Today in motorcycle history, August 6, 2006

  


  

  Jim Pomeroy, the first U.S. motorcycle racer to win a World Championship Motocross event, dies when his 1979 Jeep CJ5 veers off the road near Tampico, Washington.

  Jim Pomeroy became the first American rider to win a FIM Motocross World  Championship race when he rode a Bultaco Pursang to victory in the 1973 250cc Spanish motocross Grand Prix. At the time, European riders completely dominated the sport of motocross and Americans weren't even mentioned in conversation. The news of his victory created a huge wave of excitement in the States where motocross was undergoing an explosive growth in popularity. His victory signaled that American motocross riders were finally ready to compete with the best in the world.



  Pomeroy achieved great success in the World Championship and AMA Motocross and Supercross series, but just as important, he motivated a whole new generation of riders.

  A partial list of Jim's firsts: he was the first American to win an FIM World Championship MX Event (Spain 1973), first rider to win his debut World Grand Prix Motocross race (Spain 1973), first American to lead the World Motocross Championship (Spain 1973), first winner of an indoor Supercross race (Houston, 1974), first American to win a moto at the U.S. 500cc Grand Prix race (Carlsbad 1977) and the first non-World Champion to win the Trophies des-Nations event.



  Jim Pomeroy was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1999.

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disabiliy (NABD).  www.nabd.org.uk

Today in motorcycle history, August 5, 2011

  

         

  

 

  

  In Spirit Lake, Iowa, production begins on yet another version of Indian motorcycles.

  On July 20, 2006, the newly reincarnated Indian Motorcycle Company, owned largely by Stellican Limited, a London-based private equity firm, announced its new home in Kings Mountain, North Carolina.  It was restarting the Indian motorcycle brand, piecing together Indian Chief motorcycles in limited numbers, with a focus on exclusivity rather than performance, like a "luxury" watch. Starting out exactly where the defunct Gilroy-IMC "Garlic Indian" operation left off in 2003 (Indian Motorcycle Corporation went into bankruptcy and ceased all production operations (again) in the Garlic Capital of the World on September 19, 2003). The "Kings Mountain" models were to be a continuation of the models based on the new series of Indians developed in 1999. 

  In April 2011, Polaris Industries, the off-road and leisure vehicle (ATV, ski-mobile) maker and parent-company of Victory Motorcycles, announced its intention to acquire Indian Motorcycles. Indian's production facilities were then moved to Spirit Lake, Iowa, where production began on August 5, 2011. In March 2013, Indian unveiled their new 111-cubic-inch Thunder Stroke engine and I began to wonder, is this a bike motor or a new line of adult sex toys?  "Excuse me, Mr. Salesman, may I test ride that big Thunder Stroke?"

And Indian keeps going out of business why?



  In 1856, three brothers-in-law created the town of Spirit Lake after a visit to the Lakes area piqued their interest. Soon they were joined by various other settlers, intent on making homes along the lakes' scenic shores.  These settlers however, did not get along peacefully with the natives, and on March 13th, 1857, one hundred and fifty-six years prior to the Indian "Thunder Stroke", Chief Inkpaduta of the Dakota Sioux led a revolt against the non-native settlers, killing all but four women.

  The Indian Motorcycle brand name has been taken, fought over and purchased a number of times by a number of companies since Indian Motorcycle Manufacturing Company went bankrupt and ceased ALL operations in 1953.  Let's try one more time...

  Today in motorcycle history proudly supports the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD).     www.nabd.org.uk