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About Indian Motorcycle

Indian Motorcycle can claim to be America's first motorcycle company. Founded in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1901, two years before Harley-Davidson, it built the Scout and Chief that won races and hearts before the Second World War. Financial trouble ended production in 1953, and the next half-century brought a series of failed revivals that kept the war-bonnet logo alive mostly as a nostalgic memory. Collectors still prize the prewar Chiefs and Fours as some of the most beautiful American machines ever built.

Real revival came after Polaris bought the brand in 2011 and relaunched it with a new Thunder Stroke V-twin and a line of cruisers and baggers that took direct aim at Harley-Davidson. The Scout, Chief, Chieftain, Roadmaster and Challenger restored Indian's credibility, and the FTR, inspired by its dominant flat-track racing team, gave it a sporting edge. Indian also won the King of the Baggers series with its Challenger. In recent years Polaris sold control of Indian to an investment firm, keeping a minority stake.

Indian competes with Harley in nearly every segment, and the brand often wins on technology, handling and value in comparison tests. Its smaller Scout family is a key entry point for new riders. The challenge is scale: Harley still outsells it by a wide margin, and tariffs and dealer economics weigh on both. This page covers new models, first rides, comparisons, racing, ownership changes, recalls and the long rivalry with Milwaukee.