1912 Indian V-Twin

1912 was a very good year for Hendee Manufacturing Company of Springfield, Massachusetts. So good that the Indian brand would sell 32,000 units in 1913 to make them the largest manufacturer of motorcycles on the planet with 42% of the US market. The company didn’t officially change it’s name until 1923 when it became the Indian Motocycle (no r) Company.

There are a surprising number of 1912 Indians in existence, not the least of which is in the museum at Yosemite National Park. In 1914 Robert F. Baker rode his 1912 Indian into the park and was stopped by rangers as motorcycles were illegal inside the boundary of the park. 2 years later, when Baker went to the Army he dismantled his beloved Indian and put it in several boxes so his mother couldn’t easily sell it when he was away. Decades later, he assembled the bike and donated it to the park in the early 1960s.

The 1912 Indian came in 4 models. A single and a V-Twin both available with or without transmission.

The 1912 Indian V-Twin used a 988 CC (61 CID) air cooled V-Twin with an intake over exhaust valve system that produced a top speed over 50 MPH.

This particular 1912 Indian V-Twin (VIN# 76D554) is in Ojai, California and is listed as professionally restored with an AMCA judging of 97.7 and full documentation of the restoration process. Said to be restored from a complete bike, not patched together from parts. The Indian has a Buy it Now price of $62,750