THERE WERE ONLY TWO TYPES OF AMERICAN motorcycle still in production by the end of the 1930s: massive, rugged V-twins or rasping inline-fours, both designed to cover huge distances over rough roads without breaking down. They were nothing like the Brit singles and vertical twins, which were quick, light and nimble – perfect for thrashing around narrow, twisty roads. The two concepts were an ocean apart, but a world war was about to change all that.
Thousands of American servicemen got a taste for Brit bikes when they were stationed in England, where they soon took to the revvy engines, neat handling and modern controls, instead of Harley and Indian’s vintage-style hand shifter and foot clutch. When the war ended, the British Government told motorcycle manufacturers to ‘Export or Die’. Bikes from BSA, Norton, Triumph and just about every other marque you care to mention began flooding American showrooms, from New York and LA to Texas and Montana.
Indian sales were suffering before the British invasion, and the firm had already lost top designers like G. Briggs Weaver, who joined in 1930 after a spell as chief engineer and stylist for DuPont automobiles. He was responsible for the prettiest Indian Four of all, the 1938 Sports Four, with its cylinders cast in pairs, deep finning for
