First, the good news: If you’re a lover of a big thumping engine on a big beautiful bike, there is more reason for you to get excited. Polaris, which has a range of ATVs in India, is also the owner of the iconic Indian brand of motorcycles. And it is planning to launch them in India starting 2014.
The Indian Motorcycle company first started out as the Hendee Manufacturing Company in 1901 and changed its name to the now famous Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company in 1928. The ‘Indian’ name refers to the Red Indian tribes of America and has no relation to our country in any way. It was the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world in the 1910s, helped by the fact that they tasted success in racing. The company went bankrupt in 1953, and since then has changed hands many times and tasted very limited success. Polaris bought the company in 2011, and is hoping to bring back the brand to its former glory.
Updated on 22nd January 2014
Polaris has officially entered the Indian market, unveiling three of its latest models in India. The Indian Classic @ 26.5, the Indian Chieftain @ 33 Lakh and Indian Vintage @ 29.5 have been launched in India. The bikes will be brought to India via the the CBU (completely built units), and the first deliveries will start in mid March 2014. The first showroom will be opened in Delhi, the second one will come up in Bangalore.
Price
Indian Chief Classic : Rs. 26.5 Lakh
Indian Chief Vintage : Rs. 29.5 Lakh
Indian Chieftain : Rs. 33 Lakh
All prices, ex-showroom Delhi
Specifications
2014 Indian Chieftain
Dimensions:
Length x Width x Height (in mm) : 2571 x 1011 x 1529
Wheelbase (in mm) : 1669
Gross Weight : 629 Kg
Performance
Engine capacity: 1811 cc
Power : 100 BHP
Torque : 139 Nm @ 2600 rpm
Transmission : 6-speed
Suspension – 119 mm Telescopic at front, 114 mm single shock at the rear
Wheels: 16-inch front and rear
Tyres: 130mm section at front, 180mm section at rear
Brakes: Dual-disc, 4-piston at front. single-disc, 2-piston at rear. with ABS
Features
- Cruise control
- Driving lights
- Keyless start
- Remote locking hard saddle bags
- Tire pressure monitor
- 100 Watt stereo
2014 Indian Chief Vintage
Dimensions:
Length x Width x Height (in mm) : 2634 x 1011 x 1491
Wheelbase (in mm) : 1730
Gross Weight : 572 Kg
Performance
Engine capacity: 1811 cc
Power : 100 BHP
Torque : 139 Nm @ 2600 rpm
Transmission : 6-speed
Suspension – 119 mm Telescopic at front, 114 mm single shock at the rear
Wheels: 16-inch front and rear
Tyres: 130mm section at front, 180mm section at rear
Brakes: Dual-disc, 4-piston at front. single-disc, 2-piston at rear. with ABS
Features
- Cruise control
- Driving lights
- Keyless start
- Leather seats
- Vintage leather saddle bags
2014 Indian Chief Classic
Dimensions:
Length x Width x Height (in mm) : 2629 x 1011 x 1172
Wheelbase (in mm) : 1730
Gross Weight : 572 Kg
Performance
Engine capacity: 1811 cc
Power : 100 BHP
Torque : 139 Nm @ 2600 rpm
Transmission : 6-speed
Suspension – 119 mm Telescopic at front, 94 mm single shock at the rear
Wheels: 16-inch front and rear
Tyres: 130mm section at front, 180mm section at rear
Brakes: Dual-disc, 4-piston at front. single-disc, 2-piston at rear. with ABS
Features
- Cruise control
- Driving lights
- Keyless start
- Leather seats
Updated on 16th December 2013
Indian Motorcycles will officially enter the Indian market on 22nd January 2014. As we had mentioned earlier (check 4th December update), Indian is expected to launch the 2014 range via the CBU route. This includes the 2014 Indian Chief Classic, the 2014 Indian Chief Vintage and the 2014 Indian Chieftain.
It would be interesting to see how Indian takes on the competition from Harley-Davidson and Triumph. The customer is getting spoilt for choice and that is what matters. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.
Updated on 4th December 2013
Polaris is keen to launch the Indian brand of motorcycles in India, as it is seeing it’s main rival Harley-Davidson doing very well in the big-engined cruiser category in India. The launch of Triumph in India also adds to the competition in India, and Polaris does not want to loose out much to both of the companies.
Overdrive has reported that the Indian Motorcycles brand could be launched in India in January 2014, and will sell all the bikes from it’s recently unveiled 2014 range. The bikes include the 2014 Indian Chief Classic, the 2014 Indian Chief Vintage and the 2014 Indian Chieftain.
All the bikes are powered by the same V-Twin Thunder Stroke 111 engine, which has a capacity of 111 cubic inch/1811cc. The engine is high on torque (160 Nm @ 3000 rpm) and is mated to a 6-speed transmission which transfers power to the rear wheel via a carbon-fibre reinforced belt.
Some of the equipment found on the bikes sold in the USA include:
- ABS
- Cruise Control
- Keyless Start
- Tank mounted instrument cluster
- Stereo system with Bluetooth connectivity
Indian Motorcycles also offers a lot of customisation options for their bikes, along with branded apparel. You can check out the introduction videos of each of the bikes below.
Video: 2014 Indian Chief Classic
Video: 2014 Indian Chief Vintage
Video: 2014 Indian Chieftain
It remains to be seen if Indian Motorcycles will go all out and launch all their bikes and offer the same level of customisation that they offer customers in markets like in the USA. The cheapest bike in their range, the Chief Classic is priced at about Rs. 12 lakh in the USA, it would cost more if the company brings the bikes via the CBU route. There were unconfirmed reports that Polaris was in talks with Eicher if they could use their facilities in India to assemble the bikes via the CKD route, but there have not been any reports if the negotiations were successful or not. Whatever is the case, we are looking forward to Indian Motorcycles coming to India and it would be interesting to see how well it fares here.
We will keep you posted on developments of Indian Motorcycles in India, keep tuned in to Car Blog India.
Updated on 25th May 2013
In its heyday, Indian was giving Harley-Davidson a run for its money. The competitor has now gone global in a big way, and officially launched its bikes in India in 2010. The demand for its large capacity cruisers is pretty high, even though the asking price for one starts at more than Rs. 5 Lakh. Harley-Davidson saw a growth of 178 per cent, and that has given Polaris a pretty good reason to introduce Indian motorcycles in India, and aggressively market its bikes in countries outside of the United States of America .
Indian will launch its offensive here in 2014, and leading the charge could be the 2014 Chief. Very few details of the Chief are available online, what we do know is that it will be powered by Indian’s new V-Twin Thunder Stroke 111 engine, which has a capacity of 111 cubic inch/1811cc. This big engine will be high on torque, Indian promises 160 Nm and will be mated to a six-speed transmission. Isn’t that exciting! Prices of the Chief in the US start at Rs. 10.52 lakh. The other bikes in the current (2013) range of Indian motorcycles start at about Rs. 15 lakh.
Indian V-Twin Thunder Stroke 111: Video
Polaris India Managing Director Pankaj Dubey has confirmed with the Cyril Huze Blog that the company is planning to launch the Indian brand here, but declined to elaborate.
source – autoevolution via Cyril Huze Post
