Indians and BBQ (May 5, 2012)

 May 5 was a good day to ride. Headed out to Gastonia, NC where the Charlotte Vulcan Riders were having a charity ride/BBQ sale (more on that below), but made a stop at this Indian Motorcycle dealership at Lowell, NC. It was the first dealership of the "new" Indian Motorcycle Company, and I have to say one of the nicest motorcycle dealerships that I have ever been in. This was a first class operation, and enjoyed talking with the salesman at the front desk. He had some interesting information on the company, which has gone though some big changes over the years.    

 As with many dealerships, they have some interesting models on display, such as this 1951 Indian Chief. Indian made motorcycles in Springfield, MA from 1901-1953 (when they went out of business). They were famous for three models; the Scout, the Ace, and the Chief. They were a major competitor of Harley-Davidson, and for a time were the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. At one time there were a score of motorcycle manufacturers, which fell by the wayside, but Indian and Harley-Davidson survived for a long time.    

 Reviving the Indian brand had a lot of missteps until 1999 when the Indian Motorcycle Company made Chief's in Gilroy, NC. That company went bankrupt in 2003, but its assets were purchased by a London, England based company in 2006. They made motorcycles in Kings Mountain, NC (which is near Lowell, this dealership seen here was the companies first) until 2011. Indian is now owned by Polaris, which is the parent company of Victory Motorcycles. The bikes (different versions of the Indian Chief) have the Powerplus V-twin engine of 1,720 cc's, or 105 cubic inches.     

After the dealership visit, rode to Gastonia, NC to McKenney-Salinas Powersports where the Charlotte Vulcan Riders were having a charity ride (Diabetes was the cause) and a BBQ sale. I could not make the ride which was pretty early, but I did enjoy some of the BBQ. Hard to find bad BBQ in the Carolinas, where great pride is taken in making it, and this was really damn good! I like riding and hanging with this bunch of guys who (like me) ride Kawasaki Vulcans. Weather got really ugly and so I made a quick ride back home after enjoying the BBQ. Ride was mostly down I-85, hoped to explore Gastonia for a while, but that will have to wait for a sunnier day. Did get in a good 85 mile ride, though the dark and overcast skies did not bring any real badly needed rain to the area (but it sure looked like it would). The BBQ took care of my hunger for the afternoon, but will be feeding my hunger for some more great rides-and have some good ones planned for next weekend! One of my favorite events in on tap at the NC Transportation Museum next weekend-the Carolina Classic Motorcycle Show. I hope to see you there, but will be bringing photos of that event (weather permitting of course) here in my next post!