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Polaris Buys Indian Motorcycles

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Polaris Industries buys the Indian Motorcycle company
Polaris Industries buys the Indian Motorcycle company
Indian Motorcycles was acquired today by Polaris Industries. With the slow economy, Indian had a tough road due to a limited and high end line of motorcycles. Polaris, on the other hand is far more diversified and better able to weather the current market conditions. This could be a good combination for both companies. Very interesting!

Press release follows:

Polaris Industries Inc. today announced the acquisition of Indian Motorcycle. The business was acquired from Indian Motorcycle Limited (“IML”), a company advised by Stellican Limited and Novator Partners LLP, U.K. Private Equity firms. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“We are excited to be part of the revitalization of a quintessentially American brand,” said Scott Wine, CEO of Polaris Industries Inc. “Indian built America’s first motorcycle. With our technology and vision, we are confident we will deliver the classic Indian motorcycle, enhanced by the quality and performance for which Polaris and Victory are known.”

With this acquisition, Polaris adds one of motorcycling’s legendary brands to its strong stable of Victory cruiser and touring bikes. Indian will operate as an autonomous business unit, building upon the potent combination of Polaris’ engineering acumen and innovative technology with Indian’s premium brand, iconic design and rich American heritage.

“We are delighted to have reached an agreement with Polaris. Polaris will utilize its well-known strengths in engineering, manufacturing, and distribution to complete the mission we undertook upon re-launching the brand in 2006: harness the enormous potential of the Indian brand,” said Stephen Julius, chairman of Indian and managing director of Stellican. “Polaris is the most logical owner of Indian Motorcycle. Indian’s heritage brand will allow Polaris to aggressively compete across an expanded spectrum of the motorcycle market.”

Novator Partners LLP is a London based alternative investment firm founded and led by the investor Mr. Thor Bjorgolfsson. An avid motorcycle enthusiast, Mr. Bjorgolfsson said “After a troubled past, our goal was to bring the legendary Indian bikes back on the roads. The initial phase of that project is done and now our great partners at Polaris will carry on the work to realize the full potential of this classic American brand.”

Posted on Filed Under: Motorcycle Business

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Comments

  1. I believe this is a good move to add a brand that Victory can’t fill, and to keep it an American made product. This also allows deeper pockets to invest in marketing the brand that has not been effectively done. Seems to be good news at this point.

  3. Bad move. Why add another cruiser line when they already have Victory? Sure, Indian makes more expensive bikes, but they’re still cruisers.

    In order to diversify, they need to start making sport bikes, dirt bikes, etc.

    • Could be a good move. Indian was known for more than just big cruisers, maybe Polaris will want to bring back the Scout, for example. Perhaps even the very short-lived 841. Might be nice to see the Four come back as well. Then again, they could just stick with massive V-Twins, and be a more retro Victory.

      • Cruisers are still a big piece of the action.
        Victory does well with their original “modern cruiser” mission, but not well with the vintage aesthetic.
        Now, Polaris can attract many buyers who want a vintage look to their cruiser and still build upon the many other buyers who want a new cruiser.

        It would be interesting to compare the sales of the modern-looking Kingpin or Vegas to the V-Rod sales. i.e. how many V-rods aren’t on the streets?

      • I doubt there’ll be much innovation out of Indian. Most likely it’ll be the same old formula: big, narrow-angle, air cooled V-twin in an overweight, lazy-steering, chrome-slathered frame.

        Victory already makes plenty of those.

        What they don’t make is dirt bikes, sport bikes, adventure bikes, dual sports, naked sport bikes, sport-touring bikes, etc.

    • Great move by Victory. I own two Vics bought the second to keep the miles down on the first, 50k on my first the 8ball and 15 on my X Roads. Never a single problem and I beat them like a red headed step child daily. Great Move for Polaris because Victory is do diffrent then HD in design and performance and I think of the Vics as a modern cruiser without the nostalgia of the golden riding years with al the chrome, paint, 40s and 50s look or the history like HD and they never will so how perfect would it be to take the Indian name bring back the look but with modern engineering that wold put HD in the dust? Just dont throw Vic parts into it paint it red and call it a Indian. Make it unique and its own from wheel to wheel and youll have yourself a loyal following and a graet seller.

