Source: American Rider –
In his later years, Max Bubeck began visiting Australia to ride with an Indian enthusiast who would become a close mate, Peter Arundel.
“I first met Max when he knocked on my front door in Melbourne in 1991, complete with a big smile on his face,” Arundel recalls. “We’d corresponded for some time, and finally he was able to come over to Australia. I loaned him a 1938 Indian Four to ride around Victoria, and from then on, I’d go over to California yearly.
“I think he did six trips Down Under all told,” Arundel continued, “and I did the three-day Death Valley motorcycle run they do over there. Max always lent me his Indian Four to do this, and I was privileged to ride it.”
Arundel caught Indian fever early in life. In 1975 at the age of just 17, he bought a 1925 Chief. The Melbourne property developer has since spent decades expanding his collection to the point that it might be the most prolific in the world.
Arundel’s assemblage contains about 70 Indians of each type produced by the Springfield factory. It includes several rare V-Twins and Fours and even an authentic reproduction of the unique Vindian built in Britain in 1948 by Philip Vincent, marrying a Vincent V-Twin with a frame sent over by the Indian factory.
“We’ve got a dozen 4-cylinders and at least one of every racebike the factory made throughout its history,” Arundel proudly stated, “from hill-climbers to board-track racers, and 4-valve Singles and 8-valve V-Twins.”
In 2007, Arundel received a phone call from Bubeck, opening the door to obtaining what has become a valued treasure.
“He phoned me up and said, ‘I’m stopping riding, so I’m going to sell the [Indian Four]. Do you want it?’ So of course I purchased it off him. I can honestly say it’s one of the most prized items in my collection and gets ridden all the time.”
One such outing on the Max Bubeck Four was in my hands at the scenic, hilly Broadford racetrack north of Melbourne. I’d initially demurred at mastering the art of using a left-hand throttle coupled with a foot clutch on such a historically valuable bike, so I was happy to be able to first spin some laps on Arundel’s 1942 Indian Four, one of the very last such bikes completed at the factory. A dozen laps on it had me tuned up for Bubeck’s motorcycle.
The above is an excerpt from the story “Riding the Bubeck Indian Four” by Alan Cathcart, originally published in American Rider’s April 2024 issue. For the full ride review, as well as more motorcycle tests, news, and culture, subscribe to American Rider today.
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