Indian Motorcycles

About Indian

Indian is an American brand of motorcycles.

The "Indian Motocycle Co." was originally founded as the Hendee Manufacturing Company by George M. Hendee in 1897 to manufacture bicycles. These were initially badged as "Silver King" and "Silver Queen" brands but the name "American Indian", very quickly reduced to simply "Indian", was adopted by Hendee from 1898 onwards because it gave better product recognition in export markets.

Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company in 1928.

In 1901, a prototype and two production units of the diamond framed Indian Single were successfully designed, built and tested. The first Indian motorcycles, featuring chain drives and streamlined styling, were sold to the public in 1902. In 1903, Indian's co-founder and chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom set the world motorcycle speed record (56 mph).

The Indian factory team took the first three places in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. During the 1910s Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.

Indian introduced the 221 cc single cylinder two-stroke Model K "Featherweight" in 1916. The Model K had an open cradle frame with the engine as a stressed member and a pivoting front fork that had been used earlier on single-cylinder motorcycles but had mostly been replaced on other Indian motorcycles by a leaf-sprung trailing link fork.

The Model K was manufactured for one year and was replaced in 1917 by the Model O. The Model O had a four-stroke flat-twin engine and a new frame, but retained the pivoting fork at the front. The Model O was manufactured until 1919.

Indian's most popular models were the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 to 1953.

The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt in 1953. A number of successor organizations have perpetuated the name in subsequent years, with limited success. In 2011 Polaris Industries purchased Indian Motorcycles and relocated operations from North Carolina, merging them into existing facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. Since August of 2013, three motorcycle models that capitalize on Indian's traditional styling have been built under the Indian name.

Moto blog

See Britain's land speed record hopeful at Race Retro 2010

SEE THE MACHINE that could propel Britain to a new motorcycle land speed world record at The Race Retro 2010 show, held at Stoneleigh Park, Coventry from 12th to 14th March. Almost a year has passed since Visordown broke the news of the planned UK assault on the land speed record - this coming August the Angelic Bulldog team travels to Bonneville, where it is hoping to smash the 400mph barrier and bring the motorcycle Land Speed Record back to the UK for the first time since 1937. The current record stands at 360.913mph over a kilometre.

Hybrid Motorcycle Gets 282 MPG

The ET-120 is the hybrid version of the Strike EV that was released earlier by Eko Vehicles based in Bangalore, India and claims to be the first hybrid motorcycle in the world.  The new hybrid bike will feature a 70cc gas engine and electric motor that will get 120 km/l or about 282 mpg in hybrid mode, has a top speed of 40 mph but the power and torque will be equivalent to a 120cc engine. More info and a press release after the jump. The price will be around $850 U.S.

Top 10 Motorcycle Movies

Easy Rider (1969) Director: Dennis Hopper Writers: Peter Fonda. Dennis Hopper Starring: Peter Fonda as Wyatt, Dennis Hopper as Billy Get the Flash Player to see this player. The World’s Fastest Indian (2005) Director: Roger Donaldson Writers: Roger Donaldson Starring: Anthony Hopkins as Burt Munro, Iain Rea as George, Tessa Mitchell Sarah Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Daytona Bike Week 2009

UPDATE: 2009 Daytona Bike Week Report and the Daytona Girls Photo Gallery. The 68th Daytona Beach Bike Week officially kicks off today and will run until Sunday, March 8th. The event has become the unofficial start of the motorcycle season and claims to be the world’s largest motorcycle event.

NASCAR Truck Star Rides Indian Chief

Three-time NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Champion Ron Hornaday recently took delivery of his 2009 Indian Chief Vintage at Indian Motorcycle Charlotte. Hornaday’s top-of-the-line black & burgundy Vintage was built to his specifications and features optional painted rims, black leather saddlebags and seat with fringed leather. Hornaday mentioned that one of his favorite photos is of his father, a racing legend himself, seated on an Indian Chief, just before he sold it to go into the Army.

2009 Indian Motorcycles Delivered to Dealers

The long-awaited introduction of the all-new 2009 Indian Chief motorcycle has finally arrived. After almost five years of, product development, testing, speculation and dealer development, Indian Motorcycle has announced that the first shipment of 2009 Indian Chiefs has been shipped to seven dealerships across the nation. For 2009, Indian will offer four distinct Chief models, including the Chief Standard, Chief Deluxe, Chief Roadmaster and Chief Vintage with base prices ranging from $30,999 to $35,499 respectively.

Ace Motorcycle Predecessor to Indian Four

One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. This old adage has never been more accurate than when describing a rare collection of motorcycle drawings from 1919 that were recently found in a trash bin. Created in 1919 by William Henderson, a man considered by many to be America’s most impressive motorcycle designer, this rare collection of original drawings depict the design of a brand known as the Ace, which later became part of the Indian Motorcycle Co.

Back to the Future

Crocker Motorcycles. Who? Exactly.