Indian Motorcycles

Indian Motorcycle was founded in 1901 in Springfield, Massachusetts, by George Hendee and Oscar Hedstrom, making it America's first motorcycle manufacturer. The company reached peak production of roughly 32,000 motorcycles in 1913 before a long decline ended in bankruptcy in 1953. Over the following decades the Indian name passed through a series of owners and revival attempts, including a Gilroy, California operation that itself went bankrupt in 2003, before Polaris Industries acquired the brand in 2011. Polaris has since invested heavily in new factories, model lines and racing programs, making the post-2011 era the most sustained and successful revival in the brand's history. Today Indian builds cruisers, baggers and touring motorcycles that trade directly on that century-plus American heritage, positioned as Harley-Davidson's principal domestic rival.