new indians at harley dealer in az

[hogpipes1]

I checked  out the new vintage model nice bike but at $30k plus lots of bucks . looks put together and not a bunch of cheap plastic chrome. eng is 105 cu. S&S machined  & assembled at the plant in n.c.  baker 6 speed trans  is the right ticket . 2 yr warr.goes with it. so we will see if the market can handle them again.

[CraigArizona85248]

Which dealer had the Indian?  I wouldn't mind taking a first hand look.

-Craig

[seattledyna]

PICS!

so was there buzz in the air?  did it really look worth it?

S&S evo style or TC clone?

[HV]

Yes Craig ..if you could get some HTT Pics..    Tell the manager you are a Photo Journalist for a large internet HD Site 

[hogpipes1]

chesters in mesa, az nothing on the floor, but talk nice and you might get a tour in the back room. it's a demo had 185 mi. has the bottle cap design eng.they'll  have a indian party when there new show room is ready. hope there's a peace pipe there too.

[help-u2]

indians?   not again.....lol.....and a harley shop gonna sell them?   wonder what mother moco thinks of the competition...
i am 25 miles from chesters.... may go by when its on floor.... they should have put it at the apache junction shop   (owned by chesters)
the indians never did appeal to me for looks....
even the real ones.....oh well.....

[HIPPO]

When did Chesters buy out Bev at Superstition?


They are building a huge city looking thing in Mesa. The Indian showroom will be a separate building in the same complex.
Anyone's guess how they expect to pay for it.

[CraigArizona85248]

I'm pretty sure Bev still owns Superstition H-D.  I saw her husband there just a couple weeks back.  No association with Chester's that I know of.

-Craig

[HIPPO]

I thought so, but figured my hermit life might be catching up. 

[help-u2]

i must be outdated.  when superstition first opened they were same family with chesters.
in fact when they needed parts instead of ordering they would run to mesa daily for parts and supplies.  i do remember when they stopped doing that.  but still was under impression it was one and the same parent company/family,.
course i dont get upstairs.  lol.....

i remember in calif many years ago the shop owner was the parts man and salesman....
his kid was mech.  every time walked into shop you said hi to owner...
i have never met either owner of either shop...
so much for following corporate structuring..

[CraigArizona85248]

It was actually the other way around.  Bev was the owner of Chosa's in Mesa and then they expanded to build Superstition H-D in AJ.  She and her husband owned both dealerships for a while and then sold the Mesa location to the current owner who changed the name from Chosa's to Chester's.  So there was as association for a while.  But the owner was Bev, not Chester's.

-Craig

[help-u2]

i remember it was chosas prior to chesters. 
just like me,  i get thing backwards half the time...
and the other half i am just wrong....
but chosas was in business prior to superstition being built....right?

[Joncin]

I'm not sure when Chosa first opened, but I first met Jerry Chosa and his service manager Steve back in the early 90's when they only had the tiny storefront on north McClintock in Tempe. I used to go in and work on his emissions equipment every couple of months and drool over the bikes that I couldn't afford. lol

Chester's has more money than God so the taj mahal they're building is a drop n the bucket. 

[Phu Cat]

If I was gonna buy an Indian for $30,000, today's Indians just don't have the charactor the old ones did.

PC

[fulldress79]

Why buy a new Indian when you can buy a good used Evo for a third the price? All those are, are Evos with skirted fenders. At 30K you can still buy a REAL one.I've always thought that to have any credibility,they should have started where the Springfield Indian left off. Offer at least one flathead Chief,maybe updated to footshift handclutch,and move on from there.In the  1970's and 80's I had a '47 Chief. It kept up with everybody else and was dead reliable as it was my only rider for about 15 yrs.Unfortunatly they waited to late cause now you have to worry about emissions and such and I'm sure the old flathead wouldn't pass without computers and fuel injection. If you want a new "old" Indian,check out Kiwi Indian in California.

[CraigArizona85248]

Joncin,

I remember the Chosa's in the tiny store front on McClintock.  When I first moved to Arizona in 1986 I lived about 2 miles from there and was in there on a regular basis.  They devote about twice that amount of floor space to motorcloths now.  LOL. 

-Craig

[HIPPO]

Chester's has more money than God so the taj mahal they're building is a drop n the bucket. 

And I thought that the name of that dude was Madoff.   

[CraigArizona85248]

I stopped by Chester's today and they had 6 new Indians on display.  But they were in their new building that was locked up.  Could only see them through the windows.  Not good for taking pictures.  I gotta say... the chrome on these bikes look a hell of a lot better then on the typical H-D.  Looks like real "show chrome".  Have to see one close to see more detail.

