You might associate one sort of history with the Old Town of Dubrovnik, in Southern Croatia, but another sort has recently arrived – the Dubrovnik Indian Motorcycle Museum opened in August. The old monastery building of St Clara is now home to a collection of 29 motorcycles spanning the years 1904 to 1970.
Over 40 years ago, one collector from Slovenia, began an interest in American motorcycles and Indians in particular. Through his travels, buying at auctions and making exchanges he developed a large collection of Indian motorbikes which he worked on and restored with friends and fellow enthusiasts. Not surprisingly his storage space eventually filled up and 3 years ago he decided that a museum was the answer. Dubrovnik, in neighbouring Croatia, was selected because the city’s history and coastal location attracts many visitors.
The earliest bike on display is a 1904 Indian Hedstrom Single Camelback, the first of which were produced from 1901 onwards, the year the Indian Motocycle (no ‘r’ in the word) Company began in Springfield, Massachusetts. It’s named the Camelback as the one gallon fuel tank sits above the rear wheel, this feeds the 213cc single cylinder engine giving a top speed of 25mph (40 kph).
The pedals, slim chain and upright handlebars are all clues that the 2 founders of the Indian Motocycle company, George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom, were bicycle racers and builders beforehand.
A rare 1911 Indian Hedstrom Single Belt Drive shows how the bikes began to evolve and features the company’s trademark design for a leaf sprung front fork as well as magneto ignition. This example is thought to be one of only 2 or 3 that remain.
Further on is a dramatic display of the board track racing that helped establish Indian’s reputation for racing. The background photo is from Oakland Motodrome in 1912 showing the banked wooden oval, based on cycling velodromes, which became the popular form of motorsport in the 1910s. The 1919 Indian Powerplus Racer is one of the few original bikes that have survived as many were crashed. With a top speed of 99mph (159km/h) from the four stroke v-twin 1000cc engine, a single speed transmission and no brakes, perhaps the surprising thing is that this example has made it!
The 1926 Harley Davidson Peashooter Racer Model S also on the board track display represents the great rivalry between the 2 manufacturers. This is the only bike in the museum that is not an Indian, it was built to race in a new 350cc class from 1925 onwards. As the popularity of the board tracks reduced and flat track racing took over, the Peashooter, so called because of the staccato exhaust sound, was further developed leading to racing success for Harleys in the 1930s.
There is plenty more of interest in the museum: World War 2 bikes, as Indian manufactured many for the US Army; an unusual mini Papoose “Corgi” developed for use by paratroopers; a Bob Stark Custom Blue Rainbow Four from 1940; variants of the well known Indian Scout; and an unrestored 1918 Indian Little Twin.
Once in central Dubrovnik finding the museum is straightforward. Head towards the Old Town, along with many other visitors, and go through the main Pile Gate, turn right, walk through a couple of doorways (follow signs for the “Hard Rock Café”) and you will see the signs for the museum.
Address: Poljana Paska Miličevića 4, 20000 Dubrovnik
More information about museum at the following LINK