Frame number

[La chevre]

Hi all

Have a Indian GP two owners from new 1978 Reg and owned by myself since 84 . Frame numbers are 00044 And the engine number is 00061 . Did the frame and engine numbers match on the Indian GP's ? Also just fitted a casa front disk brake and surprised to find my handle bars and head set are Italian. Were parts interchanged when the manufacturers changed.

Hopefully everyone's still awake after that!

Any illuminating notes would be appreciated.

Best

La Chevre

[Knowledge]

There were rumours that the early headsets were ex-Italian stock shipped out with the presses when the factory was sold, but the reality is that these were probably headsets manufactured in India using the Italian tooling.

Only later did the Indians produce a headset mould with thicker castings to resist the Indian road surfaces.

I certainly had a 1978 GP with Innocenti cast inside the headset top and bottom.

[La chevre]

Thx for doubling my knowledge, knowledge, on this subject.

[Rich Oswald]

Hi all

Have a Indian GP two owners from new 1978 Reg and owned by myself since 84 . Frame numbers are 00044 And the engine number is 00061 . Did the frame and engine numbers match on the Indian GP's ? Also just fitted a casa front disk brake and surprised to find my handle bars and head set are Italian. Were parts interchanged when the manufacturers changed.

Hopefully everyone's still awake after that!

Any illuminating notes would be appreciated.

Best

La Chevre

Hi,

No the Indian numbers never matched and as far as I am aware it was only Spanish frame and engine numbers that did. This is a VERY early Indian GP, probably one of the very first batch, in fact the earliest that I have come across. I only dated an early GP just today from 1976 and it was stamped exactly in the format of an Italian bike only I could tell that the stamps were Indian. I would imagine that the early Indian scooters had quite a lot of Italian components used on them.

Rich'

[La chevre]

Thx a lot Rich.

Stupid question but why do you date from the numbers maybe because the log book isn't available?
Would like to know a bit more about my GP manufacture date is that something you could help with?Or is there information where you can find this stuff out. Obviously plenty of stuff around on Italian Lambrettas however as my frame and engine numbers are low I wondered about the heritage.

[Rich Oswald]

Thx a lot Rich.

Stupid question but why do you date from the numbers maybe because the log book isn't available?
Would like to know a bit more about my GP manufacture date is that something you could help with?Or is there information where you can find this stuff out. Obviously plenty of stuff around on Italian Lambrettas however as my frame and engine numbers are low I wondered about the heritage.

All the frames which I date are dated because they have either never had a log book or all previous records and documentation have been lost.
All the authentications that L.C.G.B. issue are based on factory records and data that we hold.
As for your particular GP all I can say is that it is 44 numbers from the beginning of the Indian numbering sequences that we hold data for and that it was made in 1976. Just because it has a 1978 reg' doesn't mean it was manufactured that year but first registered then. I can't be more specific other than year of manufacture with an Indian scooter. Italian models, we hold much more data for and months of manufacture can be calculated for some models but a lot of it is guesswork with Lambrettas.

Rich'

[Scooterlam]

Is it true there is something in the indian numbering sequence that denotes the intended market.
Hope this is on thread.
I have 2 indian 200s
81 reg 0010** uk reg in 81
88 reg 0018** uk reg by af in 88
Seems very low production numbers for a 7 year period.

[nickw]

here you go, a link to the info you're asking about
http://www.britishlambrettaarchive.co.u ... -info.html

Also what Martin says about Indian/Italian parts is probably true. For years I always thought early Indian GP stuff might have been Italian stuff shipped across. Can't remember where but someone with good authority said only the main machinery was taken to Italy and no parts. Early produced parts were close to the Italian stuff because the tooling was not worn or adapted for the Indian market. We are never going to know correct answer but does make sense to me.
For the op might be worth buying the book on Indian Scooters. Worth a read. Called The Indian Lambretta Guide by David Williams

[La chevre]

Good stuff Nick.Thanks for all the comments guys, gave me something to bore my fellow club members with at Warmwell last weekend.

[Adam_Winstone]

Not all of the smaller lever housing Indian GP headsets (as per Italian size, not the later large lever housing Indian size) are marked as Italian. Indeed, some of the Indian small housing headsets have Indian markings inside. I can't remember quite what the markings are but I remember a pal buying such a headset at a parts fair, with him checking it was Italian size with me before he bought it.

From the outside it looks 100% Italian but has 100% Indian markings on the inside... but was 'cheap as chips'

Adam

[AlG]

I am pretty sure I have a GP headset bottom with thin tapers that is stamped inside with API. The bottom is perfect, the top is complete rubbish in terms of shape and fit.

I have another GP headset bottom with thin tapers that came off a very early SIL GP but which has the Innocenti brand mark and number.

AlG