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

Vespa Arrives in India

Piaggio has launched its Vespa brand in India, introducing the iconic scooter to the world’s second-largest two-wheeler market. When we think of motorcycle in India, we tend to think of low-cost small displacement motorcycles and scooters. That’s beginning to change with the influx of larger displacement models commonly found in other markets.

Polaris Reports Q1 2012 Results

Polaris Industries reported a 44% increase in on-road vehicle sales revenue and a 40% increase in North American Victory Motorcycle unit sales over the first quarter of 2012. According to Polaris’ first quarter report, its on-road vehicle division (which consists of the Victory and Indian motorcycle brands as well as electric vehicle brands GEM and Goupil) generated $64.7 million in sales revenue, compared to $44.9 million reported in the same quarter of 2011. Of course, the Polaris didn’t yet own Indian, GEM or Goupil during that quarter last year, so the figures are a bit misleading.

2012 AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame Class Nominees Announced

The American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation released its list of nominees for the AMA Hall of Fame Museum induction class of 2012. The 26 nominees represents a wide range of contributions to motorcycling, from motocross champions and Daytona 200 winners to tuners to motorcycle rights advocates. The selection committee will further trim the list down to six individuals, three from competition categories and three from non-competition categories.

Vintage Bike Stash Found in Ohio

Brim’s Imports is a vintage motorcycle shop disguised as a used car dealership, and chances are you’ve never heard of the place or its proprietor, Tom Brim. If you’re in the market for a rare vintage motorcycle, however, it may behoove you to give Tom or his brother, Ralph, an old fashion phone call. A website does exist, brimsimport.com, but its for searching the inventory of late model car and truck parts — the cash flow supporting Tom’s motorcycle obsession.

2012 Bajaj Pulsar 200NS – the Indian KTM Duke 200

Bajaj Auto has unveiled its new naked model for the Indian market. The Bajaj Pulsar 200NS (Naked Sport) is shares many of the same components of the also recently launched KTM Duke 200, but with a few cost-cutting measures. Bajaj, of course, owns a 39.26% share of KTM so such crossover of technology should be expected.KTM will be positioned as a premium brand while the Bajaj brand will be presented as a more-affordable alternative.

Polaris Reports Q4 2011 Results

Polaris Industries reported a record net profit of $227.6 million for 2011. Polaris’ on-road arm, which consists primarily of Victory Motorcycles saw a 79% year-on-year increase in sales. Sales from on-road vehicles, including Victory and Indian motorcycles as well as small electric vehicles from the newly-acquired GEM and Goupil brands, totaled $146.3 million in 2011, compared to just $81.6 million in 2010.

Top Ten Hottest Biker Movie Women [Video]

Introduction1 of 11Next Last The theme song to “The Grinch” describes the eponymous character’s soul as “An appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of deplorable rubbish imaginable,” and that’s pretty much how we feel about biker movies. Exceptions such as “The World’s Fastest Indian,” “On Any Sunday,” “Faster” and “Take It To The Limit” exist, but gems like these are rarities. An attractive female straddling a bike on the big screen — no matter how audacious, unbelievable or misguided — usually gets a pass.

Bonhams Las Vegas Motorcycle Auction Rakes In $1.8 Million

  A collection of classic motorcycles including some owned by the Du Pont family was auctioned by Bonhams in Las Vegas, with sales reaching $1.8 million, nearly double the pre-auction estimates. The auction included 50 motorcycles and 113 lots of spare parts from the Du Pont family including some from the personal collection of E. Paul du Pont, founder of Du Pont Motors and one-time president of Indian Motorcycles.

New Delhi Auto Expo 2012 – Motorcycle Manufacturers Draw Battle Lines for World’s Second Largest Market

In past years, the biennial Auto Expo in India slipped under the radar while the industry was focused more on shows such as EICMA in Italy and Intermot in Germany. But with India’s middle class starting to flex its financial muscle while other markets continue to struggle, the New Delhi show is becoming much more prominent, with major OEMs positioning themselves to claim a piece of the India’s 13 million vehicles-a-year market. We’ve already looked at India-produced Royal Enfield’s new Thunderbird 500 and Hero Moto’s hybrid scooter concept which debuted at the Auto Expo, and today we’ll look at what the major international OEMs presented.

Hero Moto Unveils Leap Hybrid Scooter Concept, Claims 235 MPG

Indian manufacturer and former Honda partner Hero MotoCorp has unveiled a new hybrid scooter prototype at the 2012 Auto Expo in New Delhi. The Hero Leap runs on a series hybrid powertrain with the battery-powered electric motor providing most of the power and the gasoline engine acting as a range extender, charging the battery and supplying power when the battery runs low. Hero claims fuel economy of up to 100 km/l, which translates to an eye-popping 235 mpg.