Welcome to the Indian Owners Register of New Zealand

NZ's only register dedicated solely to Indian motorcycles.

The Indian Owners Register currently has around 200 members spread throughout the country and a couple of international members as well. There are a wide selection of various Indian models owned by members, the earliest bike being a 1906 right up to the last model Chief of 1953 and a couple of the modern Indian badged examples as well.
So, sit back and spend some time having a look through our site and seeing what being a member of the register is all about. Find out about our annual rally held in a different part of the country in the early part of each year, there are photos from past rallies and details for the next one.

If you would like to join and share in the fun that are classic Indian Motocycles or if you are just after some more information you can reach out via the Contact form and we will be in touch.


 

About Indian Motorcycles

Indian motorcycles were manufactured from 1901 (2 years before Harley Davidson) till 1953 by a company in Springfield, Massachusetts, USA, initially known as the Hendee Manufacturing Company but which was renamed the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company in 1923.

In the early years the Indian factory team had numerous racing successes including the first three places in the 1911 Isle of Man Tourist Trophy. During the early 1900s Indian became the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world, with Indian's most popular models being the Scout, made from 1920 to 1946, and the Chief, made from 1922 to 1953. They also produced a line of 4 cylinder motorcycles between the years 1927 and 1942 that were known as ‘The Dusenberg of motorcycles’.

The Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt in 1953, primarily due to a series of poor management decisions over the years and poor build quality of the smaller vertical twin cylinder machines intended to compete with the bikes coming out of England at the time.

A number of successor organizations have perpetuated the name in subsequent years, with the name currently owned by the Polaris group that includes the Victory and Polaris brands of motorcycles.

New Zealand has a large number of the military 741b models as there are rumored to be around 5000 sold off here as war surplus after WWII which, at the time, meant they were cheap to buy! Most New Zealand Indian riders have had at least one of these reliable old workhorses and there are still plenty to be seen riding around the countryside and attending our annual rally.