One of the world’s most respected motorcycle brands is the Indian, produced in Springfield, Mass from 1901 to 1953. While the company made popular and fast bikes, it went broke and shuttered its production line. The brand was revived by Polaris in 2011, which purchased the rights to Indian motorcycles and began manufacturing them in 2013 (you likely can buy one of these new bikes near where you live).
The story of the Indian motorcycle company is quite long and grand, but beyond the scope of this post (if you want to learn more, click this link). I’d never seen one of these old motorcycles in person until I recently came across this spectacular specimen at the Gold and Silver Pawn shop in Las Vegas, home of the popular television series, Pawn Stars. It was a beautiful bike, lovingly maintained, but priced at around $100,000 — obviously aimed at deep pocketed collectors.
The brand was immortalized on the silver screen in the great film, The World’s Fastest Indian (2005). The movie is based on the true story of New Zealand speed bike racer, Burt Munro, and his modified Indian Scout motorcycle. Munro set numerous speed records for small engine (<1 liter) motorcycles at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah (late 1950s-1960s). The film stars Anthony Hopkins and is highly recommended. The following trailer gives you a good perspective of what the movie’s like:
