Another one bites the dust

[unixronin]

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.

Comments

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Well, so what seriously happened is that they didn't instantly sell as many bikes as HD, and the guys who thought it was going to be an instant means of acquiring bignum cash decided to drop it.

FWIW, in spite of the fact that they sold a reasonable number of bikes, I believe they were still going the wrong direction in the money flow department, what with tooling costs, facility, etc.

Yes, Bean Counters have killed a lot of motorcycle companies. They will probably kill a lot more. OTOH, this gives this fellow (http://www.p2r.se/mc/dakota4/) a chance to pick up the name for his actual Indian designs.

-Ogre

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Sweet.  Very distinctive, and look at that fat torque curve.  Better watch that right leg though ...

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Aftermarket heat shield. Actually, it's dumb that a $43k bike should need an aftermarket $5 part.

-Ogre

But... but ...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

...REAL motorcyclists have charred boots!
(j/k)