I need to know your city and post code to look up shipping cost - country is not enough. While it is rare that UPS loses a parcel (it has never happened to me), their insurance doesn't cost a lot, and I will insist on it for bigger orders.

I need your phone number for the parcel address label. The UPS system will not let me make the label without it.

Ordering Indian parts from IPE is easy
Send me an email and we will take it from there. If you already know what you need that is fine, but often we must dig a bit deeper to figure things out. 

That may take a little - or a lot - of email back and forth, and you can help me help you by telling me a few things in your first message. Where in the world you live, and a brief description of your Indian or project is a good start - pictures always help! More about that in Project Consulting below. 

Scandinavia: IPE is located in Denmark, and "skriv bare på Dansk" - "Svenska går bra" - "Norsk er greit". Or, in other words, I can read Danish, Swedish and Norwegian - but sadly not Finnish.

Part numbers on the IPE website are written like this P/N 12345. For reproduced factory parts, I try to use the same numbers as the factory (actually I use their "factory numbers" not their "part numbers"; this is a little complicated!). For new parts not originally made by the Wigwam, the format of the part numbers here can vary but you can see it's a part number if it starts with P/N and is underlined. 

Usually we will have emailed about any parts you need, but if you ask about something out of the blue, please give me some details. I remember many of the part numbers but a little context goes a long way to minimize confusion.

For orders to Denmark, Sweden and Norway invoices and payment will be in DKK. All other invoices and payments in EUR. Your bank or payment service can handle this for you so you pay them in your local currency.

While all orders are paid before I send them out, special order parts are to be paid before they are made or ordered by me from specialist suppliers.

UK: Since Brexit the HMRC has mandated a minimum order of currently £135 (not including shipping). I currently use EUR165 to be sure, but this varies with exchange rates. UK orders above the limit are sent without Danish VAT and you will have to pay UK VAT and customs duty upon import. At the time of writing UPS charges £11.50 to handle the import process for you and send you a link to pay the VAT etc while the parcel is in transit. As UK VAT is 5% lower than the Danish, and as customs duty on relevant parts is between 0 and 2%, most UK orders end up costing more or less the same as before.

Other countries outside the EU have similar minimum order amounts. The only way around this for small businesses is to apply for a VAT account in each country (in addition to the one I have here), charge Danish VAT on orders under the limit on behalf of that country's VAT authority, keep records and periodically settle accounts with said authority. I am sorry, but that is not realistic for me to take on for the very few small orders to any such country. Orders above the minimum to countries outside the EU are sent without Danish VAT and you pay your local VAT rate upon import to your country, like for the UK above.

Indian Workshops and such in the EU; if you have a valid EU VAT number I can deduct the VAT from your order.

Payment: Bank transfer preferred. If you are in Europe and can make a SEPA transfer (ask you bank if in doubt), it will be fast and the fees lower for both of us. Some customers have used Wise.com which is both fast and cheap. PayPal can be an option in some cases, but there will be extra fees. 

Pic by Christian le G

The consulting process is somewhat fluid and varies depending on both the Indian and its owner. The following is mostly aimed at new Indian projecteers with their first Indian, but there is a general pattern:

Ideally, you contact me before you buy the basis of your Indian project! Send me as many pictures and as much information as you have about it, and I will see if I can spot any major traps. As the initial pix/information is likely to be incomplete, this is no guarantee that hidden traps won't pop up later in the rebuild process but, if nothing else, it may help prepare you for what lies ahead. If I am spending more than a little time on this, some form of payment for my time would be nice (see PayPal note at the bottom of this page). But, assuming you already have your basic project before contacting me...

The first thing we need to establish is what you have. A description of your project (with as much as you can tell me about your Indian and your experience with old motorcycles; it all helps me help you) - with pictures. What you think you have may not be what you actually have, and often I can spot things that may not be obvious. So... pictures.

Next is what you hope to end up with. That may seem clear (a running Indian), but my suggestions will be different for a "correct" restoration, a cool short-trip bobber, an around-the-world touring bike, or a H-D beating Indian racer. Or whatever - so the more you tell me the better I can help.

Third, how you are going to get there. This can be very different depending on your experience and equipment.

Many Indian projecteers do something completely unrelated in their day job, have only basic hand tools and little practical experience with more hardcore mechanical matters. They will need plentiful and detailed guidance - and someone to do the machine work for them, who often needs qualified input from me relayed to them to do it right if not familiar with Indian-relevant methods.

Some are machinists and have access to machine tools - or at least a lathe in the garage and the ability to improvise with it (which can get you far; the main thing is an understanding of mechanical problems and methods) - and mainly need Indian-specific technical information to focus their general knowledge. 

A few are experienced Indian rebuilders with the necessary resources and just need the parts and the odd tech tip.

It is a good idea to make it clear to me where you are on the spectrum above - both with mechanical aptitude and experience, and with tools and machinery - to help me aim my advice to match your circumstances. 

I used to be able to take on engine rebuilds and related machine work, but no more. So now I must do it by email, helping you either do it yourself, or helping you figure out what to ask for if you need local help (friend, machine shop, whatever).

No matter what, we will get there, but sometimes it is a long process with lots of email. 

Depending on where in the world you live, I may know someone relatively local to you who can help with the specialized machining work that is fundamental to Indian rebuilding. Or if you already know - or are - that machine shop, we can go into the best way of doing it. So your location is another bit of information to help me help you.

The above is very focused on machining, because that is the most difficult for most people. There are other fun aspects of Indian rebuilding - like the repeated trial assembly of engines with different thickness thrust washers, measuring end play and repeating until right - but that is easier for me to explain based on factory manuals, and doesn't need much in the way of special tooling (mainly a few measuring instruments). Engine lower end primer here.

With organized and detailed pictures of what you have, we can now make a list of the parts you need. This is usually done in stages. If you decide to do the chassis before the engine, we can start with the wheels, for example, and then move on to forks and handlebars, or whatever makes the most sense with each project.

With most Indian projects the cost of consulting and advice is sort of baked into the cost of the parts you buy from me for your project.

That doesn't really, in any meaningful way, pay for the time I spend on this but I don't know how else to do it. 

Occasionally, there is a lot more consulting than parts, and I have to ask for something for my time to keep things reasonably balanced. We will deal with that if we get there. 

This is also relevant if you are asking questions about your Indian without it being a project as such, and it takes more than one or two short emails from me to answer them. It doesn't have to be huge sums; but something for my time and for sharing my hard-earned experience would be nice. To be blunt about it: This is your hobby, not mine. While I have fun answering Indian questions, IPE is also my job and my only income.

Don't let any of this keep you from asking if there is anything about your Indian you are not sure of. I always try to do what I can to help. It's just more fun if the help goes both ways :-)

Pic by Svein S