Indian Motorcycle shuts down

[fuzzymemory]

"Indian Motorcycle, a revival of a pioneering motorcycle maker, has halted production and laid off its entire work force, citing financial troubles that could force the company into bankruptcy." From Fox News

I guess this means that the GS has once again cornered the market on bikes that can corner now that Indian is out of the market.  I was all excited about buying an Indian Cheif so that I could use the extra power during track days, but I guess the GS is the way to go.  I just hope I don't run into anyone with a "special edition" 99-2003 indian when I'm carving up the twisties...  

[Moose]

 Where did you find that article???

[vtlion]

from the looks of the article http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,98070,00.html its just a temporary financial setback.  Private funding fell through and they're not quite to profitability yet.  Those Indians are sweet bikes.  Somebody will bail them out and they'll restructure their product line or target a new demograph or find some other strategy to convince investors that they have an niche in the marketplace, then away they'll go.  I can't believe that Indian is going out of business.  Not with the product they have.

peace

[JamesG]

I can believe it.  I guess the HD bandwagon has come to a screeching halt...

[Turkina]

For months now the parking lot of the Indian dealership by my house has been taken over by a horde of new Hummers for sale.  The idiot motorcycle dealers bought an older car dealership building.  Of course, this kept them from showing off their product, since motorcycles don't do well parked outside day after day.  Cycle dealerships should have their store directly adjacent to the road and have people park on the side/in back.
Then again, all the negative things I hear about Indians could be true  

[octane]

Negative? What's so bad about a $23,000 motorcycle that hasn't been updated since 1957? LOL!

[The Buddha]

Oh jeez the damn thing was just a mass produced, badly designed copy of an imitation of a duplicate of a replica of a clone of a HD. No technology was lost here people...nothing to see move on...BTW I cant wait for one of those accountant/lawyer types to realize that their V-rod is going to cost them a bundle when time comes to do a valve adjustment and they are already going broke cos their employer is being indicted...and put it on the market for a $ a cc...then I go buy it and make myself a removable frame segment and get the valve adjustment done cheap and easy...Hee hee cant wait for the mighty to fall into my price range...
Cool.
Srinath.

[JamesG]

That I think is the biggest weakness of "Indian's" business model. The potential customers were also the same who would consider Japanese cruisers too (ie: not the HD faithful) and are not usually so enamored of the product to pay premium (harley) prices for it.

Indian should have done what Triumph did.  Build a broad family of decent quality bikes, not just one anchored to an archaic potential with a limited market base. After they got off the ground, then go back for the nostalga trips...

They should have seen the writing on the wall from Excellceor-Hendrixson, and the failure of a bunch of the small-run production cruiser builders.  

Deversify or DIE!

[Turkina]

Yellow may add horsepower, but fringes add torque!  :lol:
I have heard various rumblings from H-D owners who say they wouldn't touch a badly built piece of crap like the Indian (pot calling the kettle black?), even if it was a pretty motorcycle.

[vtlion]

I still say I would like to see them come back with a re-tooled product... like most of you said, the current line is (like Harleys) overpriced and underengineered.  I think the overpricing is an artifact of the small volume business of what is essentially a startup company 'revived' in 1999.  ... but geez, it would be nice to see somebody take that company be the reigns and fix those problems and get a good quality american competitor for the import cruisers... change the marketing demograph from the insanely loyal Harley crowd to the rest of the cruiser market... people who actually compare products before buying them....maybe teach HD a thing or two in the process?

[The Buddha]

You mean like victory...Yes E-H nor Indian had the kind of deep pockets that Polaris has to launch 4-5 iterations of product before making a decent seller...
Cool.
Srinath.

[MitchRocks]

This deal always had a stink to it. CMC/ Indian were forced to build a motor by the courts when they were "awarded" the marketing rights for Indian in North America. Now the can weasel out of that in bankruptcy. My guess is that it got expensive fast for a crew who wanted to cash in on the merchandise rights and put little effort into the bikes. Just look up the  number of recalls.  I bet they end up cashing out the rights to the name for a pretty penny.

[vtlion]

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in
waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are

hmmm... sounds like they should have bypassed the courts and just called the company "Idnain"... according to Jake42, nobody would notice the difference   :lol:

[yamahonkawazuki]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yellow may add horsepower, but fringes add torque!  
I have heard various rumblings from H-D owners who say they wouldn't touch a badly built piece of crap like the Indian (pot calling the kettle black?), even if it was a pretty motorcycle

i ve heard the same rumblings also somewhat due to the cheesy s&s engines they are using in most of their bikes. it's kinda weird, most of the s&s motors are decent, along with most hd products if you know how to properly warm them up , run them etc. also kinda weird i went to an hd dealership, and asked a tech, about the proper warm-up procedure. he couldnt tell me. i wonder if this is why those owners are having trouble with those machines

[vtlion]

the more I read the article, the less convinced I am that Indian will survive

Indian was on the verge of profitability but O'Connell and the rest of the board decided last week they couldn't afford to continue manufacturing.

If the company was "on the verge of profitability" then why ditch?  4-years of investment only to bail just before seeing some returns?!?!?!  Sounds pretty hokie to me.  sounds suspicously to me like a few execs cutting with 4 years worth of salary courtesy of the "Indian" name and ducking behind the bankruptcy shield.  CEO's should all eat crap and die.  :x   :nana:  :x

peace

[octane]

Indian should have done what Triumph did.  Build a broad family of decent quality bikes, not just one anchored to an archaic potential with a limited market base. After they got off the ground, then go back for the nostalga trips...

...or go the route of Royal Enfield and use old tech, old tooling, and build the exact same bike they did in 1955 - and charge accordingly. The Enfield is a neat little bike for under 5 grand, and it's exactly what it looks like. An old tech English standard with authentic vintage character.

[The Buddha]

More like 2 grand...In India that's what it costs. The Shippers/Importers and the money grubbing middle men make a killing on them. 1955 tech, and 1995 metallurgy make for a 1/2 decent bike. Dont bash be Brit bike lovers...I said 1/2 decent...Dont bash me Brit bike haters...I only said 1/2 decent. Not bad considering with 10% of the shipping/import over head involved after making them and assembling them the GS also costs the same. So now we have 1965 tech with 1995 metallurgy...huge leap.
Cool.
Srinath.

[lookmanohands]

The Indian is kind of a nice looking bike,BUT IT IS TOO BIG AND BULKY AND TOO EXPENSIVE$$. OUT OF THE BIKES IN THAT CLASS I LIKE THE VICTORY VEGAS the Victory dealers around me are inviting and they will allow long test rides and good warrantys I plan on taking one of those test rides one day.

[octane]

More like 2 grand...In India that's what it costs. The Shippers/Importers and the money grubbing middle men make a killing on them. 1955 tech, and 1995 metallurgy make for a 1/2 decent bike. Dont bash be Brit bike lovers...I said 1/2 decent...Dont bash me Brit bike haters...I only said 1/2 decent. Not bad considering with 10% of the shipping/import over head involved after making them and assembling them the GS also costs the same. So now we have 1965 tech with 1995 metallurgy...huge leap.
Cool.
Srinath.

They're manufactured in India, so the low cost makes sense. It's not the bike I'm in the market for, but it is a neat little ride for the money.

[JamesG]

I considered a Victory V92 "Sport Cruiser" but it was way too big and not nearly Sporty enough for my tastes...