INDIAN ?

Went to the closing of Indian Motorcycle of Springfield today, It don't look good 4th dealer to close in Massachusetts this month, they claim its restructuring. We had 10 in a hundred-mile radius, I think the whole motorcycle industry is in trouble ?

It’s a changing landscape that’s for sure. The younger generations aren’t into bikes like the past, they are more interested in gaming than being outside playing. The parents buying kids mini bikes and such isn’t like it used to be either. If you don’t experience these things as a kid, you won’t grow up wanting it more. I think it applies to the whole Motorsport industry.

This seems to be a trend. Young folk are not interested in motorcycles these days as they were when i was a kid. I think that is why some of the companies like Honda are building automatic transmission bikes because kids don't know how to use a clutch and manual transmission. Not sure if this helps bring in younger business. Also the price of a motorcycle has escalated to where it isn't just an incidental purchase.

ROAD DOG said:

Went to the closing of Indian Motorcycle of Springfield today, It don't look good 4th dealer to close in Massachusetts this month, they claim its restructuring. We had 10 in a hundred-mile radius, I think the whole motorcycle industry is in trouble ?

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The same thing has been going on for years with Honda Power sports. When I lived on Southside of Chicago, there used to be several Honda dealers within about 10 dealers including at least one on the Southside. By about 10 years ago, the closest one was about 25 miles away and in Indiana. It was very weird to not have a single dealer/service place for a major brand in a major metro area like Chicago. Although obviously Honda has continued. As they began closing, it forced me to start doing the majority of my own wrenching (although I was actually doing a lot already by that time) and rely on the online parts places.

Victory by Polaris launched a completely new bike in 1999. They didn’t really catch on until about 2004 with some major advertising and I bought a new TCD. Finally, there was an updated American made V-twin that wasn’t a Harley and it was a fantastic bike! Traded it later for a 2006 Kingpin Deluxe, then again in 2009 for a futuristic looking Vision Premium Touring. Hands down the best bike I ever owned.

Then came the news in 2017 Polaris was dumping Victory and concentrating on the resurrected Indian they picked up a few years earlier.

They tried to get several of us to trade and buy an Indian to compete with Harley, but the Victory owners were fuming including myself. The good Victory dealers saw the handwriting on the wall and closed down shop rather than switching over to Indian.

The few Indian dealers around me since have been slowly closing doors or moving on to other brands so it’s no surprise to me hearing the news. Not saying Indian is going out of business, but the way Polaris alienated loyalist Victory owners forever left a bad taste for anything Polaris branded including all their other powersport products.

Honda even closed their factory here in the US

The Indian dealer in Fayetteville NC Baker bought the Harley dealership in Goldsboro and Smithfield NC, he just kept the Smithfield one open. The previous owner Shelton kept the building in Goldsboro. They just renovated the building in Smithfield and they call themselves Bulldog Harley . They do well,I’ve had a few things done there and I am really satisfied with their service.

Pegasus1300 said:

Honda even closed their factory here in the US

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Yes they did and moved it back to Japan around 2010. But unfortunately shortly after the move, Japan had that giant tsunami and took time to rebuild. That's why there are no 2011 GL1800's

Wonder with all the tariff stuff if Honda or other overseas bike builder will consider putting factories back in the USA? See the TV ads for Mitsubishi bragging they are assembled in the USA so no worry about tariffs and Mitsubishi says they have lowered the MSRP on various models. Not sure what the tariff is on motorcycles made in Japan or India (Triumph) but cheap labor can't negate high tariffs. On top of all the Japanese brands, I have owned several Triumphs...