![]() ![]() It’s exciting as I formed a good relationship with an aerospace stamping company that happens to love Indians. My latest venture is manufacturing fenders and tanks. To this day, I continue plowing the fields and developing innovative and high-quality parts for Indians. I have a deep passion for Indian motorcycles, and I’ve never looked at Kiwi Indian as a business but as an extension of my hobby. My workshop rapidly expanded to include new engine manufacturing, rebuilding original engines, complete restorations, and tribute bikes. My 1st motor (84 ci) covered the whole journey without a single problem which little did I know at the time the entire world was watching. In 2001 I founded the Century Ride Home, Indian’s 100th-anniversary ride from Kiwi HQ in Riverside, California, to Springfield, Massachusetts, the home of Indian motorcycles. In 1999 I developed new crankcases for Indians, allowing me to build the world’s 1st brand new Indian engine. There was no internet back then, just magazines and word of mouth that good news travels fast. I laid out all my parts, and it made a massive impression on everyone, and business skyrocketed from that point on. I studied metals, heat treating, and manufacturing processes and set forth to make the best engine and transmission parts the industry has ever seen which still holds true to this day, over three decades later. The big turning point for Kiwi was in 1990 when I did the Davenport, Iowa swap meet. After all, this is America, and if you can dream it, you can do it. Now I was in control of the quality and pricing, which in the long run they did me a big favor since I was able to apply my talents to my business. I’m a pretty talented guy, so I set about making my own product line that separated Kiwi from everyone else and disproved their propaganda. It was a challenge starting a business back then as the majors in the niche did their best to keep me out, mostly with their negative propaganda. So I shipped my 741 from New Zealand to LA and enjoyed riding it around SoCal, but I found it lacked power and decided to sell it to fund my new venture Kiwi Indian Parts in 1988. In Southern California, I could ride motorcycles year-round and not worry about rain, and there was a good group of Indian riders. In 1982 I left New Zealand to travel around the world, eventually making it to America, which I fell in love with and got no further. I was sort of like a young Burt Monro as I carved away on different steels to make my own crankpins, shafts, valves, guides, bushings, and so on. I was especially interested in making engine and transmission parts as my trade was engine rebuilding/automotive machining. Within two years, I had purchased my 2nd Indian, a 1924 Big Chief basket case. I was born in New Zealand, and in those days, getting parts was a big problem, so I set out making parts for my bikes. My love affair started in 1977 (I was 17 years old) when I bought my 1st Indian, a 1941 741 model needing total restoration. Back then, quality was a hit-and-miss thing between all the suppliers. I started Kiwi Indian in 1988, offering high-quality parts at a reasonable price.
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