With the purchase of the Indian Motorcycle brand name by Polaris and the release of the new line of Indian Chief motorcycles there has been lots of discussions as to whether or not it is still an Indian Motorcycle or a new Polaris line using an old name. Well if you want to be a true traditionalist there has not been an Indian Motorcycle manufactured by original Indian Motorcycle Company since 1953.
The Indain Motorcycle brand name has been taken, fought over and purchased a number of times by a number of companies since Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt and ceased ALL operations in 1953.
Here is a brief history of the Indian Motorcycle name, where it's been and where it is now...
1901-1953
Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 to 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company in 1928. The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt and ceased ALL operations in 1953.
1953-1960
Brockhouse Engineering acquired the rights to the Indian name after it went under in 1953. They imported Royal Enfield motorcycles from England, mildly customized them in the US depending on the model, and sold them as Indians from 1955 to 1960.
1960-1962
In 1960, the Indian name was bought by AMC of England. Royal Enfield being their competition, they abruptly stopped all Enfield-based Indian models except the 700 cc Chief. Their plan was to sell Matchless and AJS motorcycles badged as Indians. However, the venture ended when AMC itself went into liquidation in 1962.
1963-1977
From the 1960s, entrepreneur Floyd Clymer began using the Indian name, apparently without purchasing it from the last known legitimate trademark holder. He attached it to imported motorcycles, commissioned to Italian ex-pilot and engineer Leopoldo Tartarini, owner of Italjet Moto, to manufacture Minarelli-engined 50 cc minibikes under the Indian Papoose name. These were so successful that Clymer also commissioned Tartarini to build full-size Indian motorcycles based on the Italjet Grifon design, but fitted firstly with Royal Enfield Interceptor 750 cc parallel-twin engines, then with Velocette 500 cc single-cylinder Thruxton engines.[citation needed]
After Clymer's death in 1970 his widow sold the alleged Indian trademark to Los Angeles attorney Alan Newman, who continued to import minicycles made by ItalJet, and later manufactured in a wholly owned assembly plant located in Taipei (Taiwan). Several models with engine displacement between 50 cc and 175 cc were produced, mostly fitted with Italian two-stroke engines made either by Italjet or Franco Morini, but the fortunes of this venture didn't last long. By 1975, sales were dwindling, and in January 1977, the company was declared bankrupt.
1977-1999
The right to the brand name passed through a succession of owners and became a subject of competing claims in the 1980s. By 1992, the Clymer claim to the trademark had been transferred to Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Co. Inc. of Berlin
In June 1994, in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Wayne Baughman, president of Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Incorporated, presented, started, and rode a prototype Indian Century V-Twin Chief. Baughman had made previous statements about building new motorcycles under the Indian brand but this was his first appearance with a working motorcycle.
In January 1998, Eller Industries was given permission to purchase the Indian copyright from the receivers of the previous owner. Legal battles kept a motorcycle from this owner from ever going to market.
1999-2003
The Indian Motorcycle Company of America was formed from the merger of nine companies, including manufacturer California Motorcycle Company (CMC) and IMCOA Licensing America Inc., which was awarded the Indian trademark by the Federal District Court of Colorado in 1998.[38] The new company began manufacturing motorcycles in 1999 at the former CMC's facilities in Gilroy, California. The first "Gilroy Indian" model was a new design called the Chief. Scout and Spirit models were also manufactured from 2001. These bikes were initially made with off-the-shelf S&S engines, but used the 100-cubic-inch (1,600 cc) Powerplus engine design from 2002 to 2003. The Indian Motorcycle Corporation went into bankruptcy and ceased all production operations in Gilroy on September 19, 2003
2006-2011
On July 20, 2006, the newly formed Indian Motorcycle Company, owned largely by Stellican Limited, a London-based private equity firm, announced its new home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, where it has restarted the Indian motorcycle brand, manufacturing Indian Chief motorcycles in limited numbers, with a focus on exclusivity rather than performance, like a "luxury" watch. Starting out exactly where the defunct Gilroy IMC operation left off in 2003, the "Kings Mountain" models were continuation models based on the new series of motorcycles developed in 1999. The 2009 Indian Chief incorporated a redesigned 105-cubic-inch (1,720 cc) Powerplus V-twin powertrain with electronic closed-loop sequential-port fuel injection, and a charging system providing increased capacity for the electronic fuel injection.
2011-Present
In April 2011, Polaris Industries, the off-road and leisure vehicle maker and parent-company of Victory Motorcycles, announced its intention to acquire Indian Motorcycle. Indian's production facilities were moved to Spirit Lake, Iowa, where production began on August 5, 2011. In March 2013, Indian unveiled their new 111-cubic-inch "Thunder Stroke" engine, and began to sell their newly-designed motorcycles based on it in August 2013.
On August 3, 2013, Polaris announced three all-new Indian-branded motorcycles based on the traditional styling of the marque and the Thunder Stroke 111 motor.
August 11, 2013- -
-
Report
Now if somebody would acquire rights to the "Curtis" name, would like to see that name on the roads again
August 11, 2013- -
-
Report
August 28, 2013- -
-
Report