Kings Mountain Indians
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6,677 Posts
Wish I knew! I can't put my finger on it but there seems to be a more authentic look to these Indian motorcycles over the corporate watered-down machines that Polanus is putting out today. Maybe that is part of it. The Kings Mountain bikes are considered to be more "authentically Indian". Can you still get parts for these things? I reckon so, because they are still out there! I mean, this to me is a pretty good looking motorcycle:
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No fringe, no bullsh!t... just a nice looking bike.
No fringe, no bullsh!t... just a nice looking bike.
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5,092 Posts
Look closer. The mint and white one has bags made from Tonto's jacket.Wish I knew! I can't put my finger on it but there seems to be a more authentic look to these Indian motorcycles over the corporate watered-down machines that Polanus is putting out today. Maybe that is part of it. The Kings Mountain bikes are considered to be more "authentically Indian". Can you still get parts for these things? I reckon so, because they are still out there! I mean, this to me is a pretty good looking motorcycle:
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No fringe, no bullsh!t... just a nice looking bike.
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23,463 Posts
2010 Indian Chief Vintage Review
The 105" PowerPlus reportedly delivers about 72 hp at 5,000 rpm and 100 ft-lb of torque at 3,200 rpm at the crank.
At the crank those are quite unimpressive numbers.
The engine utilizes no counterbalancers, is rigidly mounted, and is fed by a Magneti Marelli EFI system (Junk abandoned by Harley in 2 years) via a single 52mm throttle-body.
Unfortunately, we can not compliment some of the other buzzes this bike's engine induced. It visibly shook the tank, and audible resonation came possibly from the windshield - or maybe it was just the tank? In top gear at cruising speed with earplugs in, it was still audible. Specifically, the buzz began at around 2,600 rpm, and discouraged us from wanting to rev it anywhere near its 5,250 rpm redline. After riding the Vintage on the highway, Pete said he felt like his feet might vibrate off the floorboards, but I did not feel this affect as strongly. Further, Bernauer mentioned the company has done work to isolate the floorboards, and the model we rode was made prior to this update, so we don't know if newer Indians will have this issue.
If you have ridden a 1999 or earlier Softail, you get the picture, except this engine is a lot bigger and thumpier than an 88"... better go over everything with a wrench often and keep lots of locktite on hand.
The 105" PowerPlus reportedly delivers about 72 hp at 5,000 rpm and 100 ft-lb of torque at 3,200 rpm at the crank.
At the crank those are quite unimpressive numbers.
The engine utilizes no counterbalancers, is rigidly mounted, and is fed by a Magneti Marelli EFI system (Junk abandoned by Harley in 2 years) via a single 52mm throttle-body.
Unfortunately, we can not compliment some of the other buzzes this bike's engine induced. It visibly shook the tank, and audible resonation came possibly from the windshield - or maybe it was just the tank? In top gear at cruising speed with earplugs in, it was still audible. Specifically, the buzz began at around 2,600 rpm, and discouraged us from wanting to rev it anywhere near its 5,250 rpm redline. After riding the Vintage on the highway, Pete said he felt like his feet might vibrate off the floorboards, but I did not feel this affect as strongly. Further, Bernauer mentioned the company has done work to isolate the floorboards, and the model we rode was made prior to this update, so we don't know if newer Indians will have this issue.
If you have ridden a 1999 or earlier Softail, you get the picture, except this engine is a lot bigger and thumpier than an 88"... better go over everything with a wrench often and keep lots of locktite on hand.
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23,463 Posts
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9,140 Posts
I prefer the look of the 111 engine vs the engine in the King's Mountain Indian.
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828 Posts
Not me I like the looks of the kings mountain better
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158 Posts
Perhaps it's because they were the initial "resurrection" of the Indian brand???? Hard to say really, but that would be my guess.
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11,753 Posts
Because there are no more of them made. They were knockoffs of the iconic original but harder to find. When you can go to any store and buy a new one off the shelf, an old out of production one has more appeal to some.
In 30 or 40 years your Victory bikes will be worth more than you paid. The tragedy is they were not here in significant numbers or interest to be iconic. 40 years from now it is unlikely folks will be wearing Victory shirts to bike rallies. They killed a brand that surely didn't need to be killed.
For 40 years after the death of Indian people were wearing the logo even without the bikes. That is street cred. Similar with Triumph and Norton.
