#Polaris

Polaris has launched a new online marketplace for buying and selling Indian motorcycles and other Polaris products. The Polaris Xchange portal allows customers to do all of their shopping online, with access to thousands of powersports vehicles across a network of participating dealerships. The Xchange also includes products from across the company’s powersports portfolio, including Indian, plus Polaris’ ATVs, side-by-sides, snowmobiles, and Slingshot auto-cycles.

Polaris Industries reported a strong start to 2021, with double-digit growth in each of its core segments including a 31% increase in sales revenue from its motorcycle operations.

It was a dangerous, dirty assignment, but somebody had to do it: Go spend a night at the Surfrider Inn in Malibu, to be up early next morning to flog Polaris’ new Slingshot, with the new, new Autodrive Transmission the next day. The Slingshot has been around since 2015, but only with a 5-speed manual trans until 2020. You may recall Ryan Adams’ earlier test this past June of the new, Autodrive-equipped 2020 Slingshot, in which he was less than impressed with that transmission and said: “My hope is that the next iteration of Autodrive will come with paddle shifters (that actually shift when you press them).”

In the wake of our 2020 Polaris Slingshot SL Review, we present the latest Sean Matic production delivering moving pictures straight to your autocycle-loving eyes. It was an interesting experience, my few weeks with the Slingshot SL. Out of all of the expensive, exotic, and high-performance machines I’ve had the opportunity to scoot around on, none have elicited the inquisitive stares, hurried cell phone pictures, and general curiosity of the Slingshot. As a motorcyclist, it makes me kind of sad, but I get it, the thing looks like the Batmobile – at least from the front. The greater population can relate to this thing more than some red sportbike – even if that red sportbike is a Ducati Panigale V4 that’ll blow the doors off of most production vehicles you’re likely to find cruising the city streets.

Kawasaki is working on a three-wheeled vehicle similar to the Polaris Slingshot, but with one key difference: it leans into turns.

Here we are again. Every few years Polaris (or its PR rep) rings up Motorcycle.com with the opportunity of reviewing the latest Slingshot, a vehicle now designated as an auto-cycle in most US states. It’s not a motorcycle, we know (and I’m sure there will be folks reminding us of that in every comment section available online). For 2020, Polaris tells us its three-wheeler is 70% new with upgrades spanning from the cockpit to the all-new Polaris-built Prostar four-cylinder engine and the AutoDrive “automatic” transmission mated to it. With such substantial upgrades to the machine, we were happy to flog the Slingshot SL for a couple of weeks to give our take on the new machine. This will be a motorcyclist’s perspective of the 2020 Polaris Slingshot SL. 

At Daytona, Polaris loaned me a Slingshot for a few hours and I’m not even sure the three-wheeled Slingshot should be in Motorcycle.com, but that’s Evans’ problem. I just do the typing. The 2020 Slingshot is mostly new from the brake pedal forward. The driving experience is 80% automotive, 20% ATV Quad, and 100% motorcycle when it rains. It’s going to take me more than a few hours to acclimate to the oddness of this gearbox and the three-wheeler’s handling characteristics.

Polaris Industries has updated its Slingshot three-wheeler for 2020, giving it a new 1997cc four-cylinder engine, an automatic transmission, revised suspension and a redesigned cockpit. In all, Polaris says the 2020 Slingshot features “70% new vehicle content” in its first major update since its introduction in 2015.

Polaris is preparing to update its Slingshot three-wheeler with a new engine design and an automatic transmission. The new engine will be designed by Polaris itself, unlike the General Motors 2.4L Ecotec engine that’s been powering the Slingshot since its introduction in 2015.

(UPDATE: After we published this article, we discovered evidence that further verifies our reporting and provides additional information about Indian’s upcoming new models).

Harley-Davidson announced Monday it would move some of its production overseas to avoid a dramatic tariff increase imposed by the European Union. The EU tariff comes In response to the United States implementing a tax on aluminum and steel to several countries, including EU nations. The EU has responded in kind, levying a tariff on several American products. The most notable for the Motorcycle.com audience is the tariff on American motorcycles 500cc and larger. This is clearly targeted at Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson, though Indian Motorcycles (and parent company Polaris) will also be impacted. Electric motorcycles are not affected by this tariff, leaving Zero Motorcycles out of the conversation.

Indian Motorcycle saw a small growth in sales and market share during the first quarter of 2018, according to Polaris Industries’ quarterly financial report. The modest increase was enough to offset a decrease in Slingshot sales and increase Polaris’ motorcycle sales by 9.3% to $131.6 million.

Puerto Rican singer Luis Fonsi, best known for his worldwide hit song Despacito, recently set out to find a fun and flashy way to get around town while in Miami, so he called his friend Alex Vega. Vega owns The Auto Firm, a shop which specializes in custom builds of everything from Bentleys and Rolls Royces, to Jeeps and well, Slingshots.

A couple of days ago we reported on the somewhat gloomy news from Harley-Davidson about its year-end financial statement, in which it announced a downturn in sales and the upcoming closure of its Kansas City, MO, factory.

Polaris today announced a more luxurious variant of its Slingshot family, the Grand Touring LE. It features as standard equipment the Slingshade roof that was introduced as an accessory a few months ago, as well as quilted Comfort Seats that have previously been accessory items.