Mike:
I think a lot is lacking in today's generations of motorcycle riders. No friendly rivalry, no closely following their marque in races and hill climbs... Add to it the fact that the largest part of today's generations of motorcycle riders do not work on their own machines, nor do they keep their machines for too many seasons.
As an example of the loss of the kind of spirit the older generations of motorcycle riders had, I am reminded of an incident with my buddy and myself while riding. It was a glorious fall Sunday, and we had ridden some back roads in Delaware County, NY- my buddy on his 1975 R 90S BMW, and me on my 1978 R 100/7 BMW. As we were homeward bound around the NYC Pepacton Reservoir, my buddy had the engine on the R 90S quit. We checked for spark and had none, so figured it was likely in the ignition points. I carry a spare set of points, condenser, and spark plugs in the tool tray (under the seat) of my own BMW bike. We both had plenty of tools in our tool rolls. We got busy and confirmed the points had failed. Bosch has quit making the points for these older motorcycles, and the replacements were not so good, having thinner plating on the contact faces. As we worked on my buddy's engine, it seemed like every imaginable type and make of motorcycle was ridden past us. Groups of bikes would pass, riders would wave, and keep on riding with no reduction in speed, let alone stopping to see if we were OK or needed help. My buddy, laying on his side on the ground, got the points installed along with the new condenser and new spark plugs. As we were buttoning things up, the one person to stop was an older man in a pickup truck. He asked us if we needed help, and asked what the problem was. He said he had ridden Airhead BMW bikes a few years back, and knew putting the points in and setting them could be a bit tricky. He asked if we had parts and tools enough, and was willing to stop and help us. We were OK and thanked him and remarked that in all the time we'd been working on my buddy's bike, half the motorcycle riding world seemed to have blown by us without stopping. We agreed that this is the newer generation of riders, and talked of how our generation works on our own machines, rides them and stops to help each other out. That was a good 15 years ago, and I do not suppose things have gotten any better in that regard.
Also about 15 years ago, several of us rode from NYS up into Massachusetts and Vermont. I rode my Harley. Our first stop was the Indian Museum in Springfield, MA. In those days, the museum was still in one building of the original Indian factory, and was the sole province of the late Esta Manthos. Esta was a feisty old lady, probably at least 90 at the time. She had a collection of Indian motorcycles, memorabilia, and Oscar Hedstrom's machinist chest and all sorts of other stuff that seemed to find its way to her museum. She asked us what kind of motorcycles we'd ridden there on. Needless to say, she ripped up up one side and down the other about the fact that two of us had come on Harleys and my buddy was on his R 90S BMW. She was absolutely serious in her contention that the ONLY good motorcycle was a "real" Indian- one built in the Springfield plant. As engineers, aside from riders who worked on our own bikes, we knew a 1950's side valve engine made with the looser manufacturing tolerances of the times was not something to compare to a more modern OHV engine built to tighter tolerances. We kept straight faces and let Esta have her say, as she seemed fully capable of chasing out of her museum if we were crazy enough to disagree. Indian did have a reputation for pulling a lot more out of their side valve engines than H-D, and I think even into the era of H-D building overhead valve engines, was still kicking Harley's ass in competitions.
Some few years ago, my wife and I rode over to Rhinebeck, NY for the Antique Motorcycle meet. Of course, we rode over on our old BMW. At the meet, we came upon Butch Baer, and he told us about riding for the Indian factory in competitions, and about his father, Fritzie Baer- an Indian dealer right in Springfield who worked with the factory. Butch had an Indian 4 cylinder machine and an Indian Chief on display. He invited my wife to sit on his prized Indians, and we took her picture. There is something sharp looking about those old Indians, and the simplicity of a side valve engine does appeal to me. I suppose if I had unlimited money, I'd order a new Indian "Chout" from Kiwi Indian. Kiwi Indian is producing side valve engines and building complete "retro" Indians. The "new" Indians made in the past 20 years are not anything that grabs my imagination.
My own guess as to how things will go in the US motorcycle industry is that H-D will likely be on the ropes within the next 5 years. H-D is trying to survive and now offering small and lighter bikes and offshoring production. H-D, clawing for survival, has closed the relatively new Kansas City plant and with it, discontinued the whole Dyna line (the "real" Dynas with FX series frames) along with the V-Rod line.
I would not be surprised if, in the next 5-10 years, H-D winds up being acquired by Polaris, and at long last, Indian will have gobbled up Harley.
The late George Yarocki- a fellow who loved both Indians and Hendey machine tools- had discussed Indian's metallurgy back in the days they were made in Springfield. Yarocki said Indian tended to make engine parts and gears out of mild steel and relied on surface hardening. These parts did not hold up for too long in hard service. Yarocki's analogy stuck with me. He described a surface-hardened steel part such as a crankpin or gear as "like laying linoleum on a carpeted floor". Yarocki, who lived for Indian motorcycles and was renowned for his skill and knowledge with them, said that back in the days of Springfield Indians, Harley had it over Indian in terms of metallurgy used for the engine and transmission parts. However, Yarocki was a solid Indian man, and had a whole shop devoted to the rebuilding of Indian engines, transmissions, and complete motorcycles. Even when he had to use a scooter chair to get around, George Yarocki accompanied an antique Indian on the cross-country "Cannonball Run", providing mechanical support at each stopping place. Yarocki also volunteered his time at a museum in his hometown of Torrington, CT. At that Museum, Mr. Yarocki demonstrated machine work in a small lineshaft driven shop, running a Hendey tie-bar head lathe. Unfortunately, while intending to get over to Torrington to that museum, I delayed too long. Mr. Yarocki died a few years ago, and the old Indian motorcycle community lost a great friend and resource.