New Indians

mikesim

mikesim

Site Supporter
Joined
Jun 7, 2011
Messages
2,551
Age
75
Location
Union, MO
Bike
NT700, Red, #989,
I am not a big fan of cruisers, but I came across an article in Motorcycle.com featuring the new 2025 Indian Challenger Elite and Indian Pursuit Elite> I would never buy one, but I do have to admit that they are two very handsome motorcycles. They are both limited editions and both have an eye watering price tag. Indian spent a great deal of attention to detail in their styling and I have to think that the execs at the wounded MoCo are looking closely in their rear view mirrors at who might be gaining on them..... yikes!

www.motorcycle.com

2025 Indian Challenger Elite and Pursuit Elite – First Look

Indian announced a limited edition Challenger Elite and Pursuit Elite for 2025, each powered by the PowerPlus 112 engine.
www.motorcycle.com www.motorcycle.com

Mike
 
Guy at work rides one of the forward fairing Indians , and it is a great looking ride. He’s debating ditching it for a HD for one reason: dealer network. He covers a lot of country, and he’s tired of limited access to mx when he needs it. I think his Indian might be numbered too.
 
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Yeah, their dealer network is spotty at best. I think that a lot of potential dealers were/are put off by what Polaris did to Victory. After spending 18+ years establishing and promoting the brand, Polaris pulled the plug. It's gotta be a kick in the nuts to develop a brand and franchise only to have it disappear, not to mention that the bike owners were abandoned as well.

Mike
 
We gave our son and daughter a nice piece of change last year, and told them to "piss away" at least half of it '. We wanted to see smiles while we are on the green side of the grass. The son took our advice and bought a used Indian Roadmaster. BIG bike, around 1000 lbs. He loves it. He did buy an extended warranty. Good thing. It has been in the shop quite a few times. Obviously NOT a Honda. He had a used 750 Honda for a few years and only had to change the fuel filter. The Indian is a bit more nickle and dime.
 
I think Polaris made the right move to focus on the Indian name and drop Victory. It's a shame the FTR was canned, but if people ain't buying can't blame them. I think their cruiser line is on point.

As for Victory... all I remember is stuff like the Vision . Which is up there with Honda's Voltus as "ugliest ride". Remember that character Edgar from Men in Black? The alien bug guts him and stumbles around for the duration of the movie with its decaying human skin suit. The Vision is like that, but a big V-Twin cruiser wearing the skin of a sport tourer like a ST1300, VFR1200 etc ..
 
The Vision was indeed an ugly bike. The skin was not IMHO sport touringesque in any fashion. It was Arlen Ness idea of a sport tourer. I had hoped that Indian would be the cruiser line as they were but turn Victory loose making bikes to compete with the Asian marques, Triumph, etc. It made no sense for Polaris to introduce a new line to compete with Victory, but taking Victory in a new direction would have made sense. I don't know if Polaris pockets are/were deep enough to do that. If you look at their sales since 2021 you have seen a steady decline which does not portend a long life for Indian if they don't reverse the course. Their financials don't look promising.

Mike
 
a.) I won't own a cruiser. Like my feet under my hips. b.) That Indian is grotesque and I wouldn't buy it if I was rich and liked cruisers.
 
mikesim said:
The Vision was indeed an ugly bike. The skin was not IMHO sport touringesque in any fashion. It was Arlen Ness idea of a sport tourer. I had hoped that Indian would be the cruiser line as they were but turn Victory loose making bikes to compete with the Asian marques, Triumph, etc. It made no sense for Polaris to introduce a new line to compete with Victory, but taking Victory in a new direction would have made sense. I don't know if Polaris pockets are/were deep enough to do that. If you look at their sales since 2021 you have seen a steady decline which does not portend a long life for Indian if they don't reverse the course. Their financials don't look promising.

Mike
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I may be wrong but as I understand it Victory never made a profit, I wanted to ride a Vision but never got a chance, the styling to me is a cross between the GL1800 and the Harley Road Glide.
 
coaster said:
I may be wrong but as I understand it Victory never made a profit, I wanted to ride a Vision but never got a chance, the styling to me is a cross between the GL1800 and the Harley Road Glide.
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I didn't watch the Polaris financials all that closely when they were making the Victory, but I suspect that you are probably correct. It may also be the same with Indian. IIRC, their best year was 2021 with some ~43K bikes sold worldwide and the sales numbers have been declining ever since. In 2022 30,752 worldwide, 2023 30,000 worldwide and the first three quarters of 2024 showed 24,805 Indians over the curb. Polaris and their dealers can't be making money at that sales rate. The difficulty that Polaris has is that virtually all their sales and income are related to the powersports industry. As we have witnessed, the powersports segment is in a deep slump. Marine sales are down, snowmobiles are way down, personal watercraft down. I hope they can find a way to survive the recent financial woes they are experiencing.

Mike
 
suvcw04 said:
We gave our son and daughter a nice piece of change last year, and told them to "piss away" at least half of it '. We wanted to see smiles while we are on the green side of the grass. The son took our advice and bought a used Indian Roadmaster. BIG bike, around 1000 lbs. He loves it. He did buy an extended warranty. Good thing. It has been in the shop quite a few times. Obviously NOT a Honda. He had a used 750 Honda for a few years and only had to change the fuel filter. The Indian is a bit more nickle and dime.
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To add to my own post:

His is a 2016.
Chad, 2026 Indian.jpg

Chad, 2016 Indian at Daletona.jpg
My son, His Indian at "Daletona" as he calls it. Big Earnhardt fan, and Elvis fan. I raised him right!.
 
Polaris pulling the plug on Victory was similar to Ford doing the same with their Mercury brand. And to me, all the Victory bikes were too much "Arlen Ness," with their radical swoopy styling.
 
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DirtFlier said:
Polaris pulling the plug on Victory was similar to Ford doing the same with their Mercury brand. And to me, all the Victory bikes were too much "Arlen Ness," withe their radical swoopy styling.
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Amen, to the Arlen Ness styling
:plus1:
Mike
 
Manfred said:
a.) I won't own a cruiser. Like my feet under my hips. b
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I was of the same opinion all my riding career until I bought a big cruiser on a whim a year ago. I do cross country rides almost every year and even with upright comfortable standards like the NT my knees would eventually start screaming after enough hours passed.

On a big cruiser with low forward controls (hips opened greater than 90 degrees) I found I can ride forever. I don't even need the highway pegs I installed on the crash bars. Being unable to brace for bumps is somewhat annoying, but I've mitigated that with an air seat pad. Shocks the back don't happen unless it's a really bad pothole. I just competed a 2,300 mile ride and there was only 1 occurrence where I felt one. But I was more worried about luggage falling off since it was such a huge hit.

A cruiser with floorboards that would put my knees at or above my hip joint I would probably not enjoy.
 
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NewTo700V said:
I was of the same opinion all my riding career until I bought a big cruiser on a whim a year ago. I do cross country rides almost every year and even with upright comfortable standards like the NT my knees would eventually start screaming after enough hours passed.

On a big cruiser with low forward controls (hips opened greater than 90 degrees) I found I can ride forever. I don't even need the highway pegs I installed on the crash bars. Being unable to brace for bumps is somewhat annoying, but I've mitigated that with an air seat pad. Shocks the back don't happen unless it's a really bad pothole. I just competed a 2,300 mile ride and there was only 1 occurrence where I felt one. But I was more worried about luggage falling off since it was such a huge hit.

A cruiser with floorboards that would put my knees at or above my hip joint I would probably not enjoy.
Click to expand...
It's nice to have choices.
 
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