In an Illawarra first nine Indians have arrived at Fairy Meadow after a Wollongong business secured the franchise for the iconic American made motorcycle.
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The Indian brand is in fact the oldest in the USA.
It was established in 1901 but there has never been a franchise in the Illawarra.
Securing one was not easy for a motorcycle enthusiast who first rode an old Indian Scout in a Berkeley paddock as a child in 1968 and has run a business that started servicing British motorcycles four decades ago.
Steel City Motorcycles dealer principal Ron Sumskis said he expressed an interest in selling the famous brand 18 months ago and only just found out he had.
“We have secured Indian Motorcycles franchise for the first time in the Illawarra region,” Mr Sumskis said.
“There were a few other people bidding to sell them too. We are celebrating by having a launch demo day on Saturday the sixth of May.
“We thought it would be a good idea to get them especially being located just across the road from Harley Davidson. I was very interested in the brand. It has a great heritage”.
Mr Sumskis said they stopped making Indians for a while and when they came back there was more interested than ever,
“The bikes are absolutely beautiful. When you look at them you just say WOW. They are pretty impressive. These are a modern concept. They went out of business for a few years but they have come back and it is a brand new (1800cc) engine which is amazing and a new chassis.
“The fact they stopped production for quite a few years made them a little more interesting to people. The name kept popping up and they have come back with an unbelievable package. They are bringing down most of their test ride fleet from Sydney for the demo day so people can have test rides on May 6.”
It is not only the Indian motorcycle brand that has a long history in the new franchise partnership.
Mr Sumskis has been involved in the bike business in Wollongong for 44 years.
The original shop called Ron Sumskis Motorcycle Performance Centre started life as a motorcycle repair business in Flinders Street, Wollongong in 1973.
It then relocated to Moore Lane behind the Harp Hotel followed by a move to Ralph Black Drive where it started retailing and servicing Yamaha jet-skis under the name JetSport.
When the Suzuki at Princes Highway Fairy Meadow was sold to Trevor Jordan the building opposite Fraser Motorcycles became vacant so Mr Sumskis decided to move in and sell motorcycles there himself including Hyosung and Royal Enfield for the last 15 years and the MV Agusta two years ago.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