-Craig

[metaliser]

I googled and went to their website and some of them don't look to bad but if they think they will stay in buisness with that price there crazy, $33,000 for a road king clone, no way.  (jmo) 

[Tomahawk]

The Indian motorycles just don't seem to fly here in Canada. Dealers last a year or two then another opens. I'm not overly impressed with the cosmetic looks of them (any model), and $30k,,mm

[hogpipes1]

1 other item i forgot to add on this topic, the vintage bike i was looking is NOT EPA ready set go for cal. it's a 49 state bike .  according to the sale guy showing me this bike. that could be all the new ones(indian's) also. it's F I . strange they can't meet cals spec. at this time .

[HV]

The Indian motorycles just don't seem to fly here in Canada. Dealers last a year or two then another opens. I'm not overly impressed with the cosmetic looks of them (any model), and $30k,,mm

You can add Victory's to the same list

[CraigArizona85248]

Ok... the new Indian dealer in Mesa Arizona (Chester's Harley-Davidson) has their showroom open now.  They still don't have everything squared away to sell Indians in the state of Arizona, but they are apparently getting close.  At least now they have them on display.  They must of had a dozen+ bikes on the floor.  Here are my impressions:

• +The fit and finish it top quality.  The paint is equal to or better then anything I've seen H-D put out.  The colors don't do much for me, but the quality is very good.  The chrome is outstanding.  It's the best (by far) chrome I've ever seen on a factory bike.
• +These bikes already come loaded up with a lot of things that you see people buying for their Harley in the first year.  Braided stainless cables, chrome switch housings, chrome clutch master cylinder (that's right... hydraulic clutch), chrome front brake cylinder, chrome foot boards or pegs, etc.
• +A Baker 6-speed direct drive transmission.  It's just hard to beat the quality of that product.
• + and - The rear swing arm.  This thing is beefy.  Looks like it came off a tank.  Good for strength, but not very pretty.
• -The neck area of the frame is huge.  Makes for a nice stiff frame, but kind of ugly.
• -The color choices did appeal to me too much.  But that's just my personal opinion.
• -Price... ugh... at $31K-$35K that's way more then I'd be willing to pay.  On the other hand, they come about as well appointed as a Harley Screaming Eagle bike, so maybe not that far out of line.  Just wonder if they'll be able to sell enough of these to stay afloat.

I'm definitely not their target "demographic" so it's not surprising that I'm not getting ready to write a check for one of these.  But before you write them off, you should take a look at one.  They really are put together nice.

-Craig

<EDIT:  OH... I forgot to mention... they already have their "motorcloths" line in place for Indian.     Racks of shirts, boots, etc.>

[HDRDR]

I just don't see it happening the dream machine that thought that this would work just lost a bunch of $ IMO and I am sure many more think and know this.

[HroadhogD1]

   With Indian's history over the last several years, and the economy the way it is, its going to be tough for Indian to stay afloat.

[03deuce]

If they are an American company and employ american workers, I wish them well and hope they are successful.  I'm not in the market to buy one, but would be interested enough to take a test ride. 

[hogpipes1]

i  checked out the rest of their  bikes last  sat. all are 105 cu. just waiting for there house party to hear what they sound like with there 2-1 huge muffler. they look good but after a 100k road test we'll see. i can see me riding a 53 chief but not a 09. best of luck in the worse of times.

[CraigArizona85248]

hogpipes,

The salesman started up one of the bikes for another customer while I was there.  Sounded just like a harley.  No surprising since the motor is basically a 105" Evo.  The muffler was pretty quiet as I would expect.

-Craig

[Joncin]

Hey Craig,

Did you happen to ask if they were going to have some sort of grand opening.....with free food?

The free food thing gets me in the door occasionally. 

[seattledyna]

no pics you guys?!!! 

[CraigArizona85248]

Hey Craig,

Did you happen to ask if they were going to have some sort of grand opening.....with free food?

The free food thing gets me in the door occasionally. 

LOL... sorry Jon, I didn't ask.  Last I knew, Chesters was serving free lunch every Saturday.  But it's been a long time since I was in there on a Saturday during the lunch hour.

-Craig

[hogpipes1]

Chesters has a web site that list there events for the month .i'am sure that will be  on there cal. when they have a  showing.

[1-Lonewolf]

If I was gonna buy an Indian for $30,000, today's Indians just don't have the charactor the old ones did.

PC

I completely agree! I see this as another shot in the dark and this too will fade like the Indians of the past. For that kind of money, unless you are really pissed off at Harley for something, and you wanted to buy a motorcycle, why would anyone NOT buy a Harley? I would be looking at the Scream-n-Eagle bikes if I had this kind of money.

[deathwish]

the engine is NOT S&S. It is a reworked power plus 100" indian now made in 105". I saw them at Sturgis and while they did SOME nice things, for 30,000 they'll probably starve to death.