Indian Wars Continue
INDIAN WARS CONTINUE
ROUNDUP
WHERE THERE’S smoke there’s fire, it is said.
And there’s certainly plenty of smoke being generated by two companies that each claims to own the rights to the Indian motorcycle.
The first is Indian Motocycle Company, of Springfield, Massachussets. This is spearheaded by Phillip S. Zanghi (see Cycle World, May, 1992), who says he plans to build a series of Indian Chiefand Four-styled bikes. In the meantime, Zanghi is affixing the Indian name to clothing and other soft merchandise.
Zanghi did not respond to Cycle World’s requests for further information, but Wayne Baughman did. He owns Indian Motorcycle Mfg. in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Baughman dismisses Zanghi’s plans as, “This man’s incredible fantasy...,” and says he, not Zanghi, owns the rights to build and sell Indian motorcycles, and that he will do so as soon as financing is in place. He says a plan is underway to build two versions of the Scout, but admits that design work has not been completed and that no production time-table exists.
Yet with Zanghi apparently preoccupied with licensing the Indian name to clothing manufacturers, and Baughman apparently preoccupied with sparring with Zanghi and with searching for investment capital, there is hope for potential Indian owners.
In the face of all this smoke, at least four Southern California firms say they build Indian motorcycles to order. They are Greer’s Indian Engineering (714/826-9940),
Starklite Cycle (714/7800421), Starklite Cycle Service (714/447-4636), and Indian Motorcycle News (714/678-1583). All will deliver remanufactured bikesbuilt on original frames and engine cases-in turnkey, ride-away condition, for
prices that range from $20,000 to $30,000. So if you’ve simply got to own a
new Indian, there is a way to add your own fire to all that smoke. -Jon F. Thompson
