Indian Motorcycle, America's oldest motorcycle founded in 1901, is celebrating its 110th Anniversary today (Saturday, May 14, 2011) at the company's exclusive Southern California Dealership, Indian Motorcycle Los Angeles in Harbor City.
Festivities include a concert, an antique Indian Motorcycle show, food trucks, surprise guests, and displays of the full line of 2011 Indian Motorcycles, including the Classic, Dark Horse, Bomber, Roadmaster, and Vintage. Hours are from 10am to 5pm. Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Indian Motorcycle - LA is located under the same roof as California Harley-Davidson at 1521 Pacific Coast Highway in Harbor City, one mile west of the 110 Freeway and 5 miles from Redondo Beach.
Indian Motorcycle of the Twin Cities, Minnesota celebrated the 110th Anniversary with the new dealership's first ride.
Indian was a major competitor of Harley-Davidson during its 52-year production run from 1901 to 1953. After a brief return from 1999-2003, the Indian brand returned in 2006 and was recently acquired by Polaris Industries Inc.
Polaris Industries has been very successful with Victory Motorcycles and the Freedom V-twin engine that are now both manufactured at it's "Victory Motorcycle Center for Excellence" in Spirt Lake, Iowa. Polaris also manufactures ATV's and an off-road Ranger vehicle at Spirit Lake.
Polaris Industries Inc. announced its purchase of Indian Motorcycles on April 19th 2011 and also announced extremely strong first-quarter earnings. Analysts were expecting first-quarter sales of $421 million, according to Thomson Reuters. But Polaris reported revenue of $537 million, beating the earnings estimates by 64%! Let's hope they can do as well with Indian Motorcycles, which the company vows to operate completely separate from Victory.
