Dakota4
DAKOTA4
RIDES 2K3
Indian interloper?
PETER STARR
JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT THE INDIAN REBIRTH STORY HAD SETTLED DOWN, ALONG comes a daft Scotsman who thinks he has a better idea! The loony in question is Mr. Alan Forbes, an Indian fanatic since the 1970s who has been running a parts and restoration business from a backstreet shop in the heart of Edinburgh-and a more unlikely location for Indian restoration one could not imagine. Having invested much time and money in keeping antique Indians running, Forbes decided the next logical step was to build a complete motorcycle. One that carried the heritage of the Indian brand to a level that the long-gone “Wigwam” factory might have, had it continued its basic design and manufacturing philosophy through to the latter part of the 20th century instead of going belly-up in 1953.
“We are making a new Indian motorcycle because I feel we have history behind us,” Forbes says. “The old Indian factory lasted barely 50 years; we now have 30 years experience under our belt making parts and keeping vintage Indian products
on the road. As a company, we wish first and foremost to produce a motorcycle that embodies what the public expects when they see the Indian name.”
The Indian that Forbes has bought to market and the one I recently rode for 750 miles around central Scotland is an 1845cc, fore/aft inline, air-cooled four-cylinder engine with two valves per cylinder. The exhaust pipes flow in much the same fashion as the original Indian Fours of the 1930s, but there the similarity ceases. This is a modern cruiser with shaft drive, disc brakes, a strong duplex frame supported at the front by a Showa 45mm fork, at the rear by twin Progressive Suspension shocks. Fuel is delivered via an electric pump to a fuel-injection system. Power is quoted as 95 bhp at 3900 rpm, with 130 foot-pounds of torque. The engine is mated to a fourspeed gearbox.
The engine is the brainchild of Sture Tomgren, a Swedish engineer who long admired the unique aesthetics of the longitudinal-Four as fitted to American classics like Indian, Ace, Henderson and Cleveland. Conveniently, the Volvo car company produced a cast-iron four-banger, the B20, that served as his starting point. Out went the water jackets and radiator, on went finned aluminum cylinders. Currently, the engine-now with alloy crankcases, too-is made in Sweden, but Forbes is considering having the motor and transmission outsourced in Scotland.
“We are not approaching the manufacture of this motorcycle in the old terms of having a factory with hundreds of employees,” he says. “For our type of company, what is important is the outside manufacturing of parts made to our specifications. Quality-control and final assembly is done in our own facility.”
The original Indian Four ceased to be in 1942, and Forbes is quick to point out that he is not recreating an old motorcycle, but incorporating certain long-admired styling and design features into a modem, functional machine.
“We are producing a ‘feel’ motorcycle with tactile qualities that are disappearing-or have already disappeared-in today’s homogenized cycle products,” he says. “There are those who hanker after how the world used to be, rather than how the world is going, and we identify with that. We’re lifelong motorcyclists making machinery with a passion.” Okay, but what about the Indian trademark and the ability to do business under that name? Forbes explains that his company (www.indian-uk.com) holds the marks for England and certain “other” territories, and will sell the motorcycle under the “Indian” brand there. While final details about branding in the USA have not been decided, quite likely it will be sold as the “Dakota 4.”
Asked to comment on that possibility, Fran O’Hagan, senior VP for the new Indian Motorcycle Company in Gilroy, California, said, “There’s absolutely no possibility that he can sell his motorcycle as an Indian in the U.S.-that’s what we paid $20 million for in 1998. The name is ours, that’s concrete.” Not that there isn’t some gmdging respect for the Scot. “He’s an enthusiast and seems to be doing things for the right reasons,” allows O’Hagen. “As long as he steers clear of certain trade-dress items (fender style, fuel tank shape, etc.), we wish him luck.”
If and when Forbes’ 2003 models reach these shores, they will be further advanced from the one I rode. The gearbox (originally BMW) now has a new, much-stronger casing design, one that also incorporates a recess to rearwardly locate the starter motor for a much smoother look to the left side of the bike. All models will have electronic ignition, a twin front disc option and a new rear final-drive assembly featuring a disc brake instead of the current (also BMW) drum.
Upon successful completion of EPA and DOT testing, Forbes plans to have at least 200 machines on sale in the U.S. during 2003 at a suggested retail price in the region of $24,000.
So, unlikely as it seems, gone for 60 years, the Indian Four may be no more, no more. £3
