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An Exceptional Opportunity For Outstanding Individuals
More than a century after the first Indian rolled out of the factory and into immortality, America's original motorcycle company is once again making history.
While we're not exactly reinventing the wheel (or even two wheels), we are reviving the almost lost art of building technologically advanced, high-performance, bulletproof motorcycles without sacrificing the pride inherent in hand-craftsmanship, the beauty of a machine designed for a class -- not a mass -- market, and the romance of going places, doing things and being there on a bike.
More than any other American motorcycle manufacturer, Indian based its corporate culture and brand image on the adventure of the open road. Today Indian has embarked on its most exciting road trip since 1901, a journey powered by meticulously assembled, classically styled motorcycles and state-of-the-art V-twin running gear.
Led by a world-class management team with documented success reanimating iconic American manufacturing companies, solidly financed by stable, long-term investment funds, engineered by some of the most prominent names in the American motorcycle industry, Indian is on-track to become a $100 million business over the next half decade.
As a cornerstone of that growth, we are committed to establishing a flourishing, vibrant, exclusive dealer network fully stocked with Indian motorcycles, accessories, parts, apparel and riding gear.
The long red line leading from the first Crimson Steed of Steel to the 2009 Indian, though full of twists and occasionally dark passes, has continued unbroken in the hearts and souls of American riders for 107 years.
If you're an exceptional business person interested in taking your place in that line and becoming part of our history, click here for full dealership information.
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Flagship Dealership Underway
Seamlessly integrating classic Springfield Indian-era iconic themes and 21st Century forward styling, the first Indian dealership of 50 scheduled to be built and opened within the next 24 months is now rising in the virtual shadow of the factory Wigwam in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.
"It's only natural that we'd want our flagship dealership close to home and the site down the road at Lowell perfectly meets all the criteria we've established for our franchised dealers' locations," Indian Chairman Stephen Julius said at an October 31 groundbreaking ceremony attended by North Carolina political and economic leaders. "Not only is the location easily accessible from Interstate 85, it's easily visible from the freeway. When you've got exterior architecture as striking and unique as ours you definitely want everyone to see it, even if they aren't motorcycle riders."
Each of the initial 50 Indian dealerships will feature interior space entirely devoted to selling and servicing Indians and official Indian parts and accessories and will be staffed by an experienced general manager/Indian enthusiast and factory-certified mechanics.
"What we're looking for, and demanding, is dealers willing to build an exclusively Indian business for the long term. This themed, single-purpose building going up here in North Carolina is a concrete, steel, and glass manifestation of that."
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Even Our Dealers Are Legendary
Like Indian Motorcycle itself, Indian dealers have a proud record of making history as well as sales.
Take John Clarence Hoel, for example. As a small-town ice vendor in the 1930s he recognized that economically priced electric refrigerators would eventually put a terminal chill on his business. Opting for a career change merging his avocation -- riding motorcycles -- with his vocation, he opened an Indian dealership in 1936 and immediately began looking for innovative ways to market his products.
Quickly realizing that two of the most potent sales tools he had were his customers willingness to share their love of riding and the incredibly beautiful riding country around them, he organized the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club in late1936.
A little more than a year later, the Gypsies hosted the first Black Hills Motor Classic. In addition to inviting riders from all over America (200 showed up that first year) to a half-mile dirt track race, members of the club introduced visitors to the pleasures of "Gypsy Touring" through the Ponderosa (aka jackpine) pine-covered hills, valleys and canyons surrounding Hoel's hometown of Sturgis, South Dakota -- a tradition current Jackpine Gypsies continue today.
Hoel operated his Indian dealership right up until the Springfield company's 1953 demise. Along the way, he motivated so many young men to see the world from an Indian motorcycle saddle that he picked up the nickname with which he has gone down in history: Pappy.
Pappy Hoel, who died in 1989 at the age of 85, was instrumental in guiding the Jackpine Gypsies and the Black Hills Motorcycle Classic -- now known as the Sturgis Rally to most of the 500,000 motorcycle enthusiasts who attend it every August -- for half a century, an unparalleled achievement in the field of popularizing the motorcycle lifestyle.
He was also one hell of an Indian man, selling, in the post World War II era, more new Indians per capita than any other dealer in the world.
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