  4. I’m fairly certain this was the goal from the beginning. I’m pretty sure the same guys that “ressurected” indian this time around also brought back the criscraft boat line. Their speciality is buying nostalgia brands, getting them off the ground an then selling them. I could be totally wrong though.

  5. The big question is, will the cost come down? Not like victory bikes are cheap, but those Indians are out of most everybody’s price range.

  6. At least Polaris can deliver quality and has a dealer network which the current Indian company of a couple days ago couldn’t. Now Polaris has to figure out how to get the price down so normal people can own one if they choose. there will be many changes I am sure because the Indians they had redone just didn’t look right. Very tall and gangly appearing. I hope they know it may take the next Century to ever restore confidence in the Indian name if it can ever be done. I don’t envy the work it is going to take to make this happen.

    • “I am sure because the Indians they had redone just didn’t look right. Very tall and gangly appearing.”

      agree. The Road King looks much better than the current Chief largely to the “tall & gangly” stance.

      Which is somewhat odd because the heritage is of a stout, short stance with the flat head.

  7. I don’t understand what’s in a name. Are they going to build a Chief and a Scout as well? The Scout was a very sucessful ride. The oldtimers talk of riding them as fondly as anything Indian produced. Seems there’s no defining thing that makes an Indian what it is nowadays. Whatever they do with the Indian name, I hope they make Mr. Hendee and Mr. Hedstrom proud..

  8. or will they just ditch the Victory name altogether, et viola, they’re ALL Indians now!

    (like \Star\ motorcycles have ditched the name Yamaha pretty much)

    • Even though Victory doesnt have a huge following, they do have a loyal following and have been very profitable for Polaris. My opinion rebadging Victory to Indian would be a huge mistake and be the death of ( again ) of Indian. Victory is already distinct as a large CI overhead came V2 with great performance and handling and known as a modern cruiser. Indian is nostalgic with lots of history.

  9. good news…the other company signed up every auntie and their dog as dealers and had no chance in any market.
    prices where too high and dealers…mainly german where simply interested in wearing the leather jacket instead of doing business…in fact most of dealers where dogs….i think there was four dealers in Switzerland …..erm you cant sell bikes in switzerland that are not dot …..
    we sent away for dealer pack in our cats name and one was sent by email…
    with second name being cat……
    last 24 months we have sold more indian in uk and europe than every signed for indian dealer all together…..shame on them…
    i wish new business well…interesting it was uk money that was wasted…
    if they need a good….very good dealer in uk with both feet on ground….who had the international indian weekend in their garden..big garden..i hope they get in touch.

    good luck indian….you deserve it

  10. If anyone can really make the Indian brand name return, and stay, it’s Polaris / Victory.

    I doubt that Victories will become Indians – I think Victory have established the ‘brand pretty well.

    So, I’d guess that the Indian ‘bikes’ will be the high end of the Polaris / Victory line.

    As others have said above, I’d love to see Polaris / Victory do something other than cruisers -Sports / naked bikes – Dirt bikes that aren’t cookie cutter versions of current 250,450s, for example. A modern 2t bike anyone?. A street version of the 800 twin 2t that the former Polaris engineer did as his own project?

    The company that makes modern, clean fuel efficient 2ts of any type, that can be put on the road, is the company that could really succeed.

  11. Paul “The Crowe” Kneeslider says above: ” Indian will operate as an autonomous business unit.”

    It looks like it will be two separate cruiser lines.

    I hope Polaris breaks into the standard/sportbike business too. We need a cheaper American jack-of-all trades motorcycle and more American sportbikes to hit the mainstream. We’ve got Buell (not mainstream… very expensive) and Fischer (not mainstream… well priced… but not an American engine) and now Motus (very expensive). There’s still no reasonably priced American motorcycle for the young guys now that Harley Buells are gone.. and they were still a bit pricey.

