasons I love vehicles like this is that they have an awesome duality about them. One the one hand there are those old engines which sound amazing and on the other hand there’s data logging equipment on board, wheels that come from the word of super bikes, and all that kind of good stuff. The whole motorcycle only weighs 500lbs, which is way lighter than we would have guessed.
In this video you’ll see Jim running the machine on a small, portable motorcycle chassis dyno that is built on a trailer. By the looks of the surroundings, he’s actually at Bonneville while making the pulls which is kind of awesome. The two V-twins working in concert have a unique sound, especially in the upper realms of the RPM range. Down low they sound like you’d expect, but up top they definitely make a noise all of their own.
I really love this thing and it embodies everything cool and good about land speed racing. Press play and listen to some salt music!
Are you sure those are scout motors? Looks like Chief Civilian.