Indian Motorcycle

120 Years of America's First Motorcycle Company

Darwin Holmstrom

• Publisher: Motorbooks
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780760366530
• eBook ISBN: 9780760366547
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Bicycles & Motorcycles
• Index: Technology & Engineering

This officially licensed 120th anniversary edition of Indian Motorcycle tells the complete story of Indian, America's first mass-produced motorcycle maker, from its start as a bicycle manufacturerto the purchase of the brand by Polaris Industries in 2011 and the subsequent new Indian motorcycles—updated to include new photography, the latest models, including the FTR1200, Chieftain, Challenger, and Roadmaster, and Indian's return to racing. In the early years of the 20th century, Indian dominated the world's racetracks and showrooms, earning the brand a worldwide reputation for quality, performance, reliability, and technical innovation with such classic machines as the Chief, Scout and Four. But the once-mighty company fell on hard times and in 1953 was forced to file bankruptcy. The Indian brand never quite died, though, thanks in large part to fanatically devoted enthusiasts, who tried to resurrect it for over half a century. Finally, Polaris, maker of the highly regarded Victory brand of motorcycles, purchased the brand and released the Chief and Scout, models that once again restored Indian to its rightful place in the motorcycle pantheon. Indian Motorcycle is the most complete and up-to-date history of this classic American motorcycle.

Table of contents

• Cover
• CONTENTS
• 1 Birth of an Icon
• 2 Beginning of the End
• 3 Great Motorcycles and Hard Times
• 4 Death of an Icon
• 5 Resurrection
• 6 Indian Motorcycle Rising
• Index
• About the Author