Indian Motorcycles

About Indian

Indian is an American brand of motorcycles.

The "Indian Motocycle Co." was originally founded as the Hendee Manufacturing Company by George M. Hendee in 1897 to manufacture bicycles. These were initially badged as "Silver King" and "Silver Queen" brands but the name "American Indian", very quickly reduced to simply "Indian", was adopted by Hendee from 1898 onwards because it gave better product recognition in export markets.

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 Motocycle Manufacturing Company in 1928.

In 1901, a prototype and two production units of the diamond framed Indian Single were successfully designed, built and tested. The first Indian motorcycles, featuring chain drives and streamlined styling, were sold to the public in 1902. In 1903, Indian's co-founder and chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom set the world motorcycle speed record (56 mph).

The Indian factory team took the first three places in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. During the 1910s Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world.

Indian introduced the 221 cc single cylinder two-stroke Model K "Featherweight" in 1916. The Model K had an open cradle frame with the engine as a stressed member and a pivoting front fork that had been used earlier on single-cylinder motorcycles but had mostly been replaced on other Indian motorcycles by a leaf-sprung trailing link fork.

The Model K was manufactured for one year and was replaced in 1917 by the Model O. The Model O had a four-stroke flat-twin engine and a new frame, but retained the pivoting fork at the front. The Model O was manufactured until 1919.

Indian's most popular models were the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 to 1953.

The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt in 1953. A number of successor organizations have perpetuated the name in subsequent years, with limited success. In 2011 Polaris Industries purchased Indian Motorcycles and relocated operations from North Carolina, merging them into existing facilities in Minnesota and Iowa. Since August of 2013, three motorcycle models that capitalize on Indian's traditional styling have been built under the Indian name.

Moto blog

The darker the better: Indian unveils Scout Rogue

The American motorcycle manufacturer has officially announced a new member of the Scout line. The main differences between Rogue and other motorcycles in the Scout family are stylistic. First of all, of course, no chrome: everything that could be made black is made black.

The Indian Scout Rogue should appear as a 2022 model

Indian Motorcycle has provided the NHTSA with a 2022 VIN list of motorcycles, which includes two new models: the Scout Rogue and the Scout Rogue Sixty. The motorcycle will be based on the Scout Bobber platform and will be equipped with either a 1133cc engine or the "Sixty" liter engine and will be available with or without anti-lock brakes. Information about the imminent appearance of "Scoundrel" (this is one of the meanings of the word "Rogue") in the Scout line appeared in April 2021, when Indian applied for the Scout Rogue trademark.

Indian Motorcycle has unveiled the 2022 FTR lineup

That's right - now it's quite possible to talk about the family of "flat tracker" models, because from now on there are four models in it: FTR, FTR S, FTR R Carbon and FTR Rally. The FTR engine is unchanged, and even the 1203cc V-twin is still at 123bhp, but the engineers have tweaked the settings to make it Euro 5 compliant. Other than that, there are quite a few changes.

The Indian Motorcycle Company has registered new motorcycle names

The Guardian and Pursuit names will apparently be the versions based on the new Indian Challenger. Introduced at the end of last year, the Indian Challenger immediately attracted some attention thanks to very interesting "stuffing". It is equipped with a liquid-cooled overhead engine with a displacement of 1769cc PowerPlus - the most powerful V-twin in Indian history, it develops 122 hp at 5500 rpm and 178 Nm at 3800 rpm.

Indian FTR Carbon

Indian FTR Carbon differs from the base model in the wide use of carbon fiber parts: the false tank and air filter housing, headlight housing, decorative passenger seat cover and front fender are made of carbon fiber. The motorcycle also has an Akrapović exhaust system made of titanium alloy. Otherwise, the Indian FTR Carbon is completely identical to the S-version of the FTR 1200.

Indian introduces new PowerPlus engine

The apparatus with a 60-degree camber of the cylinder block can hardly be called the “little brother” of the 1811cc Thunder Stroke 111 engine - its capacity is 1769cc, but in terms of design solutions, the motors are fundamentally different. Let's start with the fact that, according to the manufacturer, the new engine is the most powerful in its class - it develops 121hp at 5500rpm and 178 Nm at 3800 rpm. PowerPlus, like the Scout motor, has an overhead camshaft, is equipped with four valves per cylinder and hydraulic compensators, eliminating the need to adjust clearances, the cooling is liquid.

Indian has registered a new name

What lies behind the promising Challenger name? The Challenger evokes strong associations with the Dodge muscle car but obviously the world will have to expand its consciousness for the foreseeable future - apparently, Indian is preparing a motorcycle of the same name. This is indicated by a patent dated March 27.

Indian recalls 'rebel' motorcycles

3,341 bikes fell under the service action. The New World has announced a recall of Indians released from October 25, 2016 to November 17, 2017. The problem is that the switch is corroded, which can cause the engine to start unintentionally if the key fob is close to the motorcycle.

Indian 2018: arrows and tomahawks

The American brand has introduced a line of bikes for the new model year. The main model lines have innovations of various kinds. The most popular upgrade is a revised color scheme that refreshes the look of the motorcycles.

The Indian turned to the origins

Indian Motorcycle has unveiled the latest addition to its cruiser line-up. The Springfield is built on the new Chief platform with an 1811cc Thunder Stroke 111 V-twin. The bike can be easily converted from a touring to city cruiser.