Private Equity is Killing Motorcycles

[Joe]

From someone who owns an Indian, the brand that just got sold to private equity 

 

[LowRyter]

Maybe Indian can get a bail out from Argentina?  

Edited Saturday at 02:30 PM by LowRyter

[Joe]

1 hour ago, LowRyter said:

Maybe Indian can get a bail out from Argentina?  

There going to need it 

[Scud]

Interesting content. He basically explains Private Equity until 4:50, then starts talking about it in the motorcycle industry after that. I didn't know Dianese and Revzilla are PE owned.

The damage to companies caused by short-term profit seeking is not limited to PE-back organizations, but IMO there is perhaps a higher concentration there. While I don't think it's fair to call out PE as a category as bad, it is fair to speculate on whether the new PE owner will make good or bad decisions with the brand.

And then he says Indian is a "heritage" brand. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think today's Indian has much of heritage. Maybe they have some respect for the original company, but Indian has gone out of business several times. Today's Indian motorcycle company has nothing to do with the original company with the exception of having bought the intellectual property rights (name, etc.) after string of prior IP owners failed. That's not a legacy. Same with Triumph and other brands that have been rebooted by investors who acquired the brand name.

And another thing, I found this guys's video making style disturbing. Talking with his hands while controlling the motorcycle with one hand on the bars. Man, talk about distracted driving... Good on him if he can do it, but I would have a hard time paying attention to traffic and the road while narrating a video.

[Pressureangle]

We (company) just went to our bank for a short-term building loan. By the time it was over, I had to decline; I had to put up my *personal* assets against the loan. I told them, 'if I'm a corporation and you're a corporation, and my corporation needs a loan and you're in the business of loaning, and my corporation is viable with cash flow and assets, why should I expose my personal assets? After all, the primary function of incorporating is to separate the two". 
The response was at it's base, "Government regulations now demand it. We have no discretion".
So that's the primary reason Private Equity has gained so much traction and market share. We just went out to PE, showed them our prospectus for the new building, and got the money. Simple papers, no hooks, no mountain of IRS returns, officer affidavits, etc. Just cash and business. Terms were agreed in about 10 minutes. Penalties in 5 more. 
Too easy- but, a predatory or dishonest PE could be Satan. As probably many are. 

[Joe]

On 10/18/2025 at 12:25 PM, Scud said:

Interesting content. He basically explains Private Equity until 4:50, then starts talking about it in the motorcycle industry after that. I didn't know Dianese and Revzilla are PE owned.

The damage to companies caused by short-term profit seeking is not limited to PE-back organizations, but IMO there is perhaps a higher concentration there. While I don't think it's fair to call out PE as a category as bad, it is fair to speculate on whether the new PE owner will make good or bad decisions with the brand.

And then he says Indian is a "heritage" brand. This may be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think today's Indian has much of heritage. Maybe they have some respect for the original company, but Indian has gone out of business several times. Today's Indian motorcycle company has nothing to do with the original company with the exception of having bought the intellectual property rights (name, etc.) after string of prior IP owners failed. That's not a legacy. Same with Triumph and other brands that have been rebooted by investors who acquired the brand name.

And another thing, I found this guys's video making style disturbing. Talking with his hands while controlling the motorcycle with one hand on the bars. Man, talk about distracted driving... Good on him if he can do it, but I would have a hard time paying attention to traffic and the road while narrating a video.

Indian brand has been owned by many different companies, I own an Italian made Indian labeled dirt bike from the 1970’s bought for me in the 80’s when I was a child. Pertaining to Polaris ownership of Indian, I don’t think they wanted to “sell out” to the Chinese, so selling a majority stake to a PE with real estate and media portfolio seemed to make sense.  With tariffs and other worldly pressures, HD & Indian’s bread and butter high end bagger global & domestic sales are down, making PE a good option for a soft landing (before default?)

I am just glad that Moto Guzzi is building bikes in a new factory in Mandello del Lario….