Heavy Duty – July-August 2019

IN THE WORKSHOP WITH DOC ROBINSON

Tech Torq

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MILLENNIAL

WHAT?

Doc, I keep hearing about

Millennials, Gen this and

Gen that and it all seems

confusing. It seems like

marketing chatter dreamed

up over meeting room tables.

Can you give a brief but clear

description of what all these

terms mean?

• Frank

Yes, Frank the population

groupings are thrown around

quite a lot and probably come

in handy to advertising people,

help to select ‘focus’ group

participants and make some-

what arbitrary distinctions

between the different groups.

Arbitrary because I don’t think

these distinctions have much

meaning in many cases. For

example, Baby Boomers are

those born between 1946-

1964. I have a mate who was
      born in 1944, which puts him
      in the Silent Generation. Do the
      marketing gurus really think
      he makes different choices
      about his clothing purchases or
      motorcycle preferences than a
      Boomer, who was born three
      years later? Anyway I trust the
      chart above will make it clear
      for you.

INDIAN

RELIABILITY

Doc, a few of my mates

reckon that Indian as built by

Polaris is not a proven prod-

uct yet. To make the point

they list a swag of previous

owners of the brand who

stuffed up one way or the

other. Why should anyone

believe that Polaris is going

to keep the brand going?

Look what they did with

Victory Motorcycles. And

anyway, aren’t the current

Indian engines just a rehash

of the Victory one? I’m a bit

interested in getting one, as

they are the most beautiful

cruiser out there in my opin-

ion. But I don’t want to get

stuck with an orphan bike.

Your thoughts please?

• Blake

You present a couple of reason-

able questions Blake, especially

given the history of the marque

in more recent times.

We can ignore some of the

amateurish attempts at reviv-

ing the brand such as the Gilroy

Indians built in a Californian

town best known for its garlic

production. And just like garlic

the Gilroy models stank.

A better attempt was made

by Stellican Ltd, a private equity

firm who had successfully

revived the fortunes of the Chris

Craft brand of boats. Chris Craft

had been America’s iconic power

craft since 1867 and owners

included President Kennedy,

President Roosevelt, Frank

Sinatra and of course Elvis. But it

had fallen on hard times.

However, the difference

between reviving a boat

company and a motorcycle

company is significant. With

the boat company you hire the

right designers and craftsmen

and build the hulls. Then you

select a proven and successful

company such as Mercury or

Volvo as a powering source

and you are ready to go. Well

Stellican did a good job with

its design and finishes in my

opinion, but the engine they

selected was crap.

I had a loan Indian in Sturgis

in 2009, the year they were

released, and at highway speeds

POPULATION BREAKDOWN BY LARGEST GENERATIONS

9% 23% 20% 23% 19%

SILENT GENERATION

Born 1925-1945

BABY BOOMERS

Born 1946-1964

GENERATION X

Born 1965-1980

GEN Y (MILLENNIALS)

Born 1981-1997

GEN Z

Born 1998-2012

A large-diameter clutch

allows for fewer clutch

plates than is usual,

which helps reduce

level-pull effort.

The six-speed gearbox

uses helical teeth in

the top five gears,

reducing whine.

THUNDER STROKE TECH

As is typical with cruiser engines, the Thunder Stroke

111 is a conservative design, packed with features

aimed at durability, smoothness and low maintenance.

Engine, gearbox and primary

drive are all housed in the

same casting, which

simplifies oil changes and

combats leaks.

The 49-degree piston angle

(Harley uses 45-degree

angles) gives the Indian an

exhaust note all its own.