Vlchek motorcycles wrench

[Username already in use]

I picked up this Vlchek Motorcycles Wrench at the flea market over the weekend. I'm hoping that someone here can help me identify what motorcycle tool kit this wrench belongs to. A cursory search online and a few tool forums has returned nothing.
Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

 

[1982fxr]

how big is it? never heard that name...Ural or CZ?

 

[Mechanical Noise]

how big is it? never heard that name...Ural or CZ?

http://home.comcast.net/~alloy-artifacts/vlchek-story.html

 

[sha]

Looks like Vlchek sold early motorcycle tool kits. I'm guessing you will have to scour ads and catalogs unless someone here has the info. Maybe you already know this but I didn't until googling just now. Thanks...I learned something. Hope you find out soon.

 

[woody 73]

Very interesting find you have there, I also learned something new Today.

PM sent to bonneyman something he might enjoy looking at.

 

[Username already in use]

how big is it?

Sorry. I was a bit light on the info.
Overall it's 6" long
Opening sizes are unmarked but measure 9/16" and 13/16"
It looks near identical to an Indian/Hendee mfg co wrench (some on ebay).

I know Vlchek made a ton of tool kits, but maybe this was an aftermarket/replacement tool?

 

[bonneyman]

Hmm. That Vlchek is interesting.

There were a ton of different USA-manufacturers of motorcycles in the early 20th century. The Great Depression and then WW2 took out all but two - Indian and H-D. Indian went under in 1953, leaving Harley as the sole American motorcycle maker.

I know this isn't any help, but, an old Vlchek motorcycle wrench could be for alot of different makes.

 

[PETE14]

Pretty cool. For the size of the hexes, it looks very "thick" - especially the smaller end.

 

[Username already in use]

Thanks for all the responses!

That is indeed for an Indian. The later ones had the Indian name and logo. Good find, very rare. Unfortunately, the ones with the Indian name are more valuable because Indian collectors want to see it. Yours is from the WWl era.

Thanks for the info! I'm looking up the Indian model O and it looks like it was made by the Hendee Mfg Co. during the war years. So, the Hendee wrenches on ebay may be more correct for a war era wrench, yes? Perhaps this Vlchek wrench is older still?

 

[sha]

Early Indian wrenches were spelled "motocycle" because that is the name Indian used. Don't know when they started using the term "motorcycle" but it was late teens? early 20's? (sometime after 1915). Vlchek was still in production when Indian ceased in 1953. If you find out when that style of wrench was made, that will help you narrow it down further.

 

[McBrownie]

I picked up this Vlchek Motorcycles Wrench at the flea market over the weekend. I'm hoping that someone here can help me identify what motorcycle tool kit this wrench belongs to. A cursory search online and a few tool forums has returned nothing.
Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

Please post a picture of the box. Houdaille Industries?

Also, there is a Vlchek thread and you might want to post these over there:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278503

 

[beatcad]

not early. not VLchek.
indian MOTOCYCLES

 

[Username already in use]

Please post a picture of the box. Houdaille Industries?

Haha! Good eyes! Picked up this sweet old Fairmount Tool and Forging - General Purpose Body Dolly from the flea a few weeks ago.
I really like these old boxes.

Here's a few images:

and the label detail:

Also, there is a Vlchek thread and you might want to post these over there:

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=278503

Thanks for the link!

not early. not VLchek.
indian MOTOCYCLES

Nice wrench!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Let's build an Indian kit, sell it, and split the proceeds!

Here's my contribution..., marked with a circle-M (Moore Drop Forgings?) on the flip side.

UNAIU,

First off, very interesting wrench. Never seen one before. As an Ohio boy, and a tool collector, I won't waste your time telling you about Vlchek, cuz it's obvious you know your chit and were asking about the wrench, in particular. But, I will recommend you read Frank Vlchek's biography. I skimmed it once and I don't recall anything about motorcycle kits, but it might be there and I missed it.

Secondly, I'm curious if Ricky Joe's statement is a theory (same exact wrench as the Hendee made Indian marked wrench, so must be an early version), or if he has some reference that shows that Vlchek supplied tools to early Indian toolkits. I have never heard that connection (Vlchek->Indian) before and it seems too huge to escape notice all these years.

The thing is, I'm not sure there's anything uniquely Indian about primitive DBE hex spanners with those opening sizes for motorcycles. So, it could have been made for any mfgr. Also, it might not have been made for any motorcycle mfgr. It might have been made for an auto store (e.g., Western, etc) selling common service tools to motorcycle enthusiasts. The plurality of the marking ("MOTORCYCLES WRENCH") is interesting in that context.

I could be wrong. Maybe Ricky Joe could tell us his source. It would be pretty cool to discover something new about Vlchek.

 

[Username already in use]

Thanks Private. I'll have to thumb through that Biography sometime.
Nice wrench! Do you know which toolkit that one came from? I like that Indian script.

it might not have been made for any motorcycle mfgr. It might have been made for an auto store (e.g., Western, etc) selling common service tools to motorcycle enthusiasts. The plurality of the marking ("MOTORCYCLES WRENCH") is interesting in that context.

I was leaning toward this possibility as well. But, knowing that Vlchek made so many toolkits, I was unsure. I'm fairly ignorant about the world of motorcycle tools and toolkits.

Maybe Ricky Joe could tell us his source. It would be pretty cool to discover something new about Vlchek.

 

[woody 73]

I too would be interested in Ricky Joe's reference material maybe he can share it with us.

As for being rare do you know anything about the production run or the years they were made? Sometimes people make that statement and the price goes through the roof when in fact many examples exist in the wild. That is why I tend to use that word as little as possible before I can gather more facts about said tools.

 

[3baygarage]

Hmmm, interesting wrench. I tend to agree with the OP's belief it is aftermarket for Indian. Not sure who the OEM was for the Indian Motocycle "Hendee" wrench but sure looks like it could have been Vlcheck now, doesn't it? Either that or Vlcheck copied it to a T. Take a look at the ones online. Same size openings too.


I just picked up a "Vlcheck" wrench that is shaped like many of the Ford spark plug wrenches out there. It's definitely known that they sold wrenches in their own tool line with vehicle specific purposes just like truck brands today.

Private I love the look of that Indian logo!
Beat Had the box wrench companion to that some time back and sold it online. It went over to France. Wish I had kept it for the coolness factor.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Thanks, Ricky Joe. Experience counts, and I don't doubt yours. Unfortunately, it can be a hundred years of hundreds of guys all using the same information, based on the same hunches. I'm no spring chicken around tools, and that has been my experience with the Model A/T kit and the Willys MB kit. Lots of conventional wisdom, few facts, and research revealed that alot of things the early wave of collectors thought was right was wrong. You may be right, and I have no doubt you're telling us the common knowledge among other Indian tool guys, but it has to be based on something (catalogs, ads, old ledgers, etc). I'd just like to know what that was. Same wrench as Hendee is just not strong enough. Too many other possible explanations.

Arcturus was a prewar, wartime, and postwar tool mfgr in Los Angeles. They made DOE engrs wrenches in common sizes used in several vehicles and service kits, with US Army contracts. I'll post some photos later.

UNAIU,
I'm surprised there's no book on Indian production history, including the toolkit.