In 30 or 40 years your Victory bikes will be worth more than you paid. The tragedy is they were not here in significant numbers or interest to be iconic. 40 years from now it is unlikely folks will be wearing Victory shirts to bike rallies. They killed a brand that surely didn't need to be killed.
For 40 years after the death of Indian people were wearing the logo even without the bikes. That is street cred. Similar with Triumph and Norton.
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17,114 Posts
The value remains high because production was so low. Polaris was selling the same bike for the same price from 2011-2013. I’m going to make an assumption that demand did not change much for the same product at the same price just because production location moved. And after that move they were not produced at the Spirit Lake plant alongside Victory until after the new release in 2013. They were put together by hand in another facility down the road. So without an assembly line I’m concluding that annual production was in the dozens. Which isn’t that surprising considering when Polaris made the purchase I think there were only about a dozen or so dealers in the whole country. So Gilroy made Indians from 1999-2003 then Kings Mountain from 2006-2011. A combined ten years of production of a very expensive bike that was no better a motorcycle than a Softail at half the price sold through only a handful of dealers. Anybody want to take a guess at the odds that more than 1000 units total were made?
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23,463 Posts
BZZZZZT! Nope...
Gilroy Production Numbers
Total Gilroy Production
1999 1109 Units
2000 3616 Units
2001 3856 Units
2002 3278 Units
2003 3900 Units
Kings Mountain Production
2009 460 Units
2010 340 Units
2011 109 Units
2012 140 Units***
2013 85 Units***
***Kings Mountain designed but Polaris built
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23,463 Posts
This is interesting...
Bottle-cap Indian:
You reckon that's a long stroke engine?
Now look at a V-Max Engine:
The cylinders are SO SHORT that they're part of the cases. Incredibly short stroke...
I just think this is interesting.... apple and orange thing...
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17,114 Posts
Well I was pretty off on Gilroy but 34 down to 7 dozen for the KM era wasn't that far off.
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17,114 Posts
Polaris and Kings Mountain were both selling KM era Chiefs for 27-36k. For 27,000 you got a solo cruiser. For 36,000 you got bags, windshield, two tone paint, and lots of chrome.
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8,141 Posts
I'd ride a 50cc scooter before I'd pay that much for a basic motorcycle. Holy crap that's crazy.
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23,463 Posts
Suzuki Cycles - Product Lines - Scooters - Products - Burgman 650 - 2017 - AN650Z
These things will do 100 mph and have storage under the seat. Chicks dig them too...
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2,960 Posts
a freind of mine owns an 09 kings mountain and when he bought it ( hard core HD guy ) the thing i remember him talking about the most was the proprietary motor. that seemed to be what he was most intrigued about even though i know he'd always liked the indian style. i don't think he'll be too excited if that thing ever needs work. his local indian dealer ( polaris ) said they would help him as much as possible if he ever needed it,,, he was glad to hear that. i will have to mention to him that his bike may be worth some good money he may want to dump it and get back to HD. his last electra glide had 113,000 mi's on it before he got rid of it and i know he hasn't been riding the indian as much as he'd like for fear of fuking it up.
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17,114 Posts
Yup. I'm honestly surprised looking at HC's numbers for Gilroy. I don't remember what they were charging, but I'm impressed they sold 3-4 thousand units a year. Seems to me if you can do that you should be able to survive and grow. They started out in 1999 with an S&S Harley clone motor but developed the Power Plus 105 before going bankrupt in 2003. Stelican Corp. is the venture capital firm that bought the name and moved production to Kings Mountain in 2006. Them never selling much over 400 bikes a year (and a lot less) doesnt surprise me considering the price. The Chief in 2006 wasn't much different than a Softail Deluxe or a Softail Heritage. So at that time if you wanted a classic styled big ol v-twin American cruiser, for about 15k you could get a drop dead gorgeous Harley. With a ****ty frame, ****ty motor, ****ty brakes, and ****ty suspension. Or for almost double that price you could get a drop dead gorgeous Indian with a ****ty frame,****ty brakes, ****ty suspension and 105 cubic inch ****ty motor. Or for also about 15k you could get a drop dead gorgeous Victory Kingpin with a decent frame, motor, brakes, and suspension. What I find truly crazy is that anyone was stupid enough to buy a Chief or a Softail back then.
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23,463 Posts
Those are production numbers, not sales numbers.... you are assuming that every bike they built was sold.
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