    JR

    • JR, the words you quote are from the press release portion of the above article, as indicated by the words “press release follows.”

    • You go t that right! Even the stripped down 8ball bike are a bit pricey but then again lately all of them seem over priced. A decent new motorcycle is almost the price of a gas sippping car. Dont these guys remember the model T and what it did for production and the common man? realiability and inexpensive = huge sells!

  12. Hmmm… Polaris, the absolute King of Electrical Reliability, taking over Indian, who has one of the most complicated wiring harnesses out there… There’s a match made in heaven. I wonder how long it takes Polaris to inject some nonsense into their new line?

  13. So now the Indian brand name will now be slapped on bikes assembled from the Victory parts bin instead of the HD parts bin?

    Yawn.

  14. COOL!!!! Will they bring back the word Motocycle too? just like Indian originlly had in the past. Cause I need to own one so I can break 200 mph when I’m 40 years older like good old Burt Munro!

  15. After WWII there was a tremendous “Buy American” movement to bolster the American economy. May riders were veterans who had been taught to ride in the bombed out fields and roads of Europe. These veterans had a fierce loyalty to America and strongly supported the efforts to rebuild at home.

    In the words of its founder, a rather (in)famous Motorcycle Club that was being formed in Oakland, CA adopted the Harley-Davidson as a “ride of choice” because “Indian was failing and we needed to support the home economy.” It has been documented that this decision would have been different had the future been more predictable. (This “founder” now rides a Victory.)

    With Polaris Industries’ American heritage, engineering facilities, sales network and reputation, buying and rebirthing a great American heritage name – there will be more than a few sleepless nights for the Harley-Davidson board members. I hope they don’t suffer the “corporate raider” attacks by some self-serving MBAs as has befallen so many other great companies.

    A failure of Harley-Davidson would be a disaster. If the Polaris/Victory/Indian partnership succeeds, they need honest and open competition to keep the product improving. This is an opportunity for Harley-Davidson to start doing the grunt work of producing a better product on a level playing field.

    A view from north of the 49th parallel.

  16. Indian can be the Mercury to Victory’s Chevrolet. Have the Chinese print up some feathered tank badges, change the engine finish from black to silver (or the opposite), dub them Chief and Scout (First Nation for the Canadian market) and the job is done.

    Much tougher to make a brand famous, starting from nothing, than to buy one.

  17. I have no idea how this will turn out, but Polaris hasn’t even had a chance to begin working on it and some of you seem to expect or want the whole thing to fail. As Hawk notes above, this could stimulate competition with Harley, keeping Harley on their toes and maybe advancing and reestablishing the Indian brand. It could be good for everyone. I’m hoping for the best.

    • Thanks Paul.

      Yes, we are in a global economy. Offshore manufacturing and parts suppliers are a fact of business life. My, and I suggest, your personal opinions really don’t count for much except in our personal purchases. Price and percieved value is the bottom line.

      Up here in the land of ice, snow, Scouts and Braves (Thanks Walt), we have motorcycle dealers going out of business in droves. Several long time (80+ years) dealers in Toronto have bankrupted. Why? They can’t or won’t compete with the internet sales houses from the US. Recently, I was quoted $290 for a pair of tires “ON SALE” from a local dealer. I bought them online for $200 including shipping. A lot of new and used bikes are being purchased in the US and imported. Yes, money talks, eh?

      If good quality bikes are built by “American” companies due to competition, do we not all benefit? Post war protectionism no longer works in a modern world.

  18. All I know is that my 2010 Chief Bomber is trouble free, damn fine looking and a damn fine ride. Solid backing for a relatively small company “should” be good……we’ll see.

  19. I hope they succeed. I am a little surprised to see the current owners selling off, as they still own Chris-Craft and are trying to make a go of that at the high of the boat market. Maybe the incredible cost of gasoline and the dim future for boats made this sale of Indian inevitable. I like the new Indians, and I like the ones from Gilroy as well. The new ones are really expensive, but good stuff always is. Usually the market at the high end stays firm even when the bottom drops out, but apparently not this time. The prices on used ones are getting pretty reasonable, and I have come close on a couple of them on ebay. I prefer them to Harleys because, well, if you have to ask then you would not understand.

