Yes time to poke more fun at our Bogan cousins on their H-D”s, never mind keep saving boys then you can afford to buy a Indian. (click on image to enlarge)
( Click on each page to enlarge)
Winter reading for those people who misguidingly thought Indian stopped in 1953 till 2014 we have a great touring article, and a real period piece for the old Springfield enthusiasts as we all know the factory closed in 1969.
The First Members
Time to reflect, in April 2010 the Iron Indian Riders of Aust had its first meeting, after the start we all agreed a “Indian was an Indian” whatever year which was unlike any other Indian Club in Australia this was our main reason for forming & unknowingly at that time in just 2 years Indian would back in fulltime production. Anyway one of our first motions was we needed to give value to our members & it was imperative that a up-to-date website was put into action your webmaster got the job and have been at it through 3 years and 11 months. At first I never thought half a million hits would be achievable but the secret is keeping it “live” other Clubs suffer with months of nothing happening on their website except a calendar event or a motorcycle for sale, your website has something new 3 or 4 times a week hence it has many views. I mentioned last week 22 reasons to renew your subs that are currently due the website is only a small part of a great Association the members make it, time to open the wallet
Last Sundays ride the first stop at John Bennett ‘s in Kinglake, this is a shed tour of perhaps mammoth proportions as John makes tinware ie fuel tanks, guards tool boxes etc also made lots of stuff for Chris Knoops veteran car and Invincible JAP. It is rare that John let’s people in ‘The Holy of Holies’ so it was worth going, then on to Yea for a sumptuous lunch at the Red Plate Cafe. Steve York recently dismantled his 1959 Indian Chief and the previous owner had left this message, obviously frustrated I would say!
Friday is the day to hang shite on H-D’s seeing a lot of people have asked for more of our Bogan cousins, the two photos are typically H-D both have tried to improve the standard handling with I believe, some success. Beside the Smoke Signals due out, don’t forget the Sunday ride this weekend all details in the Events Calender Area
No it’s not the range of new 111 off road models it’s a new Spares link in the top header. This is for our advertisers who may have an Indian related product for sale, or maybe offering a discount to Association Members this has been embraced by fellow member Mark Barthelmie and as the owner of Zorro’s he has also pioneered the new moving link in the border area which he has supplied, these are available to all our sponsored advertises at no extra cost
Last year I was enviously admiring the “Challenge” from over this side of the ditch and this year I am again, I will make a point to add this to the “bucket list” I have heard it is fantastic. Meanwhile our Kiwi mates have an Indian agency recently opened in Auckland and although the other photo is from Prague it reflects the universal appeal of the old & new models undoubtably the new models are equalling the Aussie enthusiasm in sales. I am noticing Heritage Indian owners slowly embracing the next generation models with fervour, only complaints I hear are “It’s a shame there is not a smaller model” this should be rectified in August when the Scout is re-introduced at Sturgis
Do employees of Indian Motorcycle Co. care about History? Yes they do! This is Robert Pandya, Director of External Marketing for Indian riding a beautiful 48 Chief in The Texas Hill Country. The entire staff at Polaris Industries owned Indian truly “gets it.” This guy bleeds 50 weight and will require a twin cylinder powered casket some day. Also an early Chief with upside-down forks stuck in sand, I like the modification, but the last photo is a great one of an Indian road line marking vehicle,(Taken from Facebook) this really “rattles my cage” I saw the local council workers the other day with a Toyota Hi-Lux Ute doing the same job and they looked bored it was taking three of them, obviously the Indian was only for one guy only and a lot more fun,
It’s the time when your subscriptions are due and you look to see the value your subscription to the IIRA and any clubs motorcycle or not have given you, I do this with the three other clubs I am in currently and the IIRA is still the best value. Well just to round-up what you would have got last year when joined us. And remember to renew soon, if you have a Red Plate Machine with us otherwise your motorcycle is unregistered till your subs are currently up to date
1, 16 month Indian Calendar, 2 Ten monthly General Meetings, 3 Ten monthly Sunday rides, 4 No Joining Fee, 5 Christmas Party, 6 cheap rider break-down cover available, 7 A sew on patch & an enamel IIRA badge (if an Indian Owner) and vehicle decals, 8 twelve Smouldering Embers e-newsletters, 9 Access to workshop manuals and upgrades in the Members Only Area of the website, 10 a regular updated and popular website with 500,000 hits in 4 years & with a selection spare parts & Indian’s for sale , 11 without doubt a professional Indian magazine Smoke Signals edited by one of Australia’s leading motorcycle journalists Guido (Guy Allan), 12 Access to our affiliate Indian Club of W.Aust & there newsletter and events,13 Four seasonal Rallies in the year, 14 the bi-annual Gypsy Tour that rode along the Murray River, 15 text messaging to your phone on instant notifications or changes and alerts, 16 Discount vouchers from Zorro’s, 17 free Red Plate machine examinations for your Club Permit Machine,18 a “rounded” group that enjoys all Indian motorcycles from all era’s,19 a national club with representation in all states if you travel on your machine, 20 a free for Indian owners membership concession under special conditions, 21 Associate Member group for non-Indian owners that wish to participate and are saving to purchase an Indian, 22 A laminated Membership Card to prove to legal authorities you are a current financial member and trust me I have been asked for this twice now! Not to mention a great bunch of enthusiasts willing to help & give decades of experience to you for the asking all of this for $40-$60 depending on how you want your magazine!
So whats similar to a car plenty, Bugatti started in 1909 Indian in 1901 Ettori Bugatti died in 1947 the company struggled on to the early 1950″s same as Indian, a revival in 1987 with the EB112 pictured till 1995, Gilroy Indians started in 1999 went till 2004. Bugatti was bought by VW in 1998 and built the Veyron the fastest car in the world I believe. Indian was bought by Polaris in 2011 and builds a extremly competitive Cruiser and probably the quickest machine put into production under two years. Now I wonder if Veyron owners get told “Thats not a real Bugatti” like Gilroy & later era Indian owners get told, anyone know a Bugatti owner?
Bugatti History (click on link)