Baseball's Bob Feller and
the Indian Torque Series
By Brett Herry

Nineteen forty five ushered in a change for the Indian Motorcycle Company. E. Paul DuPont turned the reins over to Ralph Rogers, a man with an extensive background in engine design and plant manufacturing operations. With that sort of background, Rogers was certainly capable of implementing new innovative ideas to carry Indian into the next decade and beyond.

Facing Rogers right from the beginning was the fact that the Indian Company needed something new to even the odds with Harley-Davidson and the imported bikes that were taking the United States by storm. The 1920 design by Indian's Charles Franklin, was not up to the task in a post-war world.

Harley-Davidson's overhead valve Knucklehead engine was the future. Many imported bikes already featured this design, which produced better performance than the outdated flathead models like Indian's big twin.

While Harley-Davidson and the English and European bikes such as BSA, Triumph, Moto Guzzi, and Matchless were forging ahead with new designs. Indian simply streamlined its appearance for 1940. This did nothing for the performance of the bike, but did help to increase sales slightly by making it look faster and sleeker while riding or just sitting still. Indian's engine design remained basically unchanged from the 1920s. According to Ralph Rogers, all this was about to change. His plan was to introduce a new "modern" motorcycle that would ring in a new era for the Company. This new line was to be lightweight in design with overhead valves, a powerful new engine, in both single and twin configuration and modern controls of right hand throttle and left hand clutch with a foot shifter. These changes would hopefully standardize Indian with other bikes already on the market.

Some claim the Torque series design was a copy of the British bikes such as Triumph and BSA. Not so. Production began immediately on the new Indians. The Arrow, which was a 13 cubic inch (220cc) single and the Scout which was a 26 cubic inch (440cc) engine, were introduced in early 1949. For the 1950 model year, the Warrior with its more powerful 500cc twin engine was introduced. Indian's management was so sure of this new line of bikes, that they suspended production on the long-running Chief in late 1948. This proved to be a fatal mistake for the company's operation and financial welfare.

From the drawing board to the introduction of the new vertical bikes in early 1949, Rogers and Indian were hard at work, not only designing, tooling, and assembling the new bikes, but also in the process of cutting costs and streamlining operations. The multi story, "Wigwam," as Indian fans passionately remember it, on State and Wilbraham ended operations in 1947 and was eventually sold off. Newly-developed operations were underway in West Springfield at a single story plant. With a new factory and a new line of motorcycles, Rogers and the Indian advertising department looked for creative ideas to introduce the new machines to the public. A large advertising campaign was introduced which included sports stars and TV personalities. These included Johnny Lujack and Bob Waterfield of football fame, actress Jane Russell, big band leader Vaughn Monroe, Bobby Riggs of Tennis, and of course Bob Feller, Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher.

During the summer of 2005 I had a chance to interview Bob Feller with the hope that he could shed more light on the Indian's advertising department and how they contacted him for the promotion. Mr. Feller told me that the company wanted to do an advertising promotion for their new line of motorcycles and would greatly appreciate his endorsement of the product. After agreeing to the terms, Mr. Feller met with the Indian advertising committee at a nice restaurant in Cleveland, Ohio. He was presented with a new Torque Series vertical twin which he proudly sat upon while the representatives took photos and recorded his promotional statement. In turn Indian got their "star" and Bob Feller got a new Indian.

Mr. Feller talked about the bike with great admiration. He claimed it was a very reliable machine and fun to ride. He said that many of his teammates took turns using it and enjoyed themselves. As time progressed the bike and Bob had to part ways, as he felt that it might become a problem as his kids got older. It wasn't something he wanted to venture into. Up until that time though, he claimed, contrary to argument of some, that the bike was reliable.

Bob Feller and staff now run the Bob Feller Museum in Van Meter, Iowa, where the public can enjoy priceless articles from baseball history. His newest passion is antique tractors, to which he named off brands I had never heard of. But I'm sure, at the end of our phone call, he smiled over the fond memories our conversation conjured up.

Counterpoint
Springfield's Bane-The motorcycle that killed Indian
By Emmett Moore

The story of the ill-starred Indian vertical twin of 1949 well known to many older members of our Antique Motorcycle Club, is briefly recapped here for the benefit of newer arrivals in our growing group:

After the end of WW II, in 1945, Indian had been taken over by a new, aggressive management - a management who were determined to return the famous old make to its former dominant position in the motorcycle industry. To do this they wanted entirely new models to replace the obsolescent side valve Scout 45ci and the Chief 74ci which had carried the plant through the war years. In studying this need, they discovered what then seemed to be a ready-made solution to their problem, one that would eliminate much design time and enable them to quickly replace the old models with a line of entirely new, up-to-date motorcycles of advanced technique.

This answer to Indian's needs was the existence of a series of lightweight motorcycles that had been designed and built in prototype form by the Torque Mfg. Co. of Plainville, Connecticut, in 1947-48. Torque had been established by the Stokvis brothers, formerly associates in the thriving pre-war Indian motorcycle distribution firm of Stokvis and Sons in Holland. Emigrating to the U.S., the Sotkvis hired Briggs Weaver, an Indian engineer to design a line of entirely new motorcycles which they proposed to manufacture and distribute in the U.S. The result of Weaver's efforts was an ingenious "modular" series of lightweight motorcycles intended to simplify production, reduce manufacturing cost, and expedite parts supply for the three models projected.

The three Torque models consisted of an OHV single of 12ci displacement, a 24ci vertical twin, and a 44ci Four. A great many of the parts were interchangeable among the three, including cylinders, pistons, connecting rods, transmissions, and most cycle parts. In 1947, having built prototypes of all three, Torque ran into financial trouble, and could not raise the capital to tool up for production. At this point, Indian bought up Torque and moved all their facilities to Springfield, Massachusetts. Weaver was retained as Chief Engineer.

Tooling for production began almost at once, and the old (1913) Indian plant in East Springfield (used for many years as a Rolls-Royce assembly plant) was secured as a production facility. In early 1949 the new single (Arrow) and vertical twin (Scout) were introduced to the public with a massive advertising campaign. The engine dimensions had been increased to 13ci and 26ci respectively. The Four was never put into production.

The new singles and twins flowed from the modern production line in high numbers and soon Indian dealers across the country were displaying and selling the good-looking new machines. Hopes were high in Springfield, but they were soon to be dashed.

Shortly after they hit the road and in the hands of the customers, the new models - especially the twin - began to suffer severe mechanical problems. Engines failed; magnetos failed; wheels and even tires failed. The new models had been rushed into production without sufficient development and testing. To make a long story short, so bad were the 1949 Indian lightweights that production had to be suspended, and in 1951 led to complete abandonment of the series. The financial loss and loss of confidence of dealers and customers forced the company to reorganize, split into a manufacturing company (Titeflex Inc.) and a sales company (Indian Sales Corp.). Indian Sales Corp. secured rights to the name and the tooling for the old Chief. The V-twin Chief was produced in very limited numbers until early 1953. Indian Sales Corp. then went on as a distributor of several makes of British motorcycles, until in 1962, Indian ceased to exist as an operating organization.

Editors Note: This article, by Emmett Moore, was first published in the Club's Summer 1981 magazine. Emmett was employed by Indian during its twilight years. He was also a founding member of the AMCA