The Iconic Indian Motorcycle has come to the East County and for those of you who are not familiar with the history of Indian, let us tell you a little about them.
Indian, originally built in 1901, was created by the Hendee Manufacturing Company, which was renamed the Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company circa 1928. It was chosen for New York City’s first motorcycle police unit in 1907. In 1919 the Indian Military Powerplus helped the U.S. and their allies win the First World War, devoting virtually its entire production to the war effort from 1917 through 1919. So when America entered the Second World War, Indian again switched to providing for the military instead of the consumer market. During the World War the Army bought nearly 50,000 of them. It’s a great gig getting a lucrative government contract, but when the war was over, Indian had lost a great share of the consumer market and by 1945 found itself struggling. It was sold in 1945 to the Torque Engineering Company, which had to halt production in 1953.
A later attempt to revive the brand in 1999 ended abruptly in 2003. By 2011, Indian, like a Phoenix rising from the ashes, was given life from a new manufacturer, Polaris Industries.
Combining the best of the past, the technology of today, and the promise of the future, Indian has arrived in East County in the form of Indian Motorcycle of El Cajon.
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