Resurrected Makes

[Wolf]

From Strayjuliet's introduction thread:


Yay for Indians!!!!!! They should do a good job a remake that brand (previous attemps sucked).

Am I to take it the the current Indians http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/ are not up to standard?

I note they are claiming to be "America's First Motorcycle" despite seeming to be comprised of about 9 different companies that merged in 1999.

At the Paeroa BotS a few years back I was looking at the new Enfield - made in the original factory in India, apparently but with the "Royal" dropped as it is "no longer part of the Commonwealth" - or so I was told - looked good at at $5000 for a brand new 500cc single-banger, looked quite a reasonable price - great retro style too.

What is the general consensus on resurrected makes such as these and the Triumphs (I have heard complaints that the new Triumphs are sell-outs because the model names don't fit with the originals - like the new Trident is not a triple, etc)

[bugjuice]

these american-indian, or asian-indian? I thought the latter to begin with, but now I think the former..

[Wolf]

these american-indian, or asian-indian? I thought the latter to begin with, but now I think the former..
American, I gather, according to their website in 1999 there was a merger between "Indian Motorcycle Company Inc., American Indian Motorcycle Company, California Motorcycle Comapany and it's six related companies". It notes previous unsuccessful attempts to resurrect the make since 1953 (when the original company closed)

[White trash]

looked good at at $5000 for a brand new 500cc single-banger, looked quite a reasonable price - great retro style too.

What is the general consensus on resurrected makes such as these and the Triumphs (I have heard complaints that the new Triumphs are sell-outs because the model names don't fit with the originals - like the new Trident is not a triple, etc)

Firstly, Enfields aren't "retro", they're the same 60 year old technology they were when new. Why anyone would want a new/old bike is beyond me.

This concept was explained to me by a classic bike nut when I looked at buying one.

Secondly, there is no "new" trident, and when there was, it was a tripple. That's why it's called a Trident. You may be confusing the Thunderbird which was originally a twin, now a tripple. Or the Rocket III which wasn't even a fucken Triumph.

Bear in mind that the only thing common with Meridan and Hinkley Triumphs, is the name. Nothing else. Thank Christ....

[Cajun]

Okay little history of latest brand,

i think it was 99 new indian starts back up, orginally using harley, motors (very evil things aye trash man) i think it was, and lots of harley, parts they were pretty much a harley with a different badge, about late 00 early 01, made there own engine god knows where. They still good motorcycles, that i have heard, if i ever get a cruiser an indian it will be, one of my dreams has always been to ride an old indian around america, has to be stick shift, none of this damn womans foot gear shift.

ALot of there styling looks harley, but really how many different desgins can you make from a crusier, in all they all sorta look same, tear drop tank, big bars, big fenders, hmmm pretty much sums 90% of all crusiers.

Still saying this i that indian chief is horny making, sign me up on the line for one of those.

Its just one of those little bike brands in america now days like victory, triumph america, and indian, can't match it with the years that HD have been in the game.

[vifferman]

Wasn't the Indian brand owned for a short time by John Britten?

All this talk of brands and crap like that there got me thinking - there's a whole bunch of makes of bikes I've never ridden. I've ridden 1 Triumph, one BSA, lots of Suzukis, Hondas, Yamahas, and 3 Kawasakis.
No Italian stallions, no BMWs, and only one Yurpeen bike (if Husqvarna counts as Yurpeen).
So lots of riding still to do, methinks....

[Cajun]

Wasn't the Indian brand owned for a short time by John Britten?

All this talk of brands and crap like that there got me thinking - there's a whole bunch of makes of bikes I've never ridden. I've ridden 1 Triumph, one BSA, lots of Suzukis, Hondas, Yamahas, and 3 Kawasakis.
No Italian stallions, no BMWs, and only one Yurpeen bike (if Husqvarna counts as Yurpeen).
So lots of riding still to do, methinks....

i riden bmw, ands lets just say, they are like the tanks of the sportbike world

[White trash]

i riden bmw, ands lets just say, they are like the tanks of the sportbike world

Duh! That's 'cause thay aint sportsbikes.......

Edit: That's like saying the Gixxer 1K's the quickest steering chopper I've ever ridden.

[Cajun]

Duh! That's 'cause thay aint sportsbikes.......

