MINNEAPOLIS – Indian Motorcycles has a new president as a result of an executive shuffle by parent company Polaris Inc. Steve Menneto, who has guided Indian for nearly 11 years, has shifted to the position of president of Polaris’s Off Road division. Michael Dougherty has succeeded him. Dougherty has been …
Read More »If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…
It’s been a goodly while since the last installment of “If You Had Asked Me, I Would Have Told You…” In fact, it has been more than a year and a half since what had been a regular catch-all post for small newsworthy items not hefty enough for a full …
Read More »Indian Debuts FTR 1200 Models For 2019
COLOGNE, GERMANY – Indian Motorcycle today unveiled two new non-cruiser models for 2019 and used the INTERMOT trade show here to do it. The flat track-inspired FTR 1200 and FTR 1200 S models will arrive in dealer showrooms next spring with MSRPs of $12,999 and $14,999, respectively. Both models are …
Read More »Trump’s Latest Salvo Against Harley-Davidson
BEDMINSTER, NJ – A day after welcoming “Bikers for Trump” into the crystal-chandeliered ballroom at his golf club’s clubhouse here, President Donald Trump has gone on the offensive again against U.S. manufacturer Harley-Davidson, saying in a Sunday morning Tweet that many of the brand’s “owners plan to boycott the company …
Read More »Polaris Confirms Indian Production In Poland
MINNEAPOLIS – Polaris Industries confirmed this week that it will begin building Indian motorcycles at its factory in Opole, Poland that currently makes off-road vehicles. Production of Indians destined for the European market will begin in 2019. The company had hinted at the possibility a month ago after the European …
Read More »Indian May Shift Production Overseas, Too
MINNEAPOLIS – Retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union, which had Harley-Davidson feeling the fury of President Donald Trump this week after announcing that it plans to move production of new motorcycles destined for Europe out of the United States, are also having an impact at Indian. Getting overlooked during …
Read More »Indian FTR 1200 Model Coming In 2019
BIARRITZ, FRANCE – Indian may be an iconic American motorcycle brand, but the company went overseas to the Wheels & Waves show here to announce that a flat track-inspired street model – the FTR 1200 – will go into production and go on sale in 2019. A group of industry …
Read More »Indian Continues To Grab Market Share
MINNEAPOLIS – Buried in the press release from Polaris Industries on its 2017 third quarter results this week was some striking news about Indian. The brand’s market share surpassed the 10 percent mark in September. Motorcycle industry sales in the 900cc and above category “were down high-single digits” in Q3, …
Read More »Indian Gets On Bandwagon With Scout Bobber
MINNEAPOLIS – Indian is getting on the bobber bandwagon. The company today announced that a Scout Bobber will be offered for the 2018 model year. It will have chopped front and rear fenders, solo seat, and loads of black – black frame, black exhaust, black handlebar with bar-end mirrors, black …
Read More »Indian Once Made Cars – Briefly
WESTFIELD, MA – If it seemed at all odd when Polaris Industries, maker of Indian motorcycles, came out with the Slingshot roadster three years ago, it was really a case of history somewhat repeating itself, and with a good deal more success. The three-wheeled, belt-driven Slingshot is really more automobile …
Read More »Will Flat Track Help Fuel Rivalry?
HARWINTON, CT – There’s a saying in the news biz that “There’s no rooting in the press box.” It means that reporters – more specifically, sportswriters – should judge and report on events objectively and without favor. But I couldn’t help it last night when watching the Daytona TT on …
Read More »Motorcycle Market May Heat Up In 2017
HARWINTON, CT – It has been a schizophrenic end to winter. Warm one day, cold and windy the next, with occasional rain or snow. One day I’m toasty while riding to New Haven to meet a friend for lunch, the next I’m shivering while hauling logs for the wood stove. …
Read More »FTR750 For Sale, Himalayan Coming
It’s not being released as a street model – at least not yet and here’s hoping that it will – but Indian is making its Scout FTR750 flat track model available for purchase; at least by other racing teams. It won’t come cheap – $50,000. The FTR750 “features a unique, …
Read More »Might Flat Track’s Popularity Explode?
Might motorcycle racing of some kind – any kind – finally find a truly popular platform that attracts street riders in the U.S. to the sport as spectators and fans? It’s just a hunch, and only a hunch, but my gut’s telling me that the popularity of flat track racing …
Read More »Indian Unveils Scout FTR750
MINNEAPOLIS – Indian has unveiled its Scout FTR750 flat track race bike, doing so at the 76th annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally in South Dakota. The Scout FTR750 features “a high-revving, racing V-Twin engine developed in-house and is wrapped in a
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