Here the all new Indian V twin.

[KMC1]

Originally Posted by opmike

Yes, you're focusing on the wrong thing. He isn't complaining about one country building a bike originally made in another country. He's complaining about dead and buried marquees being resurrected and then bandied about with talks of "heritage" and "tradition."

Kind of like how the Springfield Armory of today is not the company that was outfitting our fathers, grandfathers, etc. during WWII. The company went under, and then someone came along, bought up the name, and slapped it on their stuff.

And to me, that's all the more reason to cut the bullshit. Indian will never be Harley-Davidson, so I think Polaris should take the brand in a different direction considering they already have Victory. Do a mix of classic styling, but implement some modern updates and appeal to a broader market.

Right on. This hit close to home actually. A buddy just told me he wanted to buy an XD-M until I told him they're made in fricking Croatia....he was like "what?!? Springfield is American made man, they make our military guns and everything!" The he looked it up and realized the truth and feels completely deceived.

Just like anyone who would buy a POS kit choper with Indian on the tank should.

[Speedo66]

Originally Posted by X1Glider

The Indian name should be laid to rest. How many people are still alive today that actually bought a real Indian? It's not like the rest of us will actually buy one because we're feeling nostalgic about our misspent youth on one.

I wonder if Matchless will be having it's name dragged through the graveyard mud as well.

The name has brand recognition, a valuable commodity. Not a problem, but slap it on something worthwhile.

Matchless? How many times has Norton risen from the grave only to be put asunder, again.

[NCGS]

Originally Posted by KMC1

Right on. This hit close to home actually. A buddy just told me he wanted to buy an XD-M until I told him they're made in fricking Croatia....he was like "what?!? Springfield is American made man, they make our military guns and everything!" The he looked it up and realized the truth and feels completely deceived.

Just like anyone who would buy a POS kit choper with Indian on the tank should.

If you talked your buddy out of buying a XDm (in any caliber) because it's made in Croatia, you did your buddy a disservice. I own three... they're great handguns. I don't give a damn where they're made.

[RidingDonkeys]

I'm interested to see how this plays out. I think Victory has a better engine than Harley. I draw the comparison only because that is who Vic is targeting. But the Vic styling is just out there. I've bought some fugly cars, but I'm not likely to buy a fugly cruiser just because Arlen Ness approved the paint scheme.

Indian could help Polaris grow. Separate Victory and Indian to create two distinctly separate lines. Perhaps Indian gets the classy look and Vic stays modern? Maybe we'll see the Vic lineup change to include sport bikes and dual-sports?

The car industry has done this successfully. Create a new brand and market it upwards. Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infinity....

Sent from the voices in my head and transcribed by their drinking buddy.

[YOUNZ]

Perhaps there just isn't a market for an additional cruiser bike. Something very "different", high quality, a Guzzi style motor maybe, 600 poundish. Nimble, A unique antique-ish look. American made.

[anotherguy]

Try finding Victory parts in Germany. Better yet try finding a mechanic who knows how to work on the quirky fuckers.

[rocker59]

Originally Posted by RidingDonkeys

The car industry has done this successfully. Create a new brand and market it upwards. Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infinity....

...and Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Mercury, Plymouth.

[jmlmjmjm]

Originally Posted by anotherguy

Try finding Victory parts in Germany. Better yet try finding a mechanic who knows how to work on the quirky fuckers.

Quirky? One oil drain plug and one oil fiter every 5K, Change the air filter occasionally. What's left? Oh I know lube the cables, tighten bolts, grease this, that or the other, etc. etc. but in 150K miles on five different Victory's the engines, instruments, suspension have never needed "work on".

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by bluesman

My take on it...
Long time ago in far far away galaxy Indian was one and only true american sportbike. They were not all show, they actually were fast bikes aiming at being sporty to some extend. E.g. they were basis of US racing motorcycles. They were winning Isle of Man TT. They made Scout, they made Prince, they made Four. They were favored by "wall of death" riders. They were winning Daytona. Etc. etc. They were cutting edge. Engineered. Fast.
I do have big fat book on Indian history that was given as present to me by my friends, I always wanted Scout for myself.