  20. This will be great! They can make another American classic in Mexico,India,Korea,China. And then sell leather jackets with American flags on them made in Mexico,India,China,Korea.

  21. Really, people will by an Indian with valanced fenders and a Victory engine. I think most people are smart enough to see through it. I definetly would not buy the current power package.

  22. Will Harley buy this company already. They should and make it their all American made boutique brand that will give them more cred back to the roots of made in the U.S.A. and be the only all made in America bike, ( I think). Provide jobs and build up their existing manufacturing plants. With the $ being so low and the economy this would be something I think everyone would get behind and feel good about. Just my 2 cents but I would work there with pride! Hell Reagan brought Harley out from the almost dead with foreign trade and so this could be a way for them to give back to the American worker and bring an all American brand back to life.

    • Victory is made in the US. Funny that Polaris, a Minnesota based company, didn’t buy up Excecior Henderson, another Minnesota based motorcycle company. I wish them well. I hope Polaris looks at Triumph rather than HD for a role model on how to bring a brand back.

      • Ken,

        “I hope Polaris looks at Triumph rather than HD for a role model on how to bring a brand back.”

        Right on! There’s truly no better story of the phoenix rising than the story of Hinckely built Triumphs making their international revival.

        That said, I think most American motorcycle fans will remain skeptical for a bit until they see how things turn out. The press release states that Indian will remain a brand of it’s own, and with Victory’s higher end models priced near $20K, it appears likely to me that there will not be much of a price point change in the Indian line. If this is Polaris/Victory’s aim, I think that they may suffer dramatically in the short term, as I’ve seen several local Victory dealers drastically cut their prices aiming to make a sale. The problem is that even with the drastic price cut, a customer can still pick up a Super Glide from HD with a few accessories, HD benefitting from much better marketing and brand awareness.

        I am not looking for anything exceptionally new or innovative to arrive from this deal, and it would be a shame if Polaris drops the Victory name and puts all their bikes under the Indian name. I think that would bring out a very negative reaction amongst consumers. What Polaris needs to do now is let Indian build the cruisers and Victory develop a sport bike. Only time will tell…..

        • I agree with everything but the sport bike. Any racing motorcycle, road or dirt, would have to excel beyond possibility with the name Victory. Maybe that could be done under the Indian Brand

          Now, if Victory were to build a standard bike with kits designed to transform it into a tracker, cafe racer or scrambler, people might really consider it. Considering the buisness model that Victory and HD already have of buying a stock bike and customizing with bolt on aftermarket items, it would seem that they could pair with a customizer like Roland Sands and come up with a winner much like they have done with the Ness family. Plus, it would cut overhead down by not having to build as many models for the showroom floor.

    • Chris, Harleys arent all made with American Parts, its not an All American bike as always gloat about and for Harley to bring Indian back from the dead i think would be a disaster, again. After 100 years you would think they would be king on top still but the compnay has been losing for years with old engineering and over priced poor performing motorcycles as Victory profits hae soared due to their new models and new followings of former HD riders that demand . Besides It wouldnt reallybe an Inidan if they could challenge the bar and shield like the old days. Victory as also a almost All American Motorcycle Company will do fine as long as they dont use Victory parts paint the bike red and call it an Indian. To make it a sucess it has to be unique to the name.

  23. I’d love to see Indian take the backing of Polaris and expand the range significantly. Just look at Triumph. Sure, they have a few retro bikes, and they’re cool, but they also have expanded into sport bikes, cruisers, and now have a true adventure bike. They even have re-entered racing in WSBK. Indian didn’t always make “hogs”, and they shouldn’t continue to do so.

    • An Indian sport motorcycle may not be that far fetched either, as Indian Motorcycles won the first three Isle of Man TTs if my recollection is correct. I believe it was from 1911 to 1913 that the American manufacturer saw success on the island. Would be rather cool to see that iconic American name return to the IOM TT in the near future.

