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Patrick-of-the-Hills · 01-21-2004, 06:32 AM

I went to a factory auction the summer before I moved. Advice to those interested: Yes, you can buy anything your mechanical heart can think of (machinery for pennies on the ton) especially if you've got room, and be prepared to buy in bulk (a lot of two dozen micrometers at a time and such. It is also one of the most thoroughly depressing things you can witness. Without too much polemicizing on the erosion of the manufacturing base, it is just deeply sad to see another industrial effort get killed off like this.

RubberPants · 01-21-2004, 06:41 AM

They will probably try setting up in CHINA like the rest of the money grubbing world.

F451 · 01-21-2004, 06:50 AM

It royally pisses me off that America can send a rover to flip'n Mars, but we can't get out business $hit together. What was once a great manufacturing country and I mean "the greatest" has fallen to IPO's (anytime a company goes public it becomes victim to its shareholders and quality-control be damned), offshoring and outsourcing. This all sucks and for the motorcycling industry means the loss of an option to choose from as riders.

hawkrider · 01-21-2004, 07:14 AM

Indian was not "killed" it died. An inferior product for the most part that cannot stand on it's own legs will usually die. The Harley market is unique unto itself. To try and compete with a clone like product will not work, for the same price point? Exception is the very small by comparison custom market.

We do have the ability to build the best products in the world. We also have the sense to understand a global market that we must compete in. Global competition is the reality we all must recognize.

Just a thought, how many of you would have believed ten years ago that Toyota would be number one in domestic vehicle sales. Guess what, Toyota did, it was their goal ten years ago and they did it!

The consumer will ultimately find the best value. The lowest price does not always constitute best value. There is an emotional factor. Many people I know who own Harleys will admit their purchase was very emotional, compared to most. Thats OK, but who would believe that a clone of an old classic bike could compete on a Global scale with HD.

Hopefully some good will come from this, and lessons will be learned.

ZRX_bullock · 01-21-2004, 08:05 AM

With Indian closing shop maybe Polaris (Victory) will see the writing on the wall and build an American assembled Performance motorcycle, whether itÂ’s an all out Sport bike or a Standard/Naked bike. It can be done; look no further then the recent start up success of Aprilia with the Rotex V-Twin or Triumph and its 955i and 600 TT, H-D V-ROD even had a European firm design its engine and it equip it with Showa suspension.

Polaris is our best chance for an American assembled Sport bike; they have the engineering, manufacturing experience, long range vision and deep pockets to pull this off.

pplassm · 01-21-2004, 09:20 AM

What is "depressing" about cleansing the marketplace of an inferior, overpriced product?

Have you seen or ridden one of these? My neighbor has one (Now, _him_ I feel for.) and it's a hodge-podge garage special that breaks down frequently and performs worse than the bikes it was cloned after. Good riddance.

Buzglyd · 01-21-2004, 09:21 AM

Did you know that Indian sold more motorcycles last year in the USA than Ducati, Aprilia, Triumph and Victory?

H-D had a liquid-cooled 60 degree VTwin in its Superbike long before Porsche got involved in the VRod project.

F451 · 01-21-2004, 09:22 AM

You are correct. It is too bad that Indian did not come onto the scene again with their own motor to begin with and some advanced thinking versus retro. Instead, there was the constant flurry of spin-doctoring and pandering to the stars while trying to get Indian motorcycles into the movies versus making a solid motorcycle. Too bad. Indian will not resurrect in this run...it's gone for some time to come.

v2-90 · 01-21-2004, 09:54 AM

Go to this link at CMA Auctions:

http://www.cmaauctions.com/auctions/167_indian.html

The auction has been cancelled for all of the inventory and it appears only the real estate is now being auctioned...

KPaulCook · 01-21-2004, 10:23 AM

I call it the Harvard MBA syndrome. Short term profit at any cost. Wall Street kind of demands it though. During the internet boom when P/E ratios were spiraling out of control, some Harvard MBA called it the new economy where the old rules didn't apply. Now we see the results Boeing, GM, Ford losing market share because they didn't invest in R&D, people, plant and equipment. They also started offshoring critical skills.

01-21-2004, 06:32 AM	#1
Patrick-of-the-Hills Founding Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 155	Pro/con/philosophizing I went to a factory auction the summer before I moved. Advice to those interested: Yes, you can buy anything your mechanical heart can think of (machinery for pennies on the ton) especially if you've got room, and be prepared to buy in bulk (a lot of two dozen micrometers at a time and such. It is also one of the most thoroughly depressing things you can witness. Without too much polemicizing on the erosion of the manufacturing base, it is just deeply sad to see another industrial effort get killed off like this.

