Moto Morini doesn’t have the connection that the 2nd coming of Triumph has; but Moto Morini has something there more than a cloned-HD with an Indian badge…..maybe it is the engine and the play on the “3 1/2″ name.

Maybe Indian would have done better if they waited until they had their own engine from day 1.

The companies I mentioned above simply bought a name under the idea that if they build it, buyers will come. There’s always the curious few who will buy anything but long term you need a better plan.

hopefully more readers will give some feedback since there is a lot to be said about this topic.

(I agree with you since I personally would want to put an original name on a bike after all the effort put into realizing a motorcycle from concept to production. In addition, the “re-born” craze is played out and not interesting anymore*)

Marketing, alone, seemed to have shoved its way to the front of the business plan for Excelsior Henderson, Indian, and others instead of a solid product. [the Super X couldn't even out perform a Harley]

Triumph is a challenging example in this topic because they are succeeding not only in terms of sales numbers & marketing, but their product line is sharp no matter what name is on the tank. Under the new company, innovative and entirely new bikes (Rocket III, Daytona, 650 4) co-exist well with modern examples of the classics (Thruxton, Bonneville, etc.).

I think the Triumph name helped Hinckley get to the current line-up sooner than an original name would have. Also, the re-born craze wasn’t as bad when Triumph brought back the name so consumers/investors were more receptive.

So, Excelsior and Indian demonstrated what not to do by putting marketing first. Why wouldn’t Eller Industries push on, then? They had the product line-up first but didn’t have the “necessary” historic mark (they lost a court battle for the Indian name).

The last I knew Eller was moving forward with their own identity, but then one day I couldn’t even log onto their site. Major bummer…their prototypes consisted of a fresh looking cruiser, a sport crusier, and my personal favorite, a v-twin sportbike with the engine mounted guzzi-style across the frame but with chain drive. Eller Industires could be a victim of trends in marketing…at the time, it was a common belief that you had to have “history” to compete against HD. [did Eller spend too much time and money in court going after the old Indian name? ]

* the latest re-born mark that I know of is Moto Morini (not available in the States, yet). This could be the cleanest looking, liquid-cooled naked bike going….to your argument, kneeslider, then why not put a fresh name to it? Now that the re-born craze is over-baked a new name might serve them better, anyway. check out: http://www.motomorini.com/