1949 Indian Motorcycle Lives Forever

By 1949 the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviet Union got even colder with the establishment of the German Democratic Republic under Soviet Rule. Communism had been declared in China by Chairman Mao just a week earlier.

In July 1949, the Soviet Union succeeded in an atomic test for the very first time. However, this triumph didn't seem to make things better. If at all some good events of 1949 could be mentioned, they were the discovery of a medicine named cortisone to treat arthritis, and the introduction of the bikini.

The after-effects of the war in 1949 didn't allow any progress in America. The GIs of previous days went to receive college education. Widely known American institutions belonging to the mid-twentieth century emerged in the American suburbs. Regrettably, the Indian Chief motorcycle, that was prevalently utilized by the police force, became non-existent, from the year 1949.

Instead of the Indian Chief, newly emerged models like the 149 Arrow and Super Scout 249 prevailed in the market. However, they were not up to the standard to equal the iconic Indian motorcycle. The Indian Company was saved by its release of the Dyna-Torque with vertical twin engines in the year 1949. However, the import of Triumph and BSA brands from Britain was prevalent.

As a way to overcome the latest competition, the Indian Company launched two other models namely, the single-cylinder 220 cc Arrow and the 440 cc Scout. An active pace of marketing accompanied their launch. Despite that, the reaction in the market was not as expected. The few bikes that were bought didn't give adequate satisfaction since they lacked reliability.

In 1949, a time when the value of the British pound had come down in comparison to the dollar, import costs were also down, and the Indian Company had to face hardship. At this point of time, the Brockhouse Ltd., a British company that came to the financing of Indian, purchased the company altogether, just a year later. As the V-twin failed, Indian could not regain its position, and was broken into two parts. One part took over the manufacturing, while the other was intended for sales.

The year of 1949 as a whole was a difficult period for America. From the economic point of view, inflation, in addition to a devalued state of British pound led to an unavoidable reduction in the cost of British imports. This in turn intensified the hardship faced by the Indian Motorcycle Company. It was a miserable sequence of events, and the closure of the company after another four years was not surprising.