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OK, I am stating the obvious , but this is not an Indian , no heritage , no history . Polaris is a wonderful company , fine products , but they are not the Hendee Manufacturing ,co. builders of the Indian Motocycle ,no R . I hope Polaris can sell these , but marketing the heritage is ,well , marketing .Dusty
I think it would be seriously cool if they built another air cooled inline four, sitting inline with the frame of the bike. I witnessed an Indian four running a few months back, man what a sweet design! ;-T
Chicago Mark ,my point is that marketing is not tied to production or quality . I am relatively sure that Polaris will build a fine bike , and I wish them well , but using the Indian name is a pure marketing ploy . If HD decided to revive the Pope or Cushman name would it be a Pope or Cushman ? In name only . Look I get it , they spent lots of money and time to obtain the trade mark , and I wish them well , but I refuse to be swayed by a million dollar ad campaign . Dusty
If the attempt fails, it may be a great bike, but it will only be a modern bike with retro tins. Better to drop the Indian name and give the new bike its own name before the Indian head logo falls off on its own.
Back to the base price of 19K, that seems high to me. For 19 will it come well equipped, as in a touring form? Or is this going be a standard cruiser? If its decked out with a reasonable pile of good stuff, price seems fine, if not?
So has anyone actually seen this new Polarindian taht we are discussing ?Dusty
Polaris is a $2B+ company, so they have the financial resources to pull this off. They have done quite well with the Victory brand in the last few years. ;-T I believe their new Thunderstroke 111 cubic inch motor is completely new and re-designed and not a copy of the old Power-Plus ("Bottlecap") S&S V-twin of yesteryear. $19K is a good price point to complete with HD (IMHO). 8)It will be interesting to see the entire motorcycle in August at Sturgis. :)
So we are all hopped up over something none of us have even gotten a look at . Yea, I'd say the marketing is working .
Well I was just trying to inject some humor . Besides , thought we were a group of analytical thinkers not swayed by some slickster ad campaign .Dusty
LolIm always amused at the pervasive propensity of people groups to argue among themselves about obtuse points.When Polaris purchased Indian they were buying market name recognition and a sort of "instant heritage and tradition," up to 1953 anyway. Those factors figure prominently in marketing this sort of product.More than just a bunch of "johnnie-come-latelies" content with the right to stick an Indian decal on a gas tank, Polaris has gone to great lengths to replicate the styling themes of the Indians produced prior to 1953. This gives them a classic american bike design that cannot be criticized as just another imitation of a Harley-Davidson.I think this is a good formula for success.
This is why Polaris picked up the Indian brand. Victory started from scratch and has had a tough time picking up a following of any size big enough to worry H-D. With Indian, presto...instant name recognition. Everybody not already under the Harley umbrella is pulling for the Chief to make a big splash and at least get H-D's feet wet. Now I think you are going to see Polaris market Victory to even further out on the cutting edge style wise, while marketing a very modern technology engineered yet very retro styled Indian for a more traditionalist market. Very smart.
;D :BEER: I have to remember " analytically analyzing " and do I have your permission to use it in print ?Dusty
Then there's Jaguar owned by Ford. The look is all Jaguar, but the chassis is all Ford. Then you can take the MG design and sell it to Mazda. They fix the electrical, put new sheet metal around it, and voila, it's a Miata. Is it still an MG? It still rides like one, less the gremlins.
Except Jaguar isn't owned by Ford, hasn't been for years. Now owned by Tata of India. And how was the Miata an "MG design"? Just because it was influenced by the MG and other classic roadsters, doesn't mean it was one of the old designs, far from it. It was a total clean sheet design.
OMG! This looks like a parade motorcycle from a circus. I would not even been cought dead on one of these!
Wheaties , brilliantly put . I am exiting this thread , at least for a while because it is so hard to convey my mixed feelings on this badge engineering . Guys ,I see the other side of the argument even if I am not convinced of it's veracity .Dusty
The ones with the HD 4-speed frame and S&S Evo engine.
4-speed frame? ???Not sure about motor. I guess that's something the last owners were doing.My bud's Gilroy Chief has an S&S motor that doesn't look like that...looks shorter like a typical EVO.
Harley and Moto Guzzi have been in business continuously for many years (regardless of who owned the company) so a retro bike from them is still a Guzzi or Harley.I wish Polaris luck with their marketing but I still just don't get the concept.
"Power Plus" engine had the "bottle cap" valve covers. Still an S&S engine.
"4-speed frame" refers to the style of the frame. Styled like the old HD 4-speed FL frames.