  24. I think that this is the bugle sounding for an all out war with H-D. The Victory appeals in the marketplace to the younger H-D/vee twin lovers who want a little more in the advanced technical aspect while the Indian will appeal to the older H-D diehards who tend to resist change of any kind. Polaris is now effectively opposing Harley on two fronts.

    Indian’s manufacture costs should go down significantly coupled with Polaris as Polaris has far more manufacturing capability (more parts such as castings made under one corporate umbrella instead of out sourcing to other manufacturers), engineering assets (more effective use and pooling/sharing of engineering and design while reducing duplication of effort by two separate entities), and a dealer network with more than one product to sell (markups can be lowered as their fixed operating costs are shared with more product line to sell). The amortization of fixed manufacturing/development costs for new and existing models with the probable increase of sales will help to lower prices even further. Additionally, larger purchase volumes from outsource manufacturers will bring unit part costs down (How much are two tires going to cost versus 10000 tires?) and help lower selling price at the factory and dealer level to the consumer. There is also the increase in purchasing power for raw materials to consider. A potential added bonus could come in the form of lower advertising costs using name brand association techniques. For instance:
    “Polaris can cover you on and off the road year round with a full line of industrial and leisure ATV’s, street legal golf carts, beginner to racer snowmobiles, and street bikes from the bare bones Victory cruiser and the Victory – Lehman partnered Pit Boss tikes, to the full load Indian tourers for the more traditional riders”.
    One brochure, billboard, or ad campaign now covers an additional product.

    I think the only thing missing from the Polaris lineup at present is something for the sport bike market. Now just supposing Polaris was to enter into talks with say someone like Eric Buell……………..I am pretty sure Polaris could produce something of a matchup for a Rotax engine without much effort. So then what is left? Personal water craft? Ultra light aircraft? Lawnmowers? Snow blowers? Light plants? One man helicopters? Personal hovercraft? Buy out or partner with Kuryakyn and look at the line of after market parts we have….. I think this is a company on the move and well worth watching. Next on the list could be Honda……..

      • Part of Polaris’s sales, a big part, is supplying the U.S. military with ATV’s (the “defense” line of off road vehicles). The military has funded a number of people over the years to develop one or two man helo’s and hovercraft. (A fellow named Pete Jacobs here in Canada was given a grant from the Federal government here in the 60’s to develop and debug his one and two man hovercraft for military use here.) If you were looking for a manufacturer who is diverse and already a recognized supplier who would you got to? Airborne cavalry and motorized infantry could definitely find a use for either don’t you think? The mobility of such forces would be phenomenal. Can you imagine what D-Day would have looked like with 40,000 two man hovercraft instead of 1,000 40 man landing craft? Or maybe a Vietnam scenario with aircav in individual helo’s instead of 10 men to a Huey? Be a lot harder to knock them all out. And as we all know what the military gets eventually filtres down to the consuming public.

  25. I think this is a brilliant move on Polaris/Victory’s part. I think there are a lot of riders who would be interested in Indian, but the perception that they could be gone tomorrow has held them back. Indian is a much stronger brand under Polaris than the were alone. And I think the fact that Victory isn’t really known as an American brand yet has held them back. I don’t think most people on the street know there are othe people other than Harley making US bikes, but Indian does have some history and recognition even from casual observers.

    I do also second the idea (that I’ve seen here and elsewhere) of Polaris making an offer to Erik Buell. If they had a Superbike under their umbrella, and Erik can offer them that, they could be an unstoppable force. Even if they didn’t make any money off the EBR bikes, the halo effect of the association with that kind of performance would get the kind of recognition they’ve been struggling to get ever since they unveiled the first Victory.

  26. I’m sure Polaris did their homework. My hope is that there is separate product development, to encourage diversity of offerings, and cross selling to existing dealers in both networks. Even if you combine both networks, they are a fraction of the size of HD’s network. There is an increasing percentage of riders that DON”T do their own maintenance. Dealer support counts! I agree that an offer to join forces with EBR would be cool particularly if their product offerings become less track focused. I’d love to see a Rotax based ST come out of this.

