Daily motorbike news, views & reviews
Indian Motorcycle began in 1901 in Springfield, Massachusetts, US, and has been in production ever since under a variety of owners. In 2011, Polaris bought the company and moved production from North Carolina to Minnesota and Iowa. In August 2013, Polaris relaunched the brand with three totally new Chief models. The premium brand now also includes the Roadmaster full-dresser tourer and the 1133cc Scout. Indian is a well-known brand for its long history and the popular 2005 Hollywood film, The World’s Fastest indian. MotorbikeWriter has attended world and local launches for Indian products and regularly road tests them and takes them on tours to assess their performance, handling, comfort, value and suitability.
Indian Motorcycle is about to unveil a new line of Challenger motorcycles powered by a liquid-cooled 1770cc engine called the Powerplus. The move was leaked in a video from the company dealer conference in the USA. The video has now been taken down, but is still available on Motorcycle.com. Powerplus V-twin The video confirms our tip in …
Indian motorcycle is marking the 100th anniversary of the Scout model with a NOS custom drag bike with a dustbin fairing that looks like an old jet fighter plane. The Appaloosa, named after America’s fast horse breed, is based on the Scout Bobber. It will compete in the quirky Sultans of Sprint series throughout Europe …
Indian Motorcycle is not only building a new engine, but also seems to be updating its current Thunderstroke 111 with variable valve timing or VVT. Last month, images surfaced of a heavily disguised Indian tourer, possibly called the Raptor, with a fixed fairing and a different engine, believed to be quad-valved and water-cooled. It is …
A national roadshow of pre-production Indian FTR 1200 models has been deemed a success with “a number of $1000 deposits” being taken. The pre-production models have been on show at various Indian dealers over the past month. Indian Motorcycle marketing boss Christopher Gale says the roadshow was a success with “showrooms full of people at …
Indian Motorcycle looks set to surprise with several new Apollo variants of its popular FTR 1200 (pictured above), as well as a new Raptor tourer and dark versions of its Scout range. Two images have been sent to Motorbike Writer that seem to come from brochures that show the FTR 1200 Apollo Tracker, Street and …
Indian Motorcycle looks like it could be throwing down a challenge to Harley-Davidson’s popular Road Glide tourer with a fixed-fairing model. A reader whose name has been withheld has provided us with these spy photos showing a heavily disguised Indian. The fairing is quite obviously fixed to the frame, rather than the forks. On the Road Glide …
Challenger is the third new model name Indian Motorcycle has trademarked since last December when they trademarked Raven and January when they added Renegade. The trademark filings in the US and Europe have got the industry buzzing about a possible model assault from a company which has been fairly steady in its lineup for a few …
Indian Motorcycle Australia has acquired several pre-production Indian FTR 1200 models for a roadshow of eastern Australia ahead of their arrival in July. The flat-track-inspired bike is in Melbourne until March 23, then Canberra Motorcycle Centre (March 25-26), Steel City Motorcycles, Wollongong (March 27-28), Sydney (March 29-April 1), Brisbane (April 10-14 and Brisan Motorcycles, Newcastle (April 17-20) …
Throttle and bottle may not usually mix, but it does when Indian Motorcycle and Jack Daniel’s get together to produce yet another gorgeous limited-edition motorcycle like this Springfield Dark Horse. For the fifth year, the two American icons have collaborated with Klock Werks Kustom Cycles. In the US and Canada the bike will cost $36,999 (about $US52,600) …
As if the Indian Roadmaster isn’t special enough, the company has released an Elite version with a 600-watt stereo system and gold-leaf paint that took more than 30 hours to paint by hand. Indian Australia spokesman Christopher Gale says they have already sold one of the $52,995 (ride-away) limited-edition bikes to a Perth customer. He says …