01-21-2004, 06:41 AM	#2
RubberPants Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 24	Re: Indian plant auction this week They will probably try setting up in CHINA like the rest of the money grubbing world. __________________ \"Ya Gotta Have Big Ones\" http://www.speeddemons.com

01-21-2004, 06:50 AM	#3
F451 Founding Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 373	Gone in Sixty Seconds...Again It royally pisses me off that America can send a rover to flip'n Mars, but we can't get out business $hit together. What was once a great manufacturing country and I mean "the greatest" has fallen to IPO's (anytime a company goes public it becomes victim to its shareholders and quality-control be damned), offshoring and outsourcing. This all sucks and for the motorcycling industry means the loss of an option to choose from as riders.

01-21-2004, 07:14 AM	#4
hawkrider Founding Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 85	Re: Indian plant auction this week Indian was not "killed" it died. An inferior product for the most part that cannot stand on it's own legs will usually die. The Harley market is unique unto itself. To try and compete with a clone like product will not work, for the same price point? Exception is the very small by comparison custom market. We do have the ability to build the best products in the world. We also have the sense to understand a global market that we must compete in. Global competition is the reality we all must recognize. Just a thought, how many of you would have believed ten years ago that Toyota would be number one in domestic vehicle sales. Guess what, Toyota did, it was their goal ten years ago and they did it! The consumer will ultimately find the best value. The lowest price does not always constitute best value. There is an emotional factor. Many people I know who own Harleys will admit their purchase was very emotional, compared to most. Thats OK, but who would believe that a clone of an old classic bike could compete on a Global scale with HD. Hopefully some good will come from this, and lessons will be learned.

01-21-2004, 08:05 AM	#5
ZRX_bullock Founding Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 105	Re: Indian plant auction this week With Indian closing shop maybe Polaris (Victory) will see the writing on the wall and build an American assembled Performance motorcycle, whether itÂ’s an all out Sport bike or a Standard/Naked bike. It can be done; look no further then the recent start up success of Aprilia with the Rotex V-Twin or Triumph and its 955i and 600 TT, H-D V-ROD even had a European firm design its engine and it equip it with Showa suspension. Polaris is our best chance for an American assembled Sport bike; they have the engineering, manufacturing experience, long range vision and deep pockets to pull this off. __________________ ZRX 1200 - Mods make it 130 HP and 85 torque at the rear wheel. trackday junkie.

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01-21-2004, 09:20 AM	#6
pplassm Founding Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 3,875	Re: Pro/con/philosophizing What is "depressing" about cleansing the marketplace of an inferior, overpriced product? Have you seen or ridden one of these? My neighbor has one (Now, _him_ I feel for.) and it's a hodge-podge garage special that breaks down frequently and performs worse than the bikes it was cloned after. Good riddance. __________________ Mongo just pawn in game of life.

01-21-2004, 09:21 AM	#7
Buzglyd Founding Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 10,137	Re: Indian plant auction this week Did you know that Indian sold more motorcycles last year in the USA than Ducati, Aprilia, Triumph and Victory? H-D had a liquid-cooled 60 degree VTwin in its Superbike long before Porsche got involved in the VRod project. __________________ Jay Leno: "President Obama released his tax returns. It turns out he made $900,000 less in 2011 than he did in 2010. You know what that means? Even Obama is doing worse under President Obama."

01-21-2004, 09:22 AM	#8
F451 Founding Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 373	Re: Indian plant auction this week You are correct. It is too bad that Indian did not come onto the scene again with their own motor to begin with and some advanced thinking versus retro. Instead, there was the constant flurry of spin-doctoring and pandering to the stars while trying to get Indian motorcycles into the movies versus making a solid motorcycle. Too bad. Indian will not resurrect in this run...it's gone for some time to come.

01-21-2004, 09:54 AM	#9
v2-90 Founding Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Orange County, CA Posts: 73	NOT HAPPENING Go to this link at CMA Auctions: http://www.cmaauctions.com/auctions/167_indian.html The auction has been cancelled for all of the inventory and it appears only the real estate is now being auctioned... __________________ -------------------------------- v2-90 powered by a Pantah...

01-21-2004, 10:23 AM	#10
KPaulCook Banned Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 2,756	You nailed it. I call it the Harvard MBA syndrome. Short term profit at any cost. Wall Street kind of demands it though. During the internet boom when P/E ratios were spiraling out of control, some Harvard MBA called it the new economy where the old rules didn't apply. Now we see the results Boeing, GM, Ford losing market share because they didn't invest in R&D, people, plant and equipment. They also started offshoring critical skills.