Edit: That's like saying the Gixxer 1K's the quickest steering chopper I've ever ridden.

hahahah i know they market them as sports bikes tho, thats the difference, iu mean my father in laws k1200rs is there 'sport bike' well was, and its like 260kgs thats 100kgs heavyer than my 600, and it only puts out a 125ish hp, so by time gets to rw its about 100, so thats around same as my 600 for half the cc's

mine goes thry corners easy as pie, father in law bwm you have to mussel and wreastle thru every corner

[Wolf]

Secondly, there is no "new" trident, and when there was, it was a tripple. That's why it's called a Trident. You may be confusing the Thunderbird which was originally a twin, now a tripple. Or the Rocket III which wasn't even a fucken Triumph.
Ah, OK. I was trying to recall something someone said a few years ago, now - I can see how I screwed it up - knew it had something to do with triples.

[Paul in NZ]

Bear in mind that the only thing common with Meridan and Hinkley Triumphs, is the name. Nothing else. Thank Christ....

Ma - Git mah pitchfork and mah hangin' trousers and call the boys at the classic club. I can feel a good old fashioned lynching comin' on....

:angry2:

[Paul in NZ]

The real value in 'Indian' is not the bikes which are just aftermarket part HD clone bikes but in the merchandise you can sell around it.

Yup! Caps and tee shirts...

Every chancer and no hoper has laid claim to the name just like a lot of the other greats.

Bloody sad way for a once great make to go but they paid the same price the british industry did. How HD avoided it is a miricle.

[Biff]

Erm actually - I'd love to own an Enfield!! Fiddly fun all the way. In addition to a proper bike as well of course.

[White trash]

Ma - Git mah pitchfork and mah hangin' trousers and call the boys at the classic club. I can feel a good old fashioned lynching comin' on....

:angry2:

Ummmmm, surely they'd agree?! Just in reverse perhaps....

[Motu]

Back in the days when everyone was going down the tube together,there was a bit of hand holding.I used to have one of Bob Greene's Motorcycle Sports Quarterlies (stolen,the others I have are guarded with a death threat to whoever touches them) where Phill Vincent wrote an article where he fitted a Vincent motor into an Indian,a last desperate grab of the rim as both went down the gurgler.Would of been one hell of an Indian....

Floyd Clymer had the Indian name for a long time,and did some nasty things with it,but a couple,one being a Royal Enfield marrige and the other a Velocette one were also worthy of interest.

Anglo Indian Accord (http://www.re-indian.com/enfield/enfield1.html)

Ha,ha,I just see that that site is run by Phill Doland,good one - I used to know Phill well and stayed with him in Melbourne,it was just bikes bikes bikes with us,and a few women tossed into the mix.It was through him we found the 5 new Stornello's hidden away in a house and bought the lot,we rode around together,him on his Falcone,me on my sidevalve M20 BSA.I remeber his father had the Munch Mamoth,but never saw it.I might have to drop him a line,dredge up 25 yr old memories....hmmm,maybe not....

[Posh Tourer :P]

hahahah i know they market them as sports bikes tho, thats the difference, iu mean my father in laws k1200rs is there 'sport bike' well was, and its like 260kgs thats 100kgs heavyer than my 600, and it only puts out a 125ish hp, so by time gets to rw its about 100, so thats around same as my 600 for half the cc's

BMW normally quote RWHP, so you may be mistaken there....

You will find that the K1200RS is in fact a "Sports Tourer". The sports bikes would be such things as the R69S, R90S, R1100S, K1200S etc. The tourers, incidentally are the RT and LT models......

Oh and as for "musseling and wreastling", most of it is technique, not a fault of the bike. ANY bike is flickable.......

[Cajun]

BMW normally quote RWHP, so you may be mistaken there....

You will find that the K1200RS is in fact a "Sports Tourer". The sports bikes would be such things as the R69S, R90S, R1100S, K1200S etc. The tourers, incidentally are the RT and LT models......

Oh and as for "musseling and wreastling", most of it is technique, not a fault of the bike. ANY bike is flickable.......

yes sorry i always forget about bmw and that, so 125hp @ rw and it takes forever to get up to speed.

Posh, i have spend alot of time on this bike a good 2000kms i guess, it is heavy to throw around you pretty much have to hang off it, to get around corners, and any good speed, father in law finds it alot easier than me to get it in to corners, but he is also twice my weight. It is flickable, but its not nice really flickable in the modern sence of the term, i mean i have riden goldwings, i think overall handle better, thru corners, than the 1200rs

[Paul in NZ]

Erm actually - I'd love to own an Enfield!! Fiddly fun all the way. In addition to a proper bike as well of course.

