Indian Motorcycle Unveils Three New Models

[Jarlaxle]

The Can-Am's are pretty cool...mostly, you get spectacular performance! A reverse trike is much more stable than a motorcycle or a regular trike.

They blow up pretty nicely in a collision too.
I've seen two of them burn.

Which is different from a motorcycle...HOW, exactly?!?! Well, other than the fact I have never heard of someone dumping a Can-Am trike!

 

[namvet]

they served with the military. 1942 Indian Scout 500, the 741, used by the US Army

 

[Smilebong]

The Can-Am's are pretty cool...mostly, you get spectacular performance! A reverse trike is much more stable than a motorcycle or a regular trike.

No thanks
I've driven one
It's like driving a lawn mower

Horse shit. 100HP and a running weight of about 850lbs (no more than a big touring bike) is more like a Nextel Cup car than a lawnmower! (In perspective, that's a better weight-power ratio than a new Boss 302 Mustang!) And, of course, they handle like slot cars!

That is all fine and good.

If you want to drive a slot car, that is.

But if you want the freedom of a 2 wheel motorcycle, I am thinking you lose it with the Can-Am.

 

[Jarlaxle]

Like the "freedom" to hit a handful of sand and go down, you mean?

 

[Smilebong]

Like the "freedom" to hit a handful of sand and go down, you mean?

That has not happened to me in 30 years of driving.

 

[DGS49]

Regarding the Can-Am trikes: It is not a motorcycle. I can't imagine anyone who is a motorcyclist wanting to own one (unless they are too old and decrepit to hold up a conventional motorcycle). These are designed for people who would like to own a bike but are too timid to deal with the stress of actually having to balance one. In short, "Pussies."

The enjoyment of riding a motorcycling is the flow of going around bends, during which gravity and inertia combine to plant you more firmly in the seat. On a trike, you are holding on for dear life, while inertia tries to slide you off the side of the seat. If you don't want a motorcycle, but want to experience sporting enjoyment on wheels, buy an open-top sportscar. The Spyder is just a stupid, overpriced, vehicle that gets horrible gas mileage.

Regarding the "new" Indian, I truly hope they do well with this line of motorcycles.

But it is fundamentally flawed. Rather than designing a proper, world-class motorcycle, they have chosen to copy a hundred-year-old engine design that wasn't particularly innovative when it was first produced, let alone in 2013. The idea that an engine drawn "from a clean sheet of paper" today would be a large air-cooled V-twin is just ridiculous. Hell, even Harley went to water-cooling when they teamed with Porsche to design what is the only fucking Harley that is worth a damn - the V-Rod.

Indian produced the first four-cylinder motorcycles, so there was plenty of precedent if they want to make a modern motorcycle...but they chose to copy Harley. It's really rather pathetic.

Harley is successful because of the culture and the Harley Owner's Group. That's why they are able to get premium prices for marginal (or worse) machines. The Japs have been making better bikes that look like HD's for quite a while now (I own and ride a Kawa 2000LT), but the American motorcycle-buying public mainly ignores them. Some say it's because the Japanese bikes sound like sewing machines and have radiators. Go figure.

We'll see. The Indians are fine looking bikes. Maybe that will be enough.