Twigg Indian Motorcycle® Makes History

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE® MAKES HISTORY AGAIN WITH RACING DEBUT OF INDIAN® SCOUT FTR750 AT THE RAMSPUR WINERY SANTA ROSA MILE AMA PRO FLAT TRACK RACE ON SEPTEMBER 25

MINNEAPOLIS (September 6, 2016) — Indian Motorcycle®, America’s first motorcycle company, today confirmed that its all-new Indian® Scout FTR750 race bike will make its racing debut on Sunday, September 25 at the Ramspur Winery Santa Rosa Mile AMA Pro Flat Track race in Santa Rosa, California. The race takes place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds at 1350 Bennett Valley Rd. in Santa Rosa, with gates opening at 11 am PDT.

The Indian Motorcycle® FTR750 will be piloted in its debut by AMA flat track racing legend Joe Kopp. Joe is one of 15 riders to complete the Dirt Track “Grand Slam,” with victories on short track, TT, half-mile, and mile courses. In addition to his 2000 AMA Pro Flat Track Grand National Championship, he took the 1999 and 2000 AMA 600 Hotshot and Supertracker Championships. The Indian® Scout FTR750 will feature Kopps’ #3 for the weekend.

Indian Motorcycle® accelerated its historic journey toward the official return to professional flat track racing with the public debut of the Indian® Scout FTR750 on August 7 at the legendary Buffalo Chip venue in Sturgis, South Dakota. On-hand for the epic, invitation-only event were Bobby Hill and Bill Tuman, two surviving members of the legendary Indian® Wrecking Crew, both AMA Hall of Famers, along with hundreds of motorcycle industry dignitaries and members of the press. The Debut of the Indian Scout FTR750 featured the #51 as a nod to Bill Tuman being the last factory racer to win a National on an Indian Motorcycle®.

The Indian® Scout FTR750 is a clean-sheet design racing machine developed by the Indian Motorcycle® Racing engineering and design teams. The bike is powered by a purpose-developed, high performance 750cc V-Twin engine and features a unique, ultra-light steel frame, large centrally located airbox and sleek lightweight carbon fiber body. Much like the design philosophy behind Indian Motorcycle®’s family of production bikes, the design and engineering teams built the FTR750 to artfully combine state-of-the-art technologies with design elements from legendary Indian® racing models from history.

Indian Motorcycle® Announces 2016 Models

Indian Motorcycle®, America’s first motorcycle company, today announced its lineup of Model Year 2016 bikes. Fresh off of record Q2 sales results and overwhelming demand for both the Indian® Scout and the recently introduced 2016 Indian® Chief Dark Horse, Indian Motorcycle® will rumble into the 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally with unstoppable momentum and the industry’s most in-demand lineup. With a growing consumer excitement and increasing dealers on a global level, Indian Motorcycle® continues to gain market share and attention.

2016 Indian® Scout™ ABS and Indian® Scout

With an unmatched heritage dating back more than 80 years and unprecedented demand for its predecessor, Indian Motorcycle® is proud to introduce 2016 Indian® Scout ABS. This middle-weight cruiser weighs in at 558 pounds (dry) and extends its decades-long legacy of superb balance, precise handling and potent performance that dominated the Wall of Death and conquered the Bonneville Salt Flats. With its compact design and low 25.3-inch seat height, the Indian Scout is the perfect multipurpose bike for virtually any rider. Featuring a liquid-cooled 69 cubic inch V-twin engine, 100 HP of performance and starting at $10,999 for Gloss Black, and $11,299 for Thunder Black Smoke, Silver Smoke and the striking new Wildfire Red. The new Indian Scout is the proud future of one of motorcycling’s most storied bikes, and is now available with anti-lock brakes (ABS) including the Indian Motorcycle Red paint (itself a $300 premium) for $11,999. All 2016 Indian Scout models come with a genuine leather solo seat, and feature a cast aluminum chassis for superior handling and overall balance.

2016 Indian® Chief Dark Horse®

The 2016 Indian® Chief Dark Horse is the most striking cruiser on the road. Featuring a matte black finish from end-to-end and only a flash of chrome, this bike makes a statement even before you fire it up. Featuring a low seat height and the lowest price for any Thunder Stroke 111 powered® Indian, the Dark Horse starts at just $16,999. The 2016® Indian Chief Dark Horse delivers the styling, reliability and power expected from an Indian Moto®rcycle, but with a heathy dose of attitude. Propelled by 119 ft/lbs of torque and the same chassis and suspension of the award-winn®ing Indian Chief Classic, the Dark Horse™ rolls with standard ABS, a remote key fob for keyless ignition, electronic cruise control, and features a two-year unlimited mileage factory warranty.

