i thought this was kinda weird...

i just bought a 78 fxe... my pops has a 2001 indian spirit.

We were working on the bikes together last night and both too off the dash.
Underneath both bikes looked almost identical, it was like they could have been interchangeable. The only thing that that was different was that indian put theirs together using crappy frail wires..

this seemed weird the bikes are 20 years apart and they still had the same parts

 

Owned an Indian Chief Centennial for 4 months. Never again.

 

why's that? crap parts?

I was looking at the history of the company the other day. They've been passed around like a soccer ball.

 

From what little I remember about the last generation Indian's they were really customized Harleys. The current model is still using the last generation's Harley motor with many changes but they couldn't afford to come out with a new motor so they updated the last generation's v-twin. Only problem is it still vibrates and vibrates bad at speed over 70.

 

Well, the engine is solid as a rock. Mine had the evo style S&S motor. Lots of power and the bike was actually comfortable to ride. But, having to pull U turn every 50 miles to pick up parts is BS . The rear fenders crack, the dash's electrical is always going out, the primary chain drive sounds like a sack of marbles in a tin can, and they can't seem to make a good weld where it counts. I'm mainly speaking of the 99-01 models though.

 

Dont get me wrong I love my Harleys but wish Indian would get its act together.I love the styling..but a bad reputation as the above post will take time to overcome.

 

I've got a mate with a 99 Chief, he loves it, but when asked about it, he replies "it's a kit bike...."

 

I'm not too familiar with Indian Bikes but if the quality isn't as good as HD's you sure can't tell by the price. Their least expensive Chief Classic runs for about 25k where the top of the line Chief Vintage goes for almost 36k. I understand that they're 105ci engines but damn!

 

indian today is not the indian of yester-year. indian today was building with off shelf parts but of lately started their own parts.
hd killed indian in the ww2 years as hd got uncle sams support. indian did hold on for a few years and did quite well and raced well but their lower end did not hold up well. the only indian i had dealings with was an old scout, around 400cc vertical twin, which i got from my uncle. it was a mid 40 model and was pretty advanced for its era. gear indicator like the triumph and mine was setup for mag or battery ignition. my neighbor had an inline 4 cyl. indian but he trashed the engine by hooking up the oil line wrong after he cleaned the oil tank. i only wish i had kept the machine but it was a bear to get parts.

 

You are referring to 2 different Indians, the "Gilroy" Indians talked about in this thread were essentially a Harley clone, using S+S Evo style motors built from 99-03/4? (not a Gilroy Indian expert).

The "new" Indians are a different owner / bike manufacturer. I won't comment on reliability, quality, value, etc., for the new Indian bikes, too soon to call.