During 1920 Indian Motorcycle came out with a superb motorcycle which was called Indian Scout motorcycle and was used by everyone from police to motorcycle racer. This motorcycle which was in use till 1939 had a low frame and better handling. India was also producing engines for aircraft and motors for boats, air conditioner and cycles during World War II.
Indian Scout motorcycle had 37 cubic inch (596 cc) engine when it was initially introduced in 1920. Later when popular American motorcycle Excelsior Super X was introduced with 45 cubic inches (745 cc) engine, Indian Scout also converted its engine to 45 cubic inch in 1927.
A second reply was the 1928 introduction of the 101 Scout, which some fans believe to be the height of Indian Motorcycle technology. There remain, however, enthusiasts who are happy with Indian’s use of the frame from its other superstar model, the Chief, in the Scout line starting in 1931.
Possibly as a conciliatory move for its fans Scout came out with smaller models between 1932 till 1941with 30.50 cubic inch. These had engines which were smaller and were called Scout Pony, the Junior Scout, and the Thirty-Fifty.
The two big motorcycle companies Indian Motorcycle Company and Harley Davidson were trying to out do each other in America in the early years of 20th century. The competition was well known and was written about in a book called Harley-Davidson and Indian Wars by Allan Girdler. The run away success of Scout was strongly retaliated by Harley Davidson.
There is some interesting fact concerning the road worthiness of 1920 model of Scout motorcycle. The motorcycle racer Burt Munro set out to make a world record in speed on land with a Scout between 1962 and 1967. He succeeded in making an unbeatable record with under-1000cc. The remarlable factor was when Munro made the record he was 68 years old riding a 47 years old motorcycle. There were some more examples and everything taken together was made into a movie named World’s Fastest Indian in 2005.
Since 1935 when the ownership of the Indian Motorcycle was transferred it came under a lot of problems having to discontinue manufacturing of all model of this brand in 1946. The final crunch came in 1977 when company had to declare itself bankrupt after changing of hands. The company was fighting a dispute in the court over the ownership of brand name all through 1980s and90s.
The claim of ownership came through in 1988 when IMCOA Licensing America won the trademark by the Federal court in Denver. A nine company multinational was set up to form Indian Motorcycle Company of America. From 1999 the production of Scout Motorcycles were started and carried on till 2003 when the company again had to declare bankruptcy.
In 2006, the company re-formed and set up shop in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. Though the Chief model is being resurrected, the Indian Scout motorcycle is no longer made.
The Indian scout motorcycle is an icon that has stood the test of time. If you want more specific information on the 1927 Indian motorcycle please follow the links.