2016 Indian® Chief® Classic, Indian® Chief® Vintage and Indian® Chieftain®

For 2016, Indian Motorcycle returns with its award-winning lineup of Indian® Chief models delivering the power, handling, unmatched engineering and stunning beauty of the industry’s hottest heavyweight cruisers. Powered by the proven Thunder Stroke 111 engine and covered in premium chrome, the Indian® Chief family delivers the impeccable styling and sophisticated performance of the Chief Classic; the classic looks, beautiful fringed leather saddle bags and paint schemes of the Chief Vintage, and the cruising comfort and exceptional handling of the Indian® Chieftain hard bagger. Continuing its tradition of stunning colors and head-turning two-tone paint palettes, the 2016 Indian® Chief lineup, starting at $17,699, offers gorgeous new color options that include:

• Indian® Chief Classic: Pearl White
• Indian® Chief Vintage: Star Silver & Thunder Black
• Indian® Chieftain: Silver Smoke, Indian Motorcycle® Red & Ivory Cream, Star Silver & Thunder Black

2016 Indian® Roadmaster™

The industry’s most luxurious and anticipated touring motorcycle, Indian Motorcycle® is proud to offer the Indian® Roadmaster as the epitome of comfort in long distance cruising. With the peace-of-mind and reliability of the Thunder Stroke 111 engine and nearly 38 gallons of premium storage, the industry’s leading touring bike delivers luxury features like a power-adjustable windscreen, heated grips, dual heated seats, ABS, tire pressure monitoring system, keyless ignition with remote locking storage, electronic cruise control, advanced infotainment system and Bluetooth capability for the ultimate in connectivity. Starting MSPR $27,999

New for 2016 the Indian® Roadmaster is available with new color options that include Blue Diamond plus two-tone Storm Gray & Thunder Black and Springfield Blue and Cream.

Experience the 2016 Lineup at the 75th Annual Sturgis Motorcycle Rally

In 1938 Indian Motorcycle® dealer Clarence “Pappy” Hoel and the Jackpine Gypsies Motorcycle Club started the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally never knowing that it would grow into the World’s biggest motorcycle rally. For the diamond anniversary, starting Friday July 31st, Sturgis attendees are invited to experience these the new line-up at the Indian Motorcycle® factory display on Lazelle St. through the rally, or to experience them firsthand with a factory demo ride at 2100 Whitewood Service Road (I-90 at Exit 30) from Saturday, August 1 – Saturday, August 8, starting at 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. daily. In addition to stock motorcycles, accessorized units will be on hand to experience comfort and performance items.

2016 Indian Chief Vintage

Swedish Museum Offers Indian Motorcycle® Exhibit

Philadelphia tourists flock to Independence Hall, the Liberty Bell, the Constitution Center and a world-class art museum with steps made famous in the movie “Rocky.”

But tucked far away in the southern end of South Philadelphia is a little-known and less visited museum.

The American Swedish Historical Museum in Franklin Delano Roosevelt Park on Pattison Avenue is overshadowed not only by those uptown tourism giants but by the professional sports complex two blocks away across Broad Street that attracts millions of fans every year.

It’s the oldest Swedish museum in the U.S. and has been visited by the king and queen of Sweden.

The museum is filled with architectural, cultural and historical treats and often hosts public events that include culinary delights for visitors who needn’t be Swedish or Finnish to appreciate them or to become members.

The museum recounts the contributions of Swedes and Finns who settled along the Delaware River and Bay in South Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania in New Sweden, or “Nya Sverige” more than 100 years before the Revolutionary War and prior to the Quakers.

The building anchors the 348-acre park of lakes and trails at the far end of Pattison Avenue at 20th Street. Yet most passersby miss it because the imposing front of the stone building faces the park and not the avenue.

“It is the pearl of South Philadelphia on land settled by Swedes and people should come here and learn the history of the region before the Quakers. We have many fun activities, parking is free and is it handicapped accessible,” said Carin Klint Foster, the museum board of governors vice chairwoman. She is from Cinnaminson and emigrated from Sweden in 1970.

