All about Indian Motorcycle Company
During 1920 Indian Motorcycle came out with a outstanding motorcycle which was called Indian Scout motorcycle and was used by everyone from police to motorcycle racer. This motorcycle which was in use till 1939 had a low frame and better handling. India was also producing engines for aircraft and motors for boats, air conditioner and cycles throughout World War II.
The Indian Scout was introduced in 1920. It had a 37 cubic inch (596 cc) engine that increased in size to 45 cubic inches (745 cc) in 1927. That increase in engine size was an answer to the popular Excelsior Super X, which was the first American 45 cubic inch motorcycle.
The 101 Scout was the second response which was being produced and some people believed that this was the highest in Indian Motorcycle technology. Another group of fans were pleased to see Indian motorcycle use the body of its other model Chief for the new Scout line which was introduced in 1931.
Perhaps to please Scout enthusiasts, from 1932 until 1941, smaller Scouts were built. They were known as the Scout Pony, the Junior Scout, and the Thirty-Fifty, all of which had 30.50 cubic inch engines.
The two heavyweight motorcycle companies Indian Motorcycle Company and Harley Davidson were trying to out do each other in America in the early years of 20th century. The competition was well known and was written about in a book called Harley-Davidson and Indian Wars by Allan Girdler. The run away success of Scout was fiercely opposed by Harley Davidson.
One testament to the speed and toughness of the 1920 Indian Scout motorcycle was racer Burt Munro’s use of a customized 1920 Scout to set land speed records between 1962 and 1967. Munro’s under-1000 cc world speed record in 1967 still stands. At the time, Munro, a New Zealander, was 68 years old and was riding a motorcycle that was 47 years old. This and other feats were dramatized in 2005 in the movie The World’s Fastest Indian.
The company Indian Motorcycles witnessed a series of problems and was finally declared bankrupt in 1977. In 1935 controlling interest of Indian Motorcycles was sold and by 1946 it stopped manufacturing any motorcycle. After that till 1977 it changed hands several times. Through out 1980s and1990s the company was fighting court battles over the ownership of the brand name.
The claim of ownership came through in 1988 when IMCOA Licensing America won the trademark by the Federal court in Denver. A nine company conglomerate was set up to form Indian Motorcycle Company of America. From 1999 the manufacturing of Scout Motorcycles were started and carried on till 2003 when the company again had to declare bankruptcy.
The new Indian Motorcycle was set up in Kings Mountain, North Carolina in the year 2006. However they stopped the production of Scout model and the Chief model was taken up for production.
The Indian scout motorbike was a pioneer of it’s times. If you are a true Indian fan you’ll be interested in reading this page on Indian motorbike accessories.
