Dr. Mark Posted November 9, 2013 Share Posted November 9, 2013 (edited) 1970-1982 When Clymer died, the rights to Indian were either given or sold (or, less charitably, stolen) to his attorney and friend, Alan Newman. Newman then contracted with a consortium to produce Indian-branded motocross bikes...that were actually quite good, in their displacement classes, for that time. Indian actually had a very large factory in Taipei, Taiwan, from 1971 to 1977. Here's a photo... Indian made dirt bikes, and enduros in displacements of 70cc's, 75, 80, 100, 125 and 175 cc's. Newman's most ambitious project was this...a joint venture with Ducati. Lo.....What might have been... By 1977, the Japanese were dominating the dirt bike scene, and the market for Indians dried up. Newman sold the rights to the Indian name to a California company called American Moped. These little cuties are now prized collectors items, and if you can find one, snap it up. I found one in the basement of a former Indian dealer in Massachusetts with 123 miles on the odometer. He bought it for his wife, who didn't like it. They put a tarp over it, and it sat for 30 years. If any of you come to IRIP, you'll see a bunch of these buzzing around. MG has a green one. Bruce (FourPaws) has a slew of them. These were made from 1978 to 1982. OK...now we get into the recent history....hang on folks...it's about to get REALLY weird... Edited November 10, 2013 by Dr. Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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