By Mark Vaughn
Courtesy of Black Sheep HDFC E-Magazine
It’s been going on as long as Ford vs. Chevy, as long as Red Sox vs. Yankees, Cats vs. Dogs, Coke vs. Pepsi — the bitter rivalry between Harley-Davidson and Indian, two all-American motorcycle manufacturers that are evenly matched and ready to rumble. Now the feud is dissected and showcased, as it has never been before. The Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles brings you Harley vs. Indian: Clash of America’s Two-Wheeled Titans.
The dispute goes back over 100 years, and people started arguing about it immediately after each company was founded. For example, which one is older? William S. Harley did a blueprint drawing of an engine designed to fit into a bicycle in 1901. A guy named George M. Hendee founded a bicycle production company called the Hendee Manufacturing Company in 1897, then hired another guy named Oscar Hedstrom to build a gasoline engine and put it into a bicycle in 1901. Hendee Manufacturing became Indian. Who was first? The battle began.
That same year, Hendee built three motorized bicycles and constructed a factory in Springfield, Massachusetts. By 1902, Hendee was selling motorcycles. It wasn’t until 1903 that William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson sold their first production motorcycle to the public. In 1903, Hedstrom rode one of the Indians to a speed record of 56 mph, and then won an endurance race from New York to Springfield and back.
The first Harley dealer opened in 1904. Also in 1904, the first Indian was sold in a deep red vermillion paint scheme that became known as “Indian Red.” So maybe since Indian wasn’t called Indian until 1904, Harley was there a year earlier. Have at it, historians. In 1906, two Indian dealers rode from San Francisco to New York in 31 days and had no mechanical problems. That same year, Indian built its first V-twin, a 633-cc 42-degree and Harley didn’t build its first V-twin until 1909. In 1907, Harley-Davidson was incorporated. Did it count before? Argue away.
It went on like this for more than a hundred years — and counting. In 1911, Volney Davis rode an Indian from San Francisco to New York in 20 days. In 1914, Erwin “Cannonball” Baker took a southern route across the country in 11 days. Harley opened its racing department in 1913; “within a few short years,” it became known as The Wrecking Crew because of its dominance of the sport, according to official Harley history. In 1915, Cannonball Baker got on another Indian and went from Canada to Mexico in three days.
When the U.S. entered World War I, both companies devoted their production to the war effort, sending military bikes overseas. In 1920, both Harley and Indian introduced liter engines. Indian made a 1,000-cc twin and put it into a new bike it called the Chief. That engine was based on a 661-cc unit introduced two years earlier in a new bike called the Scout. Harley-Davidson, meanwhile, had become the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world by 1920, with over 2,000 dealers in 67 countries. The HOG association began that same year as the race team started carrying a pig around tracks during victory laps. Indian introduced an inline-four in 1927. Bikes with inline-fours can now command six figures at auction (and in fact just did, two months ago).
By 1931, Harley-Davidson and Indian had become the only two remaining motorcycle manufacturers in America, and it stayed that way until 1953. The Japanese motorcycle industry was born in 1935 when Harley-Davidson licensed blueprints, tools, dies and machinery to the Sankyo Company of Japan. Sankyo’s first bike was called the Rikuo. In 1938, local Indian motorcycle dealer J.C. Clarence “Pappy” Hoel encouraged a local Indian motorcycle club called The Jackpine Gypsies to hold a race named the Black Hills Classic in a South Dakota town called Sturgis.
When the U.S. entered World War II, both companies again devoted their resources to the war effort, with thousands of Indian and Harley-Davidson motorcycles shipped to Allied military forces all over the world. Civilian production resumed at war’s end. In 1953, while Harley was celebrating its 50th anniversary, Indian ceased production. A series of buyers and investors each gave Indian motorcycle manufacturing a try over the next several decades. In the middle of all that, New Zealander Burt Munro rode “The World’s Fastest Indian” to a land speed record of 183.586 mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats. You might have seen the movie, also featured in WOG Magazine #51.
Elvis Presley posed on a 1956 model KH Harley on the cover of The Enthusiast, the Harley motorcycle magazine. Harley merged with AMF in 1969. In 1970, Harley produced the XR-750, a new Sportster-based entry for AMA Class C racing. In 1981, 13 Harley execs bought their company back from AMF. And in 2011, Polaris Industries bought Indian. All has been well with both companies since then.
What You Didn’t Know About Victory Motorcycles
- The first bike was produced in 1998: It really doesn’t seem like it was all that long ago, but the company was in business for more than 20 years. The very first Victory motorcycle was completed in 1997 and went into serious production one year later.
- The company was actually driven by Polaris: Most people are surprised to learn that Victory was not really a company in and of itself. Instead, it was what amounts to another division of the Polaris Company, the same one that is so famous for making four wheelers and other all-terrain vehicles.
- It was formed to be a direct competitor with Harley Davidson: Polaris truly believed that if they produced the right product, they could steal away many of the Harley-Davidson customers.
- The victory was a heavy bike. In reality, Victory wanted to create motorcycles that were essentially the same as the Harley-Davidson models. Since those particular motorcycles have a tendency to be much heavier than motorcycles made by other companies, the ones made by Victory were equally as heavy. While there are plenty of differing opinions about whether or not a heavy bike is the best kind to have, there are a number of people that do prefer them. That is essentially what Harley Davidson is all about and it always has been. Since the company wanted to create a bike that would be similar yet superior, it only makes sense that the overwhelming majority of the bikes produced by Victory would be on the heavy side.
- There is an owner’s club (100+ chapters) still dedicated to these machines: Even though the company hasn’tbeen in business for three years now (1997), there is still an active owner’s club and people still have a great deal of pride in owning and operating one of these machines. In fact, it seems to be even more important now that the company is no longer producing new motorcycles.