Chiefs Make Sputtering Debut
CHIEFS MAKE SPUTTERING DEBUT
INDIAN MOTORCYCLE MANufacturing Inc. promised a summer of exciting events involving running prototypes of its Century V-Twin Chiefs, but the bikes have been plagued by teething problems.
IMMI did unveil two Chief prototypes at an Alburquerque, New Mexico, rally in June, but the bikes were not ridden and ran poorly. The
two prototypes’ 100.6cubic-inch engines each ran on one cylinder for a couple minutes, due to what IMMI says were engine-management-system problems.
Both bikes were to have been ridden about two weeks after their debut in conjunction with a Las Vegas, Nevada, rally, but that didn’t happen. They arrived on a truck and were not started, due to what an IMMI spokesman says were transmission problems. From there, IMMI took the motorcycles to a Minnesota rally. The Chiefs were also scheduled to be displayed at the Sturgis Rally. IMMI is not saying when its Chiefs will be ridden in public.
One version of the engine, dubbed “The Shaker,” has a common crankpin design and produces more vibration than does the other powerplant, which has staggered crankpins. A decision is pending on which version to put into production, says a company spokesman.
The first 25 engines will be made by Batten Engineering,
designers of the Chief powerplants. It is not known who will make subsequent engines, but it likely won’t be IMMI, says a company spokesman, who also says that a 47,000square-foot building will be used to assemble components made by suppliers. Motorcycles will be produced late this year and appear in showrooms
in April, costing $17,000, according to IMMI. The goal is to make 4000 Chiefs in 1995, says Wayne Baughman, IMMI president.
IMMI has been careful not to call its motorcycle an Indian because it doesn’t own the rights to do so. The name, written like it was on Indians of yore, has been copyrighted by another group, but Baughman says he’s going to court over the issue.
“You can’t ‘warehouse’ a name, have it and not use it,” says Baughman. “What is called the ‘script Indian' is copyrighted, but it’s not being used.”
Australian Maurits HayimLangridge claims to own rights to the Indian name, having reportedly paid Philip Zanghi, another player in the complex Indian-revival game, (see Roundup, February, 1993) for the rights to the script Indian logo. Hayim-Langridge says he’ll soon release details of plans to build bikes with classic Indian styling. If he builds such a bike, he may find himself in court.
IMMI has received a U.S.
pany can sue anyone who produces a motorcycle similar enough to the Chief that a consumer could confuse the two products, according to a U.S. Patent and Trademark Office attorney. Baughman says he will not take legal action against people making parts for vintage Indians.
-Robert Hough
trademark for the Chief’s design features, which means the com-