    • Rotax is owned by Bomardier. BRP is a direct competitor of Polaris. That would be like having Ford install a Chevy motor and sell it as a Ford.

  27. The new Indians are already a fine motorcycle, the addition of a dealer network and ties to a major manufacturer will make these high end bikes more desireable and competative with HDs CVO bikes. Dont expect a “cheap” Indian, these are a high end product that does not need to compete with the price point Japanese cruiser clones, Indian only needs to compete with Harley, and HD had better watch their back.

  28. The landscape is littered with failed Indian ventures, but Polaris has the scale and manufacturing savvy to make it work. Lots of good ideas here such as building an Indian-brand sportbike (Indian was considered the fastest of the fast in its board-track days). Polaris should be able to build Indians for about the same cost as comparable Harleys; sell them for a competitive price and they’ll give Milwaukee a run for its money. I like the idea of calling them “Indian Motocycles”. If there are no trademark problems, that would be the way to go — a simple thing but it would generate lots of buzz, and differentiate the Indian line from Victory.

  29. This is great news !
    May I suggest to Polaris that should they bring back the Scout and Chief that they also introduce a new model, the MUNRO and make it a bike that does do 200mph, a bike that would deserve to carry Burts name. It doesnt need to be the best handeling sports bike just the fastest V twin on the planet. That would give them something VERY SPECIAL in their product line up.

    • I doubt it’s possible to get a low compression, air-cooled flathead to pass EPA muster. Otherwise someone would have brought flatheads back by now for “nostalgic” reasons. After all HD brought back the springer fork. I was appalled when I learned that springer forks need a rebuilt of all their bushings every 10,000 miles. That’s once a season for me. So much for 1930s technology made new again.

      • Please list a source for the “Rebuild the bushings every 10,000 miles” part. Back when I worked on them for a living, the bushings were adjustable split race spherical bearings. I never had to adjust any,let alone replace them.

        Oh yes – flatheads run with low compression ratios and have slow combustion areas – ideal for low NOx emissions (and low horsepower as well).

        Where do you get your information?

  31. Good commentary in the April ‘Rider’ about the impact of Internet sales on the local dealer — and what that dealer provides that you can’t get on the Web, like personal service. It’s a tough world for dealers and the whole industry, and the Internet sales channel just makes it tougher for dealers. I like to save money as much as anyone and buy plenty online. But I have to acknowledge that local dealers bring significant value beyond rock-bottom pricing. What we need is balance.

    • Typically the company selling on the internet is a dealer. They still have their “brick and mortar” store fronts but use the internet sales portal to boost income and spread their influence over a greater market. I’m just surprised more places don’t do it.

      The internet isn’t a robot, it’s a bunch of people running businesses either in your neighborhood or another. They need your business just as much as the next guy.

      -todd

  32. Time will tell how this will work out in the end. It’s no secret I don’t like Harley (more accurately, I don’t like any Harley newer than the generator Shovel). I like the “reborn” Indian less. But I feel if anyone can take the Indian name back to its former glory, it’s a company like Polaris/Victory. Let’s all hope that this brings some new innovation to the American motorcycle industry, and that we don’t see an increase in production of overweight, underpowered, neo-retro land-barges.

  33. I can’t say I’m a fan of the newer iterations of the Indian (which seems to focus on the glitziest, gaudiest version of a Chief), but I do love the other bikes that Indian used to produce, and I hope (like others) that Polaris will consider this. Regardless, it’s good to see the old American brand kept alive. Maybe this time it’ll stick around. Variety in the marketplace is always a good thing.

  34. Make a retro/standard version of the Scout to compete against the Triumph Bonneville and Sportster. I would trade my triumph for a similarly priced Indian Scout. in the 10 grand range.

  35. I think they would have been better served by investing in their own brand and coming out with new and differentiated models and engines to create a more comprehensive Victory line…something beyond cruisers..

