Comeback trail:
Indian Motorcycle’s first dealership in southeastern Wisconsin in many years is in a historic building that once housed a Studebaker car franchise.
The first Indian Motorcycle dealership in southeastern Wisconsin in many years has opened in a historic building that once housed a Studebaker car franchise and has underground parking for 100 vehicles.
Indian Motorcycle of Racine, at 522 6th St. in downtown Racine, joins other dealerships in Madison and De Pere as the venerable brand makes a comeback under Polaris Industries, a $4.5 billion Medina, Minn., manufacturer of motorcycles, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles.
At this point, Indian isn’t a big threat to much larger HarleyDavidson Inc., but Polaris has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to revive the brand that, decades ago, went head to head with Harley in motorcycle sales across the nation.
Indian Motorcycle of Racine is managed by Dickie Betchkal, who for 19 years owned a Harley dealership and only recently became a convert to Indian.
Beginning Tuesday, the Racine franchise is hosting weekly “bike night” events to stir up interest in heavyweight motorcycles like the Indian Chief, Scout and Roadmaster.
Betchkal and a handful of other Indian enthusiasts have been riding their motorcycles to weekly bike night events on Thursdays at the Harley-Davidson Museum.
Harley riders ask a lot of questions about the Indians, but it’s a friendly crowd, he said.
“A lot of people know me from years ago when I was a Harley dealer,” Betchkal added.
Historical Century Market
The dealership is in a 20,000square-foot building that, in recent years, was known as the Historical Century Market. It was built in the 1920s as a Studebaker dealership and later housed Nash and Chrysler car franchises before it was used for other purposes, including a nightclub.
There’s an underground parking lot adjacent to the building that’s big enough for 80 cars. In addition, the basement can accommodate another 20 cars.
The building needed a lot of repairs to transform it into a motorcycle dealership.
“It was beyond rough. The basement was like something out of the ‘Addams Family,’ ” Betchkal said.
Mark Porcaro, president of Porcaro Ford Mitsubishi in Racine, bought the property in 2013 to house his collectible cars. Then, on a motorcycle trip to the Sturgis, S.D., Motorcycle Rally that summer, he became interested in acquiring an Indian franchise.
Porcaro has been in the automobile business for about 35 years. A longtime Harley enthusiast, he was smitten by the Indian brand when he took a test ride in Sturgis.
“I thought the Indian was a little bit faster and a little bit smoother,” Porcaro said.
In the future, Porcaro said, the dealership will have a restaurant and a bar with motorcycle seats on the bar stools. The weekly bike nights, named Tuesday Night Thunder, will have live music, food and beer.
“Our goal is to get people to come here from 50 or 100 miles away, or farther,” Betchkal said.
The original Indian Motorcycle Co. was founded in 1901, two years before Harley-Davidson. The two companies were rivals for decades until Indian went out of business in 1953.
Numerous attempts to revive Indian failed, but industry experts say the brand has its best chance under Polaris, which acquired it in 2011.
Harley dealerships, partly through Harley-Davidson Owners Group chapters, have an advantage over the fledgling Indian franchises. But that’s going to change, according to Indian, as the company establishes more than 300 North American dealerships and rekindles the brand’s heritage.
“We have to raise our level of entertainment and motorcycleowner experiences,” said Steve Menneto, vice president-motorcycles for Polaris Industries.
Harley riders courted
Through television and print ads, Indian has poked fun at Harley. With a motorcycle tradein program and other efforts aimed directly at Harley-Davidson, the company has aggressively courted Harley’s customers.
The marquee motorcycle companies are trying to sell a lifestyle associated with their brands, as well as bikes, said Rod Copes, a former HarleyDavidson executive and now president of the North American division of Royal Enfield, an India-based motorcycle manufacturer.
When someone gets a Harley
tattoo on their arm, they’re probably not going to buy another brand of bike. That’s the kind of loyalty Harley-Davidson has cultivated over the years, according to Copes.
“I think it’s what Indian is trying to emulate,” he said.
Tug of nostalgia
Polaris says its goal is to capture the spirit of the Chief and other Indians from more than a half-century ago, with a modern engine and other components to make the bikes rider friendly.
There isn’t one piece of the old company remaining from when it closed in the 1950s. But the brand, which has survived in some iteration for more than a century, still tugs at the heartstrings of classic motorcycle enthusiasts.
Polaris has received thousands of applications for Indian dealerships, Menneto said. Thus far, it has signed agreements for about 200 dealers in North America and 150 outside North America.
“Once we go through the vetting process, the list gets winnowed down pretty good,” Menneto said.
For new motorcycles, at least, the Racine dealership will sell only Indians.
In southeastern Wisconsin, it is surrounded by Harley-Davidson dealers.
“It’s not like we are the new sheriff in town, but this is competition for the big guys,” Betchkal said.