In the UK there are all sorts of special after market versions of them and one that can run to like 110 mph.

I knew a bloke in ChCh that hotted one up and my Triumph 650 could barely out run it (quiet you lot) on a twisty road. I was damn near tapped out in top one day at about 105 mph and the bugger was far too close.

Seriously good fun! 2 middle aged blokes that ought to know better laughing like stoned gibbons and pointing and laughing at each others shity old bikes while holding the throttles wide open with noses glued to the gas caps and the clutch hand tucked in under the bar and around the head lamp (while not pointing). Say what you want but it was a hoot.

I mean how often can you ride a bike utterly balls out these days...

I'd have one for tonk tonk tonking along.. Wonder if you can get a 600cc kit and a sidecar rig to suit?

[moko]

What is the general consensus on resurrected makes such as these and the Triumphs (I have heard complaints that the new Triumphs are sell-outs because the model names don't fit with the originals - like the new Trident is not a triple, etc)

Enfields now are allowed to,and do, carry the "Royal" tag.They`re popular in the U.K.,check out www.realclassic.co.uk and you`ll find tests of just about every available version there and a lot of owners using the forum.They`ve just announced a new model,the Electra,which is getting universally panned as they`ve played around with the styling,about the only thing they get bought for by old duffres,and bunged the price up to a few quid short of Honda`s mighty fine new CBF500 which whups it`s arse good and proper in every department.Brit importers do an cafe-racer version and a really neat retro trailie thing complete with sprung single seat.Incidentally export Enfields are made on a different production-line to local-market ones,which must be real shite as build-quality is an issue even amongst fans,depreciation is horrendous as well which makes for bargain used if you like that sort of thing.
Triumphs,like WT says there`s no connection,look hard at the logos side by side and you`ll see the subtle difference,there`s a reason for this which I cant remember off-hand.When I started riding a lot of my mates had the last of the Meriden Bonnies,no wonder they were the last,a lot of very pissed-off people around at the time who were trying to keep the factory afloat and being rewarded with badly-made,un-reliable crap.Apparently 650 bonnies are better in every way.New ones nab the old names,i like them,especially the Thunderbird Sport,kind of cruiser-ish with better handling than the usual Marauder-type thing.
More,a trail-bike was launched under the B.S.A name back in the 70`s with a 175 Yam engine,I think it was lashed together at what was left of the Norton factory but not sure,sure wasn`t a B.S.A.,beaver was possibly not a wise choice of name either.
Matchlesses were sold a couple of years back by a guy in Devon who`d bought the name,they had rotax single motors and I actually saw one being ridden yesterday morning.Same guy made Bonnies after Meriden went bust but I`ve no idea whether they were better/worse/the same.
The Gold star name is owned by someone who knocks out replicas with SR400/500 Yam motors,they`re neat but bloody expensive and tend to get bought by collectors or rich Japs who like that sort of bike.
The American Nortons are a bloody good example of what the Commando always should have been,there`s been a lot of debate about who owns the name but the bikes are very,very nice,kind of commando equivelant of a Hinckley Bonnie.Talking of which the basic one is just that,the T100 and Thruxton models are a lot nicer though opinion of those who have ridden both reckon the Kawasaki W650 is best of the lot.
Similar thing I guess,Harley sold 125,250 and 350 bikes here in the 70`s,they were re-badged Aermmachis and horrified afficienadoes of that make while proving that while people might buy a big badly-built(which they were back then)over-priced bike with a harley badge they wouldn`t fall for the same trick on a little one.

[thehollowmen]

I'm sure there are many people asking "for the love of god why did they ressurect the GN250?"

[Waylander]

Wish Yamaha would bring back the Virago. Would make it easier to get parts and to find that elusive 750.:2thumbsup

[thehollowmen]

Wish Yamaha would bring back the Virago. Would make it easier to get parts and to find that elusive 750.:2thumbsup

The Virago was a nice bike, and it made learners feel happy that this was a 'real motorbike' as opposed to some of the smaller (and cheeper) 150s and 250s that have trouble at higher speed....

Yeah, more Viragos would be good thing, that or a price drop in the CBR250...

Is suzuki trying to hook people onto their brand with the low priced GN250?