    Indian as it IS (not as it WAS 60 years ago) has basically no market presence in the US, so they are not buying market share with this move. Nor does the name command much respect in the US after multiple failed resurrections, so what do they get with the brand?

    Maybe they see an opportunity with the brand in overseas markets where the Indian name still carries an inkling of recognition and where the Victory brand is unknown.

    Don’t know. It’s a rather confusing move.

  36. Nothing confusing here at all. Indian has a solid product and a very high name recognition. With a large dealer/company backing Indian will act as a “Halo”bike that will pull more people into the showroom, people that cant afford an Indian may buy a Victory after entering the showroom. Again, this bike will take a bite out of Harleys CVO models!! Maybe rename a Victory Eight Ball as a Scout an schzzzam you have a new Scout. As for Crotch Rockets, forget it, there is no Money in competing with the makes already flooding the market.

  37. It’s clear the focus in the industry is still on the aging re-entry baby-boomer. There aren’t many people under 40 who know or care about Indian Motorcycles unless they like Anthony Hopkins. I don’t see this move as a sustainable business model.

    It may be more likely that they will use this as an opportunity to redefine the Victory brand. They would then be able to focus on competing against BMW while still keeping an Indian toe hold in the traditional cruiser market. As with BMW there isn’t much focus on “crotch rockets” but is within their reach. The standard, sport touring, and “adventure” touring markets are growing rapidly and will allow a sophisticated company such as Polaris to focus on the leading edges and not the trailing ones.

    It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

    -todd

  38. It appears the youngsters here are underestimating the appeal of an Indian Motorcycle. Victory,and all the other cruiser clone companys are fighting for a piece of the large cruiser market because that is where the profit is. Indian has the name appeal to take on HD in the high profit segment where the new comers dont have any appeal because of lack of street cred. The young market lacks the money to purchase premiun makes, they traditionally “grow” into the high end machines as they age. To compare Victory to BMW is absurd, they have Zero competing products. BMW owns the Adventure Bike market, the new Triumphs may get a small slice of the market, but the new Yamaha ADV bike is an 575LB Enduro that missed the mark.

  39. Scritch – Triumph have not entered WSBK. Also they pulled their support from WSS just before this season started, hence Luca Scassa and Chaz Davies switching to factory Yamaha supported R6’s.

    The plan was originally that Scassa (thanks to his previous superbike experience) would develop the new Triumph superbike for racing in WSBK.

    Although I have heard that Triumph announced at their last dealer meeting that the new superbike model is still proceeding, the rumour is that the project has been canned. If so this would not be the first time that Triumph have canned a project very late on when they decided that the market had changed / the numbers didn’t add up – the last example was their 1300 four cylinder competitor to the hayabusa.

    Sportbikes are not very profitable – very expensive to develop and have a short lifecycle so I don’t think Victory / Indian will go down that path.

    Triumph is an interesting business, but relatively unique because it is owned by a man with very deep pockets who made sufficient millions through another business (construction) that he could afford to invest heavily in a business that didn’t turn a profit for about fifteen years.

  40. I wish they would have resurrected Vincent HR Li…now that was a nice sport tourer. We really dont need more chrome barges. RIP MR.Li.

  41. i think this is a great move,victory the new american motorcycle and indian the oldest american motorcyle both built in the good ole usa!!!!!!

  42. Polaris has the engineering expertise and financial strength to make quality Indian bikes at a price enthusiasts can afford. This can only be a good thing – more choice for customers. HD may lose a few sales but not so many, and certainly not to start with. But it’s good to see a historic brand back with a parent that understands the industry and has the capital to invest in R&D, as well as already having a dealer network in place.

  43. Definitely think this is a good move for Indian, hopefully we’ll see some new models. I’d love to see an Indian produced to compete with the Sportster.

  44. hopefully they will be real Indians and not a Parts bin ‘custom’ with a Harley rebadge motor.
    What ever became of the motor Roush developed for the other Indian faction that lost rights to the name?

