#indian

The AMA Pro Flat Track final was already scheduled for November 20 in Las Vegas, so veteran race promoter Steve McLaughlin had the brilliant idea – as he is wont to do – of promoting the first Superprestigio of the Americas the night after it. The SP’s been a big hit in Spain, so why not? None of your big MotoGP stars could be persuaded, but they did lure Tony Elias and Ant West to the boat, both of whom found themselves hard-pressed up against some surprising home-grown talent. The roadracers actually had their own “All-Stars” races, and the top three were then thrown in against the Flat Track professionals for the Superprestigio Main. Then there was the Hooligan race, sponsored and populated by Roland Sands and associates riding barely modified streetbikes. It was almost more thrilling than the Professionals. Okay not thrilling, more interesting maybe…

Another thing the interwebs have diluted a tad is SoCal’s local International Motorcycle Show, the one that kicks off new-motorcycle fever in Long Beach, California, every November. Now that we get to see nearly all the new bikes the week before from Milano, it’s slightly anticlimactic. Only slightly, though. It’s still a great place to see everybody in the U.S. bike industry all in one place and gauge their confidence/fear ratio, along with most, if not all, of the new machinery, and to ask each other collectively, ‘How we doin’?’

Personally, I feel like five speeds is plenty for a cruiser, really. Who wants to be shifting extra gears when they’re cruising relaxationally along feeling all Lee Marvin, having their chassis “further complimented by stout forks and shocks” like the press material for the new bike says? Why, thank you, forks and shocks, you’re not so bad yourself…

Indian has had quite a run in the years since it restarted production under the Polaris banner. In that short time, Indian has racked up two MO Best Cruiser awards (2014 Indian Chief and 2015 Indian Scout), Readers’ Choice Best Cruiser 2015 (2015 Indian Chief), Readers’ Choice Motorcycle of the Year 2015 (2015 Indian Chief), and Motorcycle of the Year 2015 (Indian Scout). That’s quite a roll. So, what has Indian decided to do next? Downsize.

What’s this? A cruiser claims the Motorcycle of the Year title even though we’ve called 2015 the year of the Superbike? Yes, it might provoke a little cognitive dissonance until you think a little further. First, because the Indian Scout was introduced at Sturgis this time last year, many riders mistakenly thought of it as a 2014 model. To qualify for a MOBO, a motorcycle must be on sale to the public prior to the nominating process at the end of each July, and the Scout wasn’t available until late last year. Additionally, our MOTY must be something special, and the Scout is more than just a class-beating cruiser.

If you’ve been following the latest cruisers, the selection of the Indian Scout as the Best Cruiser of 2015 should come as no surprise. If you haven’t, then you’ve missed how impressed we were with the Scout at its introduction last year at Sturgis. Appearing out of nowhere, like a left hook to an unsuspecting opponent, the Scout authoritatively took our preconceptions of what the revitalized marque would produce and put it on the mat for a ten count.

By the early 1900s, some 300 different U.S. motorcycle manufacturers had jumped on the bandwagon of two-wheeled powered flight. While some tried steam or electricity, it was the internal combustion engine that got things burbling.

“One of my favorite cruisers,” is how MO’s own Evans Brasfield describes the Victory V92C, aka the first Victory motorcycle. His fondness for the V92C comes from a long road trip he took aboard the “other” American cruiser, which left a lasting imprint on our cruiser editor. Now, almost 17 years later, we’re revisiting the launch of the  1998 Victory V92C for this week’s Church feature. The words come from contributor Edward K. Randolph, and it’s interesting to note Polaris CEO W. Hall Wendel, Jr.’s comments about Victory’s existence and the desire to expand Polaris’ reach in the powersports realm. Of course, with Polaris now in control of Indian, one would think the investment in Victory has paid off. With that, enjoy this trip down memory lane.

While nine motorcycles may have been listed on the Reader’s Choice ballot for Motorcycle of the Year, the reality is that two of them garnered 42.67% of the votes. The two bikes going mano-a-mano in a V-Twin, bare knuckled brawl for supremacy? The KTM Super Duke R and the Indian Chief. We bet you didn’t see that one coming, did you? What surprised us was that you, the readers, didn’t choose the KTM SDR, like we did. Instead, you let us know that you think the Indian Chief is the motorcycle that stands at the top of the 2014 model year heap in our first annual Reader’s Choice Awards.

What’s that they say about great minds? Well, it’s certainly true of both the staff and the readers when it comes to the Best Cruiser. For the 2015 Reader’s Choice Awards, our readers and staff were in complete agreement as to which 2014 model year cruiser deserved the honors: the Indian Chief. For rescuing the fabled Indian marque out of the quagmire of litigation and poorly implemented attempts at cashing in on the Indian name, Polaris deserves the thanks of all motorcycle enthusiasts. For compounding that success by launching such a well-conceived reintroduction of the Indian Chief, Indian Motorcycles deserves both the MO staff and MO readers’ Best Cruiser awards.

Before Henry Ford’s assembly line production of “affordable” cars displaced them, motorcycles were the prime means of motorized personal transportation.

With the 2014 editions of Intermot, AIMExpo and EICMA now done and dusted, the Progressive International Motorcycle Shows circuit is now making its way across the country. Its stop in Long Beach, California is usually regarded as the most important on the tour, due to its proximity to many of the major OEMs who make their home bases in the SoCal area. And while the international shows are important for making big announcements, it’s here in Long Beach that many important regional or national announcements are revealed.

When Indian unveiled the Scout at Sturgis last month, it sent ripples through the motorcycle world. How would it compare with other cruisers in its class? What exactly were the other cruisers in its class? Obviously, Indian is hoping to improve its bona fides by taking on that other American brand’s most ubiquitous V-Twin in its displacement class, but what others? So, the lists began.

Okay, we gotta admit it’s a tiny bit macabre to find a stellar group of antique, vintage and high-performance motorcycles on display at a cemetery, literally the last place a bike fan wants to visit. But, there was lively reasoning behind the appearance of 13 “celebrity” two-wheelers at the Forest Lawn Memorial Park, the 1906 historic landmark located in Glendale, CA. The museum, part of the 300 acre property since 1957, has previously offered a wide variety of exhibits as they are “committed to enriching the community through the educational and entertaining presentation of artwork that focuses on history, culture or religion.”

Indian Motorcycles made a big splash in Sturgis this year with the introduction of its new Scout. The revival of a historic model is newsworthy on its own, but the larger take-away from the emergence of the Scout is that it doesn’t directly compare to any other cruiser.