An ornate gate and steps lead to massive doors on the stately mansion that has both American and Swedish architectural elements.

Greeting visitors inside is a spacious lobby with a central staircase and towering ceiling. Covering the expansive ceiling is a mural of Lenape Indian®s with Swedes who arrived in the New World on the ships Kalmar Nyckel and Fogel Grip in 1638 for trade. Swedes settled South Jersey in what is now Bridgeton in Logan Township and Swedesboro, both on Raccoon Creek, and later in Burlington and beyond.

The museum is hosting a grand opening Sunday for a special one-of-a-kind exhibit about a mode of transportation generally not connected with Sweden.

It is a collection of early vintage American-made motorcycles by the first U.S. company that made them — the Indian® Motocycle Manufacturing Co. of Springfield, Massachusetts.

It was co-founded in 1901 by Swedish immigrant Carl Oscar Hedstrom, a machinist and racing enthusiast in New York City who engineered the first American “moto” cycle. He partnered with George Hendee, an American bicycle racer and builder, after they met at a Madison Square Garden race in New York City.

The earliest cycle in the exhibit, “Indian® Nation: Indian Motorcycles® and America,” dates to 1903. It more resembles a bicycle with an engine rather than the traditional motorcycle most people recognize today. However, it had a streamlined appearance even then and was lightweight and more reliable.

“People started racing motorized bikes, which went from one-cylinder engines to two cylinders (V-twin) and which continue to be modified today,” said museum curator Carrie Hogan of Barrington.

“The iconic Indian was known as America’s motorcycle and had a huge rivalry with Harley,” she said as she hung illustrated panels in the exhibition hall and buffed cycles.

Among the collection are two board track racers, seven road bikes for endurance travel and two World War II motorcycles manufactured for the war effort — a 1942 Indian 741 Military Scout and a 1944 Indian Military Chief with a sidecar.

World War II enthusiast Don Sterner of Lehigh County, Pa., the 741 Military Scout owner, said he purchased it 10 years ago in Manheim, Germany, from a Polish owner who told him the cycle was used by the Red Army of the USSR under the U.S. Lend-Lease program, which provided military equipment, supplies and food to its allies.

Hogan said the company witnessed both capitalism’s glory and some painful failures, the final one its post-World War II decline.

The company chose the Indian name to signify its cycle as an American product. Cycles carried the “Indian” name in cursive while some models also carry an Indian chief with a feather headdress. The deep red color introduced in 1904 became a classic trademark though they came in other colors.

To create the exhibit the curator contacted private owners of the vintage bikes all over the country who agreed to loan the museum their cycles.

The exhibit, which ends Aug. 23, also features classic racing uniforms, early motorcycle parts, informational panels, artwork and owner memorabilia.

During the 1910s Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world. Its most popular models were the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 to 1953. Some of its cycles set speed records.

The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Co. was American-made until it went bankrupt in 1953. Various organizations tried to perpetuate the brand in subsequent years but had minimal success.

In 2011 Polaris Industries purchased Indian and has marketed three modern Indian motorcycles that reflect their traditional styling.

Elsewhere in the museum are galleries dedicated to the New Sweden Colony with artifacts, maps, books, and paintings. The Colony fell to the Dutch in 1655.

There are interactive and static exhibits of native costumes and textiles, glassware and furniture; Pippy Longstocking, the independent girl in the children’s book of the same name by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren; botanist Peter Kalm, the first to document flora and fauna in the New World; writer and traveler Frederika Bremer; and opera signer Jenny Lind.

Its Nord Library boasts 20,000 volumes on history, culture and other subjects. It also houses genealogy material on the New Sweden colonists and their parishes in Sweden.

Board of governors member Kristin Antoniades said even Philadelphians who have lived in the city all their lives have no idea of the museum’s existence.

Weekend shop manager Carol Fucci of Shamong agreed. She sought out a place to connect with her Swedish heritage 15 years ago and found herself volunteering. “Members are like a family,” she said.

On April 21 the museum will hold a “Down on the Dairy Farm” Day at 10:30 a.m. Children can make butter, learn to milk a cow and eat Swedish “Siggi’s” yogurt.

The museum will be aglow April 25 with an outdoor bonfire, a typical Swedish tradition known as Valborg, with songs and refreshments from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

For more information, visit americanswedish.org or call (215) 389-1776.