I don't think the age of the bike has any more to do with it than the mfg. Mechanical things fail and not always when you have access to your personal garage/man cave. It might be nice to think that because a bike is new that you don't have to think of having a problem on the road, but I think that is not always how it happens. Also, I have spent more time on the road on bikes out of warranty than in warranty so that is not all there is to availability of dealers. People buy extended warranties, even though it is widely regarded to be a waste of money. I assume that is because they are worried about something breaking. With the amount of extended warranty business--cars, appliances, etc.) I think that fear of mechanical failure goes way beyond just the mc world, lol.

 

your bike isn't as dirty and filthy as your mind! LOL...point I was trying to make is when you're on long road trips with friends attending some events at dealerships can be fun and kill some time between just arriving at your hotel and waiting to meet up for dinner..we always try to stop at them anyways, and since they're usually crowded with something going on we're not the only ones who enjoy the visits obviously..I'm not into patches and pins etc, but do like getting cool t shirts from out of state dealerships..good thing being on a bike is there's no place to store other expensive crap..had a great time at the Pacific NW Tri State HOG rallies in Spokane WA at the Lone Wolf dealership which is huge.

 

Polaris makes them, Enough said!

 

Dealerships or no dealerships... Good choice Sir! Have fun with your purchase and ride lots. You'll be a happy camper.

 

Most of the folks here know that I am in no way a fan of the MoCo, but between the two, I'd go with the H-D anyway and hope for the best.

I did that with my '15 Limited and ended up with a "keeper"!

 

When Polaris came out with their Victory brand there was a lot of horn honking for those bikes but look where they are now..just saying and I hope the Indian brand hangs in there for the sake of those that own one..also market competition is a good thing..keeps Harley on their toes but not much to worry about as long as Indians styling is butt ugly like the Victory imo.

 

There are lots of bikes that make more 'power' than a new Ultra Classic. The BMW K1600's, the new Goldwing, the new supercharged Kawasaki....you have to ask yourself what you want to do with a bike and which fits the best FOR YOU. Personally, after the Victory fiasco I would never trust Polaris.

 

I test rode the Indian before the M8. The Indian has less power and runs hotter than my M8. Now that I have almost 16k on my M8 RK it is so much better than the Indian in other areas too like handling.

 

Ultimately it comes down to which bike you like. I've ridden Indian bikes and they are as well designed and made as HD and the European bikes like BMW and Ducatti. It really comes down to which bike does it for you. What ever bike you buy ride it a lot first and never buy a bike without a test ride.

 

Here's what any potential "Indian" owner has to ask themselves. When sales of 1940s land barges drop because the 200 year old guys who think they're cool and can throw down the jack are no longer buying; will Polaris drop or sell the line like they did Victory?

Even worse, they could just keep pumping out the same old stuff with all it's warts, finding ways to make it cheaper until the last guy who has 30K for a motorcycle with a brown seat and fringe on the floorboards is dead.