OFTEN DESCRIBED AS AMERICA'S FIRST MOTORCYCLE PRODUCER, INDIAN AT ONE POINT OUT-PRODUCED, OUT-PERFORMED AND OUT-SOLD THEIR FIERCE RIVALS FROM MILWAUKEE YEAR AFTER YEAR . . . . SINGLES, SCOUTS, CHIEFS, IN-LINE FOURS, CARE OF BUYING OUT THE 'ACE' MARQUE, AND OTHER LESSER 'REDMAN' MODELS WERE HUGELY POPULAR WITH THE GENERAL PUBLIC AND LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES ACROSS THE U.S AND BEYOND . . . . HOWEVER, IN THE YEARS FOLLOWING WWII, INDIAN STRUGGLED TO 'SHIFT UNITS', EVEN THE ADDITION OF A TELESCOPIC FRONT END ON THE BIGGER CUBE CHIEF AT THE END OF '49 WASN'T ENOUGH TO BOOST SALES . . . . THE ONLY INDIAN MOTORCYCLE BRAND I'LL EVER ACKNOWLEDGE CLOSED IT'S DOORS IN 1953 . . . . A SAD END OF AN ERA.
If there's one bloke more influential in my mid life switch of choice of two wheeled brand loyalty, it's Ponderosa Geoff, a motorcycle lover through and through but a devoted owner of the Motor Company's steeds above all else for the last forty years . . . . it was Geoff who first planted the seed in my mind, or burr under my arse, regarding Harley's going back to the early nineties, he'd take the Mickey out of me and beloved Bonnie suggesting one day I'd be ready for the 'real thing' . . . . it was also Geoff who quick as the proverbial flash greeted me with 'about time' when I went into the dealer where he was employed to slap the folding stuff on the skirtster twenty years later . . . .
Too cut a long story short, Geoff's super fund had been bleeding from the arse over the last few years and he was looking for a way to recoup some of the lost dollars . . . . hmmmmm . . . . what can we do, his lovely lady Sue is in on the deal too, a very understanding woman . . . . invest in vintage/classic bikes is what we'll do darlin . . . . pick up a pristine model in the States, ship it back here, hang onto the sucker for a while and then move the baby on . . . . instant profit if done properly, and Geoff is not one for half-arsing stuff, everything he does is annoyingly perfect !!!
So, after months of anal-retentive, fine tooth comb searching and quizing, he found his first mark, a mint '46 Indian Chief in DuPont yellow, which was about the loudest yellow known to human eyeballs in those days . . . . being a fastidious detail freak and meticulous dude by nature, he'd done enough background checking on this thing to make ASIO look like the Keystone Cops . . . . the big ol' Chief is fucking immaculate, numbers matching numbers matching, all correct example and it should be landing on our shores any day now . . . . I've drooled over the table in his office while perving on the photos on the computer and you know what . . . . Ponderosa Geoff has been hit up the arse by a rainbow, good on ya buddy . . . . who needs super ????
If there's one bloke more influential in my mid life switch of choice of two wheeled brand loyalty, it's Ponderosa Geoff, a motorcycle lover through and through but a devoted owner of the Motor Company's steeds above all else for the last forty years . . . . it was Geoff who first planted the seed in my mind, or burr under my arse, regarding Harley's going back to the early nineties, he'd take the Mickey out of me and beloved Bonnie suggesting one day I'd be ready for the 'real thing' . . . . it was also Geoff who quick as the proverbial flash greeted me with 'about time' when I went into the dealer where he was employed to slap the folding stuff on the skirtster twenty years later . . . .
Too cut a long story short, Geoff's super fund had been bleeding from the arse over the last few years and he was looking for a way to recoup some of the lost dollars . . . . hmmmmm . . . . what can we do, his lovely lady Sue is in on the deal too, a very understanding woman . . . . invest in vintage/classic bikes is what we'll do darlin . . . . pick up a pristine model in the States, ship it back here, hang onto the sucker for a while and then move the baby on . . . . instant profit if done properly, and Geoff is not one for half-arsing stuff, everything he does is annoyingly perfect !!!
So, after months of anal-retentive, fine tooth comb searching and quizing, he found his first mark, a mint '46 Indian Chief in DuPont yellow, which was about the loudest yellow known to human eyeballs in those days . . . . being a fastidious detail freak and meticulous dude by nature, he'd done enough background checking on this thing to make ASIO look like the Keystone Cops . . . . the big ol' Chief is fucking immaculate, numbers matching numbers matching, all correct example and it should be landing on our shores any day now . . . . I've drooled over the table in his office while perving on the photos on the computer and you know what . . . . Ponderosa Geoff has been hit up the arse by a rainbow, good on ya buddy . . . . who needs super ????
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