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unixronin: Galen the technomage, from Babylon 5: Crusade (Default)
Unixronin

December 2012

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November 23rd, 2003

unixronin: Galen the technomage, from Babylon 5: Crusade (Default)
Sunday, November 23rd, 2003 12:56 am

I quote from Dexter Ford's Megaphone column in the latest issue of Motorcyclist:

"As I write this, the Indian Motorcycle Corp. is no more.  Audax Group, the bean counters who bankrolled Indian's resurgence, walked away without warning, leaving nearly 400 employees and thousands of pissed-off Indian owners holding the bag.  Indian was selling more bikes in the United States than such prominent makers as Aprilia, Ducati or Triumph.  But the investors panicked, took their ball and went home.  Once again, all that's left is a name."

This after Indian just had a record-breaking sales year in 2003, and had a dynamite line-up of models for 2004.  Once again, timid accountants manage to snatch stunning defeat from the very jaws of victory.

Now don't get me wrong, I don't want an Indian myself and probably never would.  It's just not my kind of bike.  But Indian is - or was - a good company, and a classic marque that deserved much better than this.