How cool would it be for Indian to break away from Harley's shadow by releasing an in-line 4-cylinder motorcycle a la 1927's Indian Ace?
I was saddened to hear about the company stopping production of the Indian FTR, and instead focus on V Twin cruisers, and in the same breath announce they are working on a three-wheeler.
It seems they're just mirroring Harley-Davidson. Which is disappointing, because we already have Harley-Davidson.
I'd love to see them bring back the 4-cyl Indian Ace, as well as a new platform inspired by the FTR to compete against sport bikes and naked bikes.
Simplify the current lineup to Scout, Chief, and Challenger—Indian REALLY doesn't need four entirely separate product lines of touring cruisers—and then introduce two new, performance-based platforms focused on segments that Harley is avoiding (wide-open gap!) built from the lessons learned of the FTR (new Scrambler or Adventure bike--their original problem was that they weren't focused on off-road or on-road and were kinda in-between) and the Ace platform (agile 4-cyl Sport Bike, Naked Bike, and GT touring platform).
I want to see some innovation in American motorcycle companies. If companies like Yamaha and Ducati can be in those segments, so can we.
They're REALLY focusing the wrong demographic, in my opinion. They need to win over younger audiences and let Harley take the 65+ crowd. Why? Well, in 10 years, who is going to be still riding bikes?