Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Other Bikes Test Ride 2009 Indian MC's

Donny and I rode a couple of Indians this afternoon at the local Triumph/BMW/Victory/Indian dealership They were having free test rides. I am trying to find something nice to say about them, but it's really hard. We took them for about a 30 minute ride. They have a 105 CI engine that looks like an old Harley panhead and some of the paint schemes and saddle combinations are pretty cool. There is a sweet spot at about 70 in sixth gear and everything smooths out, but getting there involves some shakes and vibrations and even an odd noise now and then. The least expensive one is $25,000 and they go up to $36,000. They are hand made so that is something. We also got a patch that said we rode a part of history today, but I honestly can't see how someone would buy a bike like that, if they were going to ride it much. Lets just say the best part of the afternoon for me, was when we were talking to Richard in the Triumph section. He said they had 2 Thunderbirds coming in next week and at the dealer meeting there was no mention of a new Trophy other then rumors. He thought it would definitely not show up in 2010. Did I mention we rode a part of History today?

Sounds like the part of history you rode today might be a part of history again soon. Too bad. Thanks for the write up. I'll probably cancel that dream in my rotation now.

Must win lottery soon!
Must win lottery soon!
Must win lottery soon!
Must win lottery soon!
Must win lottery soon!

I have a friend who is an Indian freak! For now he has the Kawasaki Vulcan Drifter and for those of you that don't know... it's a bit of an Indian wanna be. It's been in some of my picture posts and is a nice bike. I really like the look of it and the way it rides. Anyway this post would be quite disturbing for him, as it is for myself. I appreciate his love for Indians. And the price... whew, I'll stick with my Triumph piece of history!

Still though... that's pretty cool you got to ride an Indian!

All I have to say is if you ever get the chance to ride an Indian......pass
Talk about no power the one I rode made my Harley feel like a sport bike, in all honesty I think its the worse bike I ever rode on.
The fit and finish on these bikes are top notch but Im not paying up to 37k for a motorcycle.The vibrations were terrible,even the headligt assembly shook like mad.
Big let down is all I can say..

Well, on the 1st day of August (Saturday) I had to take a Sprinter to Tulsa Dodge to get an extra key (gotta get the things programed) so of course I dropped by the Triumph shop (closest one to me) and looked at the Indians......beautiful , a work of art but I choked at the $38,ooo price tag would love to own one but what a price ! I could buy a Rocket III + a Thruxton & a new Thunderbird for that....... If I ever become increadibly rich, I'll just buy me an old pan head to stick in the garage along side the Trumps

It's funny how things change. I had a pan when I was a kid and I bought it for $500 in running condition. If I had known what it would be worth now I would have kept it.

I bought a 99 Vulcan Drifter because it reminded me of the Indians my Uncle Charlie used to ride in the 40's...He quit riding in the 50's because he said there were too many cars on the road..and that was upstate NY ...It was a solid bike but nothing very inspiring to ride so I sold it in 06..but I did have to keep the jacket..pretty cool piece of clothing...I have to wonder why these latest 2 fellas decided to resurrect the Indian brand because they aren't any dummies and used their own money...I scratch my head at that one...So I went from my Drifter to an 05 Rocket..now that's an inspiring ride....