#indian

On Aug. 26, 1967, New Zealander Burt Munro set a land speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats on a self-modified 1920 Indian Scout, a record that still stands today. This Aug.13, just shy of 50 years after that historic run, Munro’s great nephew Lee will try to recreate it on a modern Indian Scout with a custom aerodynamic fairing dubbed the “Spirit of Munro Scout.”

Indian continues to bring the battle to Milwaukee with a pair of new baggers: the 2017 Chieftain Elite and Chieftain Limited – baggers being such a big deal they’ve spawned their own magazines and websites, and why not? They’re a great balance of form and function, combining the ability to cruise the dirty boulevard in style, then hightail it out of town without having to leave all one’s worldly goods behind. We could call them “American Sport Tourers,” really.

What’s wrong with admitting that a cruiser model is a styling exercise? Cruisers are all about style – perhaps even more so than any other motorcycle category. So, if a cruiser that works as well as the Indian Roadmaster gets some new clothes in an effort to appeal to more buyers, that can be a good thing. In this instance, the result is the Indian Roadmaster Classic, a Roadmaster with a heaping helping of classic design cues.

Indian summoned the moto-press to San Diego a couple of weeks ago to introduce another new model that’s embargoed until about April. One of the most interesting parts of this particular junket were the remarks by Reid Wilson, Indian’s 37-year old Marketing Director. Before coming to Indian three years ago, Wilson worked as a brand manager for Miller/Coors, and before that he was riding Briggs & Stratton-powered minibikes from the time he was a toddler. I corralled him at the bar for further explication.

First introduced by Indian in 2015, the Roadmaster built on the Chieftain platform, adding additional touring and luxury features. Now, the company is releasing a Roadmaster variant, the 2017 Indian Roadmaster Classic. If the Roadmaster was a Chieftain with a trunk, the Classic is a Roadmaster for fans of leather.

Polaris Industries reported its fourth quarter and 2016 full year results, offering the first look at the company’s finances since its decision to terminate Victory Motorcycles. The fourth quarter saw a 35% year-over-year decrease in motorcycle sales revenue, while year-end sales revenue remained flat compared to 2015.

Last week came the announcement that Victory Motorcycles was being shut down, but Victory’s death knell actually tolled in early 2011 following the announcement Polaris Industries had acquired Indian. All the good will in the world to keep Victory afloat is no match for bottom-line data, and in just a few short years the Indian brand has eclipsed Victory in growth, profit potential, consumer popularity, and overall coolness.

The motorcycle world got knocked for a bit of a loop last week when Polaris Industries announced it would be shutting down its Victory Motorcycles division after two decades of trying to cut into Harley-Davidson’s stranglehold on the American cruiser market.

Today marked the end of an era, with Polaris announcing it was closing down its Victory Motorcycles operations after 18 years of building cruisers to compete with the might of Harley-Davidson. It would’ve been 20 years ago this June that Al Unser Jr. rode a V92C into the Mall of America’s Planet Hollywood at its debut to the world.

Polaris Industries is shutting down the Victory Motorcycles brand after 18 years in business. Polaris says it will assist dealers in liquidating their remaining inventory and will continue to produce parts for another 10 years to support Victory owners.

The great American West never suffers fools. When you look at the harsh conditions faced by the hardy souls who set out to claim their fortune in California’s Mojave Desert, the stakes get even higher. Do a little research, and you’ll discover an impressive number of hamlets were born, sometimes prospered, sometimes didn’t, then died – often in dog years. Most have disappeared without a trace. A few still have bits of their remains visible in the arid landscape. Still others hang on in a semi-zombie state between self-sustaining life and their final desiccation plotted by the patient desert.

The original plan was to be in Calico to shoot the wrap video for last week’s “Bagger Brawl” four-bike comparo tour (which should get posted next week, maybe…), but you know what they say about best-laid plans. That goes double for MOron plans. Instead of being an hour-and-a-half from the barn, we wound up running low on daylight and needing to roll tape while we were still in Death Valley, four hours north. Motorcycles tend to make you think things are a lot closer than they are, even if you were just there last year. By the time the cameras were packed back up and the Harley Street Glide, Victory Magnum, Moto Guzzi MGX-21 and Indian Chieftain were ready to roll, the sun was setting and the “mega moon” was rising over one of the most desolately beautiful places in North America.

Dear MOby,

Sometimes it seems as if the term “history was made” is overused to the point of cliché, but it’s about the only way to describe the competitive rollout of the all-new, purpose-built Indian Scout FTR750 flat-tracker at the series finale of the 2016 AMA Pro Flat Track Championship on September 25, 2016.

One hundred years ago two sisters were traveling coast to coast on Indian Powerplus motorcycles advocating women’s right to serve as WWI motorcycle messengers. It was 1916 when Augusta and Adeline Van Buren embarked on a journey they had no idea would have such historical significance a century later. Traveling from New York City to San Francisco, the journey took just over two months to complete, making them the first women to ride motorcycles across the continental United States.