(another) Indian Uprising
(ANOTHER) INDIAN UPRISING
Alan Forbes spent the past 25 years pushing Indians overseas. Figuratively speaking, of course. Now he’s built a bike, the $33,000 Dakota. Forbes’ impetus? Ten years ago, when told he owed now-jailed con-man Phillip Zanghi 25 percent of all Indian-related earnings, he applied for and was granted U.K. rights, which encompass England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. In homage to Indian Fours past, the Scot cast-up an all-aluminium, air-cooled, ohv, 1845cc inline-Four, then plumbed it with a Weber carb, four-speed tranny and shaft final drive. He slotted the 48-horsepower engine into a double-cradle frame, added a conventional fork, twin shocks and 16-inch spoked wheels. “I wanted to re-establish a motorcycle that is a worthy machine, one that embodies the Indian spirit,” Forbes says of the 715-pounder. Unfortunately, he has yet to strike a reciprocal import/export deal with other trademark holders, namely Canada’s Indian Motorcycle Company. Time being, then, the only “new” Indians stateside will be V-Twins.
