You Can't Wear Out an Indian Scout ― Indians and the Wall of Death

The Indian Scout motorcycle is the favoured mount for Wall of Death riders all over the world. Drawing upon modern and archive material, Wall of Death owner and rider Allan Ford and author Nick Corble explore the reasons behind this relationship and bring the story of the Wall up to date, including behind the scene details of the latest Wall of Death speed record achieved by Guy Martin. It’s a story that spans more than a century, starting with experiments with motorised bicycles in the 1890s, passing through two world wars and ending by looking to a future where Indians continue to be restored and ridden on the Wall. As this book makes clear, the relationship between Indians and the Wall of Death is one that will never be broken. As Sammy Pierce, at one time the world’s largest Indian motorcycle dealer once put it: You can’t wear out an Indian Scout, Or its brother the Indian Chief. They’re built like rocks to stand hard knocks, It’s the Harleys that cause the grief.

Allan Ford is active in a number of fairground and showman-related areas and is perhaps best known for reviving the Wall of Death in the UK, having single-handedly rescued the Wall from obscurity in the UK in the 1980s. He been a travelling showman for most of his life and still travels the country cataloging and photographing the showman’s way of life. With Nick, he has written on the canals and Wall of Death, and is much in demand as a public speaker on these subjects and on fairgrounds. Nick Corble has written extensively on the history of Britain's canals. He usually focuses on an aspect of our heritage and how it still reflects in how we live today. Subjects have included the canal network and the fairground attraction the Wall of Death, with his work also featuring in a number of regional and national publications. He has also written books on rambling and walking, making him the ideal person to write an all-encompassing guide to Britain's canals.