1927 Indian Motorcycle Unrestored -Joint entry number 14 Greg Stevens & Christine Stevens
Among the finest machines ever built, the Indian – within a decade of its’ birth in 1901 – was achieving 100 mph speeds and setting speed and distance records.
The Indian revolutionized law enforcement when, in New York City in 1905, the New York Police Department abandoned their bicycles for the new Indians, initializing the birth of the motorcycle cop.
The founder of the Indian Motorcycle Company was George M. Hendee, one of the greatest bicycle racers of all time, and winner of an astounding 302 of 309 races in which he was a competitor. Par
tnering with engineering whiz Oscar Hedstrom, the duo built the Indian Motorcycle Company into the world’s largest manufacturer of its kind by its twelfth year of operation.
In 1926, the company acquired the assets of a filing competitor, Ace Motorcycle. Those assets included the right to manufacture and add to Indian’s product line the fantastic four-cylinder motorcycle that was Ace’s premier product. Renamed the “Indian Four”, the machine was successfully marketed to police departments and the sporting public.
The 101 Scout Model, introduced in 1928, was powered by the Scout V-Twin. The machine’s brisk acceleration, speed and road responsiveness soon made it the cycle of choice for stunt riders.
The Indian Motorcycle Company’s half-century run finally ended in 1953. Despite continuous orders of cycles by the New York Police Department, profit margins were too low to sustain the company’s continuation.
