I think the point is: Why start with a clean slate in the 21st century and design an air cooled v-twin?

Same reason Bloor started with an air-cooled verticle twin. There is a group that will buy it and give the newest version of Indian a change to grow. In a few year there will be v-4's and OHC engines.
 
I think you will find that Bloor started with a 750cc water cooled dohc triple and 1000cc four. It was a few years after Triumph were re-established with bikes like the Sprint, Daytona and Speed Triples that he came up with the retro Bonneville. While designing the new bikes he allowed the late Les Harris to continue with air cooled twins. And that is why we are riding such a fabulous beast as the Rocket III :)
 
I think you will find that Bloor started with a 750cc water cooled dohc triple and 1000cc four. It was a few years after Triumph were re-established with bikes like the Sprint, Daytona and Speed Triples that he came up with the retro Bonneville. While designing the new bikes he allowed the late Les Harris to continue with air cooled twins. And that is why we are riding such a fabulous beast as the Rocket III :)
Yes but he wasn't going aftger harley, indian's marketinng is aimed at harley like victory's was orginally.

That in itself is a challenge because the Indian price tag is so much bigger than the victory's. How do you justify the premium from one american made to another?
 
You left out some bikes.. The Trident and Trophy 900/1200.. The Legend, Thunderbird, Thunderbird Sport.. I owned a TBS when the Bonnevilles came out and I was severely disappointed they would replace my TBS with a wimpy bike like the Thruxton!.. lol But the Bonnies won out.. and the 885 is no longer...


I think you will find that Bloor started with a 750cc water cooled dohc triple and 1000cc four. It was a few years after Triumph were re-established with bikes like the Sprint, Daytona and Speed Triples that he came up with the retro Bonneville. While designing the new bikes he allowed the late Les Harris to continue with air cooled twins. And that is why we are riding such a fabulous beast as the Rocket III :)
 
I think Victory never had the success against Harley because of the perceived lack of Heritage. I always thought the Victory bikes looked sleek but lacked soul, just my opinion. The Indian brand predates Harley by 2 years. There was a real bike war between Indian and Harley for the first 50 years or so of the 20th century. They fought for contracts, in racing and released competing models( mostly) So when Polaris acquired Indian not only did they get some of the original tooling, they bought a lot of history.

They can't be accused of being a Harley clone like their Victory models are. Back in the day the Indians were considered the classier of the two bikes.

I would like to see if another bike war can be started.
 
I think that white and tourquoise bike is really nice. Wont pay 30 or 35k for it though.

They did say that they would have pricing that will be more attainable than in the past. Guess we'll have to wait and see.

In any case, I'd much rather hear of new manufacturers than of manufacturers going out of business.
 
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