American bike buffs...

[Athame57]

The image here is my current screen saver, I'm really interested in the very classic looking bike she is on, but does anyone know what it is?

[Bryanj]

From the tank badge and air filter my guess is Indian

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I agree with Bryan looking at the front fender motif , the start of curve at the fender as it falls out of view - and the artists version - Indian.

Whenever I have seen an Indian in the flesh they always looked very old fashioned compared to Harleys with all the 1950's curves.

I never understood why folk removed the old front & rear fenders from the original Triumph Speed Twin & Triumph Twenty One  series - I liked the Bathtub look back in the day and today.

Style is in the eye of the beholder much like Nut Brown body colours.

[K2-K6]

As above, looks "Induan Chief"with the air filter on that side.

But looks like artistic license may have given it Harley Panhead cylinder heads, looking like inverted saucepan to cover valve rocker area.

Thought Indian had more prominent fins on head and maybe side valve arrangements.

[Athame57]

Shifting gear by hand must have been fun. I was following a Harley (?) custom in south London that had one recently.

[K2-K6]

Foot clutch on some model too  usually left side.

Spoke to someone at a bike meet with such device, he used it with such casual ease but did say you don't want to be tipping to the left when stationery and in gear for obvious reasoning.

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

I drove an old Jaguar open racer back in the 1960's  to take it for it's Mot (no age exemptions back then) - IIRC the gear lever was on the right side outside the vehicle on a fixed door or door hinge panel - no synchromesh of course - it had a huge supercharger bolted over the front bumper area.

I had a job to keep it in a straight line due to the firm suspension - deviating from the correct road position as I looked at the shift pattern attached to a big brass plate - it had a manual pawl lock to avoid accidentally selecting reverse. I was glad to get it to the testing station undamaged.

[SumpMagnet]

I don;t think the bike in the pic is an accurate representation of anything...more an artists rendering.

The early Indians used girder type forks with a leaf spring before swapping to teles. The pic looks like a springer front end. Either that or it's a custom build.

I think it's a convenience thing to get rid of the bathtub. That and to make the TwentyOne look like a Bonnie...if you drank enough. I know how long my dad hunted for a decent pair of bathtubs for his. In the end he got a decently matching pair, bought from 2 different stalls at the Bath & West show.