Indian Motorcycles Have Quite A History
The Indian Motorcycle Company started out as the Hendee Manufacturing Company created by George Hendee and Carl Hedstrom, two bicycle racers who set out to create a single engine motorcycle in Hendee’s home town of Springfield Massachusetts in or around the year 1900. The sales of that early Indian Motorcycle took off and the company continued to build Indian Motorcycles well through the early and mid 1900’s. They were known as the oldest motorcycle manufacturing company and were once the largest manufacturers of motorcycles in the world.
The Indian Motorcycle company built its first V twin model in 1907 and began breaking speed records. Erwin "Cannonball" Baker was one of Indian Motorcycle’s most famous riders and he set many long distance records. In fact, in the year 1914, Baker rode an Indian Motorcycle across America from San Diego to New York in a mere eleven days.
The Most Successful Models
The Scouts and Chiefs were Indian Motorcycle’s most successful models. The Scout and Chief were V twin models introduced in the early 1920s. Both models were strong and reliable. They eventually led to Indian Motorcycle’s motto,"You can’t wear out an Indian Scout, or its brother the Indian Chief. They are built like rocks to take hard knocks; it’s the Harleys that cause grief."
The Chief was introduced in 1922 and had a 1000cc engine. A year later, the engine was increased to a whopping 1200ccs. Many improvements followed including a front break which was put on the Chief in 1928. By the 1940’s, the Chief could reach a top speed of 100 mph when tuned and they were very good looking and comfortable bikes. Due to financial problems, Indian Motorcycles discontinued the Chief in 1953.
The Scout was another popular bike whose popularity rivaled the Chief’s. The most famous version of the Scout was the 101 Scout which was introduced in 1928. It had a new, lower frame and improved handling. During the Second World War, many Indian Motorcycle Scouts were used. However, the model was dropped when civilian production resumed after the war ended.
Indian’s Decline
In the year 1945, Ralph Rogers headed a group that purchased a controlling interest in the Indian company. Under Rogers, Indian discontinued the Scout and introduced new models which were of low quality. By 1949, production was limited and there are no known 1949 Chiefs known to exist today. Production finally halted in 1953. Since then, several people have tried to rejuvenate the Indian Motorcycle name but they just couldn’t gain the popularity Indian enjoyed during the early to mid 1900’s.
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