The Indian Motorcycle Company In Making
The Royal Enfield is the oldest vintage motorcycle model that is still in production in the modern times. The company had sourced out from Redditch, Worcestershire and it became non-existent in’71, however, there is still production done in India. The’63 Royal Enfield Indian Motorcycle model was the last one to utilize the “Indian” tagline attached to its name and sold to America.
While Royal Enfield was most popular for its sale of motorcycles, it made numerous other things, like rifle parts, lawnmowers, and bicycles. Their logo was a picture of a cannon with the motto “Made like a gun, goes like a bullet.
By’55, Enfield of India began manufacturing Bullet motorcycles under a licensing treaty with the UK brand, and by’62 they were making complete bikes. Even when Royal Enfield dissolved in’71, the Indian company, in Chennai carried on production and bought the rights to the name “Royal Enfield” in’95. They’re still in business as of 2009.
The year’50 was a turning point for the Indian Motorcycle Company of America. A company called Brockhouse Corporation was assisting with the finance of faltering Indian company, and bought it in’50. Some unlucky proceedings led to the India branch being split into two: one for the sales, and one for manufacturing.
The overhead valve engine costs was high and the manufacturing arm could not meet the retooling finances. So it closed in’53, and some Indian purists thought that it was the end of “real” Indian motorcycles. But the sales arm was still functioning and didn’t fold.
The Brockhouse Corporation had the rights to the name and after the Indian manufacturing failed, they began importing Enfields and sold them as Indian from’55 to’70. This was an example of “badge engineering” but it was not successful. Even though the dealers still went on with the unique Indian name after’59, the Indian name was removed from the motorcycles.
In the Indian Motorcycle history, there were numerous disputes about who would possess the authority to the brand name during this period. In’60, the Enfield Chief was still being sold- a rebadged Enfield 700 cc twin adjusted with the fender guards, saddlebags and other Indian accessories.
However, Associated Motorcycles of Britain bought the Indian name in’60. In’63, the Berliner Motor Corporation overpowered the U.S distributorship of Associated Motorcycles and the Indian name was completely erased for good. These details of the deal became life-like in form of trademark and branding struggles till’99.
Floyd Clymer, who was a racer, author, motorcycle dealer, and a magazine publisher, obtained the sales sector of the Indian company in the mid 60s. He spent five or more years of his life trying to retrieve the Indian brand name by fitting Indian nameplates to Italian Velocette-based bikes, and even having a prototype built based on the archetype Indian V-twin pattern. Even though it was well received, it was the only prototype ever manufactured.
The Indian scout motorcycle is a timeless icon in riding history. In order to learn more about Indian motorcycle handlebars follow the links.
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