verticals

[eap53]

I never see much about the Indian vertical single and twin cylinder bikes. Is there much interest in them? What is the value of a single or twin in fairly complete condition? What about a basket case? What years were they made?

[Chris Haynes]

They drove the nails into Indian's coffin.

[Rubone]

eap53,

There is some interest in both the twins and singles, and there are a few specialists in them. Here is where you should go to ask about them: http://www.southwestvintagecycle.com/
Talk to Jim, he is a great guy.
As for nails in Indian's coffin, the management did that themselves.

[eap53]

Thanks again Robbie, A neat site. I have some interest in verticals with a couple sitting around. I had though about turning them into funds for other things but it hard to do as they are sort of old friends. It is also hard to price them even if I could make myself sell them. I had a lot of fun with them, seeing an add for one in a local shopping paper and buying it in Richland Washington, then running around to find a crate and trucking firm to ship it home to Missouri. I may seek Jims advice on the matter.

[exeric]

I think Indian's verticals have come into their own as time has passed. They're actually quite good looking, and the site Robbie posted looks very helpful.

[rigb]

Face Book Forum

I think Indian's verticals have come into their own as time has passed. They're actually quite good looking, and the site Robbie posted looks very helpful.

There is a Face Book Group for the Verticals. I own a few of them. The site is ..Indian Motorcycle Vertical 1949-1953. The Vertical crowd hangs out there.

[eap53]

I never did learn how to do facebook, thanks for the info though. I guess there are a lot of verticals around still. They had a few weak points but I also think they are good looking bikes, and a step in the right direction. If they could have held out a couple of more years and got the bugs out they may have been a major player in the lite weight market. A foot shift and hand clutch were an improvement in my opinion. No one was filling a need for smaller, more modern bikes until the Japanese jumped in a few years later.

[Skirted]

I never see much about the Indian vertical single and twin cylinder bikes. Is there much interest in them? What is the value of a single or twin in fairly complete condition? What about a basket case? What years were they made?

Condition means a lot so it will be hard to provide a price on what you have. A fully complete restored, or mostly restored with an effort to maintain authenticity, fully functioning, proven road worthy, debugged, and presentable cosmetic condition can easily sell north of 12k. I don't doubt a pristine restored example by someone like Pete Sink would sell for over $15k. It also depends how many accessories the bike has. Start subtracting from there as condition and accessories goes down. Complete Basket case maybe $2000-$3000. A running complete example but needing some TLC will usually be in the $8k range.
I bought a VERY original 249 last year for the wife. Went through a few challenges but its running great and reliable so far. many folks don't realize these bikes were made in Springfield like the other Indians and as they figure that out, the bikes will slowly gain interest and value especially since they are still relatively inexpensive vs the V twin Scouts and Chiefs.

Watching ebay prices of more sought after parts and accessories have been going up up so demand seems to be increasing.

Robbie is right on. Jim at Southwest is a Godsend for anyone working on a vertical.