Naturally I always thought that if Indian would be brought back it will be first proper fast US made V-twin "classic" design bike, not another overweight unsuspended damned cruiser. Something a-la Mr. Buell meets modern fast Indian twin engine.
It is highly disappointing that with all industrial, historical and knowledge potential of US motorcycling life it keeps producing same boring and unsuitable cruiser bikes.
I know US industry can do better.

Thank you. This is exactly what I've gathered from reading about Indian's history. They were like the Ducati's of America back then. Bikes for the sport rider. OG performance machines.

Why don't Americans build anything sporty? I thought it was so cool that Harley made the XR1200. I thought American companies were actually making progress towards the taste of the modern generation. Then in 3 years is gone! Back to the same old comfortable, slow, soft and lazy crap and it's just keeps selling. Maybe all you baby boomers with your soft lazy, automatic transmissioned car driving tastes should stop dictating the market segment and just die so the next generation of us can get the products we actually want.

Otherwise I'm just going to deal with the rain and move to Europe.

[panhead_dan]

Take all the above ideas, shake em up and I get this:

If Polaris was to spin off the Indian brand so it stands on its own (apparently), and design a very powerful, light and high tech inline 4 engine. I'm talking about an engine that is going to get attention. A torque monster. Then offer it to begin with, with an innovative chassis, high tech suspension and killer brakes.(Later, several versions based on this). Go ahead and use all that electronic crap I hate but the market seems to love like ABS, traction control, etc, etc. Make it look a bit nostalgic in a classy way but definitely modern, state of the art even....
This could sell. The bagger version would likely be a market grabber.

[JerryH]

Originally Posted by RidingDonkeys

I'm interested to see how this plays out. I think Victory has a better engine than Harley. I draw the comparison only because that is who Vic is targeting. But the Vic styling is just out there. I've bought some fugly cars, but I'm not likely to buy a fugly cruiser just because Arlen Ness approved the paint scheme.

Indian could help Polaris grow. Separate Victory and Indian to create two distinctly separate lines. Perhaps Indian gets the classy look and Vic stays modern? Maybe we'll see the Vic lineup change to include sport bikes and dual-sports?

The car industry has done this successfully. Create a new brand and market it upwards. Toyota/Lexus, Honda/Acura, Nissan/Infinity....

Sent from the voices in my head and transcribed by their drinking buddy.

An "upscale" Indian is exactly what is NOT needed. I agree that Indian should go in some other direction than just v-twin cruisers (though I would still just rather see it gone) but they should be affordable competitive bikes, not high dollar expensive junk that nobody could afford. I don't drive Japanese cars, but if I did it would be a low end brand. IF I had the money to spend on an expensive car, it would be the real thing, Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, something European. (and yes, despite their quality, I will always consider Asian brands as "copies" of American and European brands)

Neither Indian nor Harley Davidson started out as super expensive luxury models, like, say, Brough Superior. They were bikes that almost anyone could buy. Harley became high end by marketing and a lot of luck. People fell for their marketing big time, and they became more than a motorcycle, they became an entire culture. I would not count on that ever happening with Indian, or Victory, or Triumph. Ducati has come a long way, and their price has gone way up, but they ARE Italian, and they do have a real heritage. And their quality has also improved dramatically. But many people still own and ride them as a status symbol when a cheaper Japanese bike would work just as well.

[anotherguy]

Originally Posted by jmlmjmjm

Quirky? One oil drain plug and one oil fiter every 5K, Change the air filter occasionally. What's left? Oh I know lube the cables, tighten bolts, grease this, that or the other, etc. etc. but in 150K miles on five different Victory's the engines, instruments, suspension have never needed "work on".

Gimme a yell when you put 150K on one Victory.

[RidingDonkeys]

You just have to learn to be like a Ural owner. Mechanics? We don't need no stinkin' mechanics!

[Rollin']

Originally Posted by anotherguy

Gimme a yell when you put 150K on one Victory.

200,000 miles - http://worldsbestsynthetic.com/?p=1579

.

[jmlmjmjm]

Originally Posted by anotherguy

Gimme a yell when you put 150K on one Victory.

Here's 22 pages of high mileage Vics. Plenty in that range. Read it and weep:

http://forums.thevmc.com/bb/forums/t...164&start=1001

You did not identify what's quirky about them....