The, Man, Who Killed Indian
The, Man, Who Killed Indian
Or was Ralph Rogers simply ahead of his time?
TRUTH BE TOLD, THE GREAT DEPRESSION really killed Indian. It just took another 25 years for the breathing to stop. Once the largest producer of motorcycles on Earth, Indian had gradually given up its place-first to Harley-Davidson, then to imported British brands-through a painful, slow decline.
But things might have been different, maybe even radically so. When Ralph Rogers was named Indian president in 1945, the product line had been reduced to a single model, the old sidevalve Chief, barely more than 2000 of which were produced per year, compared to annual Harley-Davidson sales of over 10,000. Indian’s hulking 400,000-square-foot factory in Springfield, Massachusetts-the “Wigwam”-was operating at only 5 percent capacity. Having once boasted plants in the United States and Canada, branch offices in London and Melbourne, and 3000 dealers worldwide, Indian was down to about 400 American dealers, each selling on average fewer than five motorcycles per year.
But Rogers was a young, successful, millionaire industrialist, not a grizzled motorcycle man saddled by antiquated ideas. He saw before him a youthful and prosperous nation, an America that believed in itself and its ability to lead the world. He saw the government supporting higher education for returning G.I.s, and a U.S. Congress pouring money into a vast, highspeed interstate highway system. He saw young couples with disposable income moving to the suburbs. Rogers understood the changes taking place in America, and he understood that its old, entrenched, hidebound motorcycle industry was ill-prepared to capture a share of this new prosperity.
Abandoning Indian’s V-Twin and four-cylinder traditions, Rogers diverted company resources to the acquisition of Torque Manufacturing of Plainfield, Connecticut, which had a new motorcycle engine already under development. Called the “Dyna-Torque,” it was an overhead-valve design not too different from the designs of British engineering maestro Edward Turner, the designer of Triumph and Ariel engines. This type of engine fit nicely with Rogers’ vision of a lightweight bike that could compete against the British and attract a new breed of customer. The Dyna-Torque line was introduced in 1948 with a 220cc Single, the Arrow, followed by a 440cc Twin, the Scout, in 1949. An 880cc luxury fourcylinder was under development.
At this time, motorcycles were regarded by the public at large as fearsome, intimidating and hard to ride. For the most part, they were! Rogers wanted a product that would be easy to operate and that would not intimidate new customers, including women. In a speech outlining this new concept at Indian’s 1948 dealer convention, Rogers described motorcycling as a family activity. He envisioned successful young fathers buying twin-cylinder Scouts for themselves, and single-cylinder Arrows for their wives and teenage children. He told dealers Indian was going to buy massive amounts of advertising in mainstream publications such as Life magazine. Sales to this new market would be greater than anyone
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in the American motorcycle industry had ever imagined, and Indian would expand its dealer network to meet growing customer demand. It had already abandoned the old Wigwam and spent a fortune to open a new factory for DynaTorque production.
On the marketing side, Indian made good on its claims. Literature appeared depicting business-suited men, families and young mothers riding Indians. It compared riding an Indian to squeakyclean activities like tennis and skiing. Sports heroes such as Bill Stem and Johnny Lujak endorsed the new Indian and described how easy it was to ride. Hollywood star Jane Russell talked about safe motorcycling aboard her new DynaTorque. Actor Alan Ladd was widely publicized as the proud owner of a new Indian. In every imaginable way, respectability and wholesome living were associated with the new Dyna-Torque line.
But the effort was to no avail. Due to Indian’s haste to reinvent itself, it mshed an underdeveloped and largely untested product to market, and found itself faced with a full-scale disaster. Dyna-Torque Indians failed on the street as quickly as dealers could sell them. Mismatched cam gears, bearings damaged during production and faulty drysump oiling systems resulted in catastrophic engine failures. Although Lucas electrics had justifiably earned the title of “Prince of Darkness” among Britbike owners, the new Indian’s electrical system was even worse.
Given more time and enough capital, Indian might have recovered, and Rogers might have been vindicated. But the company confronted other forces beyond its control when, in September, 1949, the British government devalued the pound sterling by 25 percent. This had the effect of reducing the retail price of all products imported from Great Britain, including motorcycles. By 1950, Rogers was removed as Indian’s president, and British investors took control of the company. In 1953 production at Springfield ceased, and America’s once greatest motorcycle manufacturer became nothing more than an importer of inferior and outdated foreign motorcycles bearing the Indian nameplate.
In retrospect, though, the ideas of Ralph Rogers seem little different from the concepts that drove another bike-maker to spectacular success just a decade later. Easy as it is to condemn Rogers as the man who killed Indian, we might rather offer our sympathy to a genius ahead of his time. The revolutionary lightweight product and marketing strategy for which he risked Indian’s resources and good name were subsequently proven sound-no, indeed brilliant-by the legendary success of American Honda.
Ed Youngblood
The author is curator for the “Century of Indian ” exhibit at the AMA ’s Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum. A catalog for the exhibit is contained in a new book, A Century of Indian. published by Motor Books International.
