#assembly

The latest Inside Indian Motorcycle video takes us behind the scenes and inside the Spirit Lake, Iowa, assembly plant to get a look at the people and processes behind some of North America’s best-selling motorcycles. If you thought these things were assembled by robots and automation, you’d be wrong. There are seriously dedicated human beings at work here – not just when the cameras are rolling – human beings with Indian tattoos, interesting facial hair and proud attitudes. When each new Indian gets to the end of the line, somebody says at the end of the video, “we know we’ve created a stellar product that’s going to last a lifetime.” Wait, is that any way to run a business?

Since the Milwaukee-Eight engine was announced last year, much has been made of Harley-Davidson’s newest powerplant. The Motor Company increased power output while maintaining fuel efficiency in the all-new engine. Well, the updates didn’t stop with the engine itself. Over the two years prior to the engine’s release, the Pilgrim Road Powertrain Operations Plant had quietly been upgraded to handle the stringent manufacturing requirements of the new engine. (In fact, this update was the reason we weren’t let into the facility when we showed up on a road trip last year, as described in this article.)