  45. At first when I read this I was kind of excited. And not having looked at Victories in awhile I went over to their website and had a look and saw….The 8 Ball Vision….and now i’m just worried about this news and my eyes are bleeding…

  46. If someone is really going to bring back Indian, make it an Indian not a Harley in Indian clothes. The Gilroy bikes were in my opionion a joke. The founders of both HD and Indian should be rolling in their graves. If Indian is to make a real comeback it needs to look like, feel like and be a total indian. Make it right and it would be a total sucess, no s&s or Victory engines, let it stand on its own as it did in the past.

    • I agree, Rod. The last thing anyone needs is another 800 lb. look-alike noise-maker. Didn’t Indian used to have a 4 cylinder in one of their models? They need to take a look at Triumph, who has managed to package nostalgia, character, and performance into most of their lineup. I should know… I own one.

  47. Modern sleek retro inline four please. And not another ugly dakota four come on whats with all these designers why even bother going after the oversaturated Vtwin market …a couple of new model modern fours ,mayby a classic dependable cruiser for the old farts and a nice slim sleek sport four for the youngsters……they would clean up the market think innovation,american ingenuity,bring back american pride. made in the good USof A…….. knock the others out of the market .

    • I’ve been dreaming of a retro-styled inline four Indian as well. I hadn’t considered a ‘naked’ version, though. That would certainly make a BAMF of a street-fighter.

  48. I say “good”! I would like to see the Indian motorcycle live on. I would like Polaris to be successful. I want American motorcycle companies flourish and employ more Americans!

  49. Well I guess Harley Bob is a person who is so far behind he doesnt have a clue BUT if he checks he will find the Harley he rides is American assembled NOT American built but after riding his Harley it has rattled alot loose. Victory motors and trans are made in Wisconsin (but are being moved to Spirit lake and thats were the Victory main plant is located.
    Get your facts straight before you attempt to act like you have a clue

  50. I couldn’t agree more. It would be so cool to have an American-made bike right out of the box that has great ergonomics, great handling and a decent ride that can be had for no more than about $9,000! I hope that Polaris takes notice and produces an Indian with such characteristics! Harley must be made to understand that it cannot have a monopoly on the entry-level American market with bikes that are significantly to severely bereft of decent ergonomics, ride and handling!

  51. I just hope that by Polaris making the aquisition of Indian motorcycle that they can mass produce them and make them affordable again, I bought 2 Indians back in the early 70’s when they made a come back and waited for them to bring out the bigger bikes they had prototyped, but they went under again. Then was eagerly awaiting there return a few years ago, but they went under again before I got one bought. Then they returned again when they were built in NC., but the $35000.00 price tag is too much for a working man like me to choke down. I am on the verge of buying a H-D but read about this article in a motorcycle mag I buy, and am now going to hold off for a while and see if these Indian bikes are affordable again. If theyare then I’ll see about buying one. I hope to here more in the near future so I can figure out what bike I’ll decide to buy.

  52. As a Victory owner, I think this is a good move. I highly doubt they are going to put Victory parts on Indians… and I also highly doubt the price will come down much (with the current models). The may make a “Sprortster competitor” Indian, later… but we’ll have to see what happens.

    As for the style and appeal… it is going to give Polaris more diversity… but I still prefer my 2011 8-Ball Kingpin to any Harley or Indian model. To each their own!

    Cheers!

  53. So now I see another company has reproduced the three wheel morgan…….man some people have more money than brains………tell me who is gonna buy that …and look like a geek driving it around….with all these custom oddball bikes companys are wasting there money on trying to revive the retro stuff….why not an indian four themed with honda four dependability…..streetfighter,or cruiser,or bober….can somebody call up polaris and get them to do it right…..mayby even you kneeslider….

  55. Love the older Indians, polaris is an awesome company, sorry the victory, although mechanically great! The Vision is Corbins wet dream!! Polaris is always #1 in the mechanical area. The problem I see is bringing Corbin into the mix, (just my opinion)
    I have never been impressed with anything Corbin has done! Dont know where he got his credentals (sp) but they need to bring on someone with a little more rebel ideas!