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Two classic brands (Chris-Craft + Indian Motorcycles) are cruising for a comeback
CNN/Fortune ^ | November 23 2006: 8:12 AM EST | Eugenia Levenson

Posted on 11/23/2006 1:56:14 PM PST by martin_fierro

Two classic brands are cruising for a comeback

The two Harvard Business School classmates who resurrected Chris-Craft have a new plan to bring Indian Motorcycle back from the brink. Can this icon be saved?

Fortune's Eugenia Levenson reports

FORTUNE Magazine

By Eugenia Levenson, Fortune reporter

November 23 2006: 8:12 AM EST

(Fortune Magazine) -- In a tiny hotel screening room in Miami, 20 friends and colleagues crowded around Stephen Julius and Steve Heese. It was February 2005, and they were there to watch a prerelease version of a film called "The World's Fastest Indian." The movie featured Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins as the New Zealander who set a land-speed record on an Indian Scout motorcycle in the 1960s, but the group had gathered to see the film's real star: the bike itself.

When credits rolled, the room sprang to a standing ovation. For Heese and Julius, Indian's new owners, the good news was that the fabled brand still resonated. The bad news? Indian, which the pair had bought out of bankruptcy a year earlier, wasn't exactly ready for its close-up.

Founded in 1901, Indian beat Harley-Davidson to market by two years and invented the brawny "cruiser" class of bikes that defined American motorcycle style. Yet poor management after World War II pushed the company into bankruptcy in 1953, and production of all Indian motorcycles halted for nearly half a century. Efforts to resuscitate Indian in the late 1990s, first by a Canadian investor group and then by a Boston-based private-equity firm, ended in Chapter 11.

< -- SNIP -- >

Indian's first model - the Chief - won't get to market till late 2007, so the turnaround is just beginning. But one thing's for sure: For Julius and Heese, it's already been a great ride.

(Excerpt) Read more at money.cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Hobbies; Miscellaneous; Outdoors
KEYWORDS: chriscraft; indian; indianmotorcycles
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1 posted on 11/23/2006 1:56:17 PM PST by martin_fierro
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To: 230FMJ; 68 grunt; absolootezer0; AdamSelene235; AJMaXx; angry elephant; archy; baddog1; baltodog; ..

Visit the FMH Swag Store & support FR!
Send FReepmail if you want on/off FMH list
The List of Ping Lists

Here we go again!

2 posted on 11/23/2006 1:57:47 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro

3 posted on 11/23/2006 2:01:44 PM PST by Muleteam1
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To: martin_fierro

Indian Motorcycles were made in Springfield, Massachusetts, within a mile of where basketball was invented and where the Springfield Rifle was made. Smith & Wesson was nearby.

I bet there are a hundred old Indian motorcycles sitting in garages in Springfield.


4 posted on 11/23/2006 2:10:46 PM PST by ladyjane
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To: martin_fierro

I love it ~ ya can't have too many motorcycle brands! >:-}

Key MF, did you see "The World's Fastest Indian?"

I did and later bought the DVD.


5 posted on 11/23/2006 2:20:03 PM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: blackie; JoeSixPack1; BraveMan; Tijeras_Slim; pt17; uglybiker
Key MF, did you see "The World's Fastest Indian?"

Sure did!

Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

Right before I saw "The World's Fastest Old Fart"

6 posted on 11/23/2006 2:32:41 PM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro
"The World's Fastest Indian." The movie featured Oscar-winner Anthony Hopkins. . . .

We saw it last week. Good flick.

7 posted on 11/23/2006 2:40:22 PM PST by Charles Henrickson (They could have left out a couple sleazy bits, but otherwise very good.)
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To: martin_fierro

"Indian Motorcycles" = The never ending investment scheme! :-)


8 posted on 11/23/2006 2:45:33 PM PST by JoeSixPack1 ( Press "2" to disconnect until you have learned to speak English)
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To: martin_fierro

Indian Motorcycle company revival part 27. Was the brand ownership dispute ever resolved? That's when I lost interest in this saga.

Could you put me on the motorcycle ping list please?


9 posted on 11/23/2006 2:46:26 PM PST by bad company ([link:www.truthout.org/docs_2006/083006J.shtml | The Path to 9/11])
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To: martin_fierro

They're going to need to do more than just rely on the marquee.


10 posted on 11/23/2006 2:51:03 PM PST by jjm2111 (http://www.purveryors-of-truth.blogspot.com)
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To: Muleteam1

11 posted on 11/23/2006 3:45:06 PM PST by battlegearboat
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To: patton

miss the boat?


12 posted on 11/23/2006 7:08:29 PM PST by leda (Life is always what you make it!)
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To: leda

Yes, I do.


13 posted on 11/23/2006 7:26:52 PM PST by patton (Sanctimony frequently reaps its own reward.)
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To: martin_fierro
If they could just sell them at a price that the average person can afford. I can get a new Honda for $4000, just barely in my affordability range, albeit a Shadow 250, which would not haul my big rear end at any respectable speed.

If they plan on making it a successful venture, they need to rely on more than just a nostalgic name that Harley riders only remember with fond tales of yesteryear.
14 posted on 11/24/2006 4:14:40 AM PST by Sensei Ern (http://www.myspace.com/reconcomedy - For a good time visit www.laurelbaptisttemple.org)
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To: Sensei Ern; martin_fierro; JoeSixPack1
. . . they need to rely on more than just a nostalgic name that Harley riders only remember with fond tales of yesteryear.

I doubt there are too many Harley riders fondly remembering the Indian marque. There has been a fierce rivalry between Harley Davidson and Indian owners since around 1903. Back in the '20s & '30s Indian owners engaged in all sorts of derision towards Harley owners, much like the many Japanese afficiandos found on these Hooligan threads today.

Here's a poem that was popular early on about this rivalry:


"You'll never wear out
The Indian Scout,
or its brother,
The Indian Chief.
They're built like rocks
To take hard knocks.
It's the Harleys
That cause the grief."


Butch Baer, an Indian dealer and notable dirt track racer in the heydays had this to say about the rivalry:

"You were an Indian fan period. And whatever Indian had was the best. And Harley of course, they were made out of tin over in a Milwaukee conveyer factory. The rivalry between the two got to the point where Indian riders didn’t even talk to Harley riders. It was crazy."
15 posted on 11/24/2006 6:10:51 AM PST by BraveMan
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To: bad company

the Excelsior Henderson has been reborn a few times, too


16 posted on 11/24/2006 7:46:51 AM PST by Rakkasan1 ((Illegal immigrants are just undocumented friends you haven't met yet!))
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To: martin_fierro

Heavy on the "OLD!" >:-}


17 posted on 11/24/2006 7:59:24 AM PST by blackie (Be Well~Be Armed~Be Safe~Molon Labe!)
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To: Charles Henrickson
They could have left out a couple sleazy bits, but otherwise very good.

The "Transvestite-With-A-Heart-Of-Gold" bit was too much.

18 posted on 11/24/2006 8:06:23 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: blackie

lolz


19 posted on 11/24/2006 8:07:16 AM PST by martin_fierro (< |:)~)
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To: martin_fierro
While we are at it let us bring back some other classic motorcycle manufacturers like Norton, Ossa, AJS, Rupp, and of course Hodaka.
20 posted on 11/24/2006 8:07:21 AM PST by hodaka
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