• Boondocking Map
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Road Pickle
Menu
  • Boondocking Map
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • YouTube
Home  /  Iowa • Roadside Attractions  /  Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour, Spirit Lake, IA
28 May 2014

Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour, Spirit Lake, IA

Written by Steve Johnson
Iowa, Roadside Attractions 10 Comments

The Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour in Spirit Lake, IA offers a unique, up close and personal look at how one of the most storied motorcycle brands in the world is made.

Polaris Industries, the owner of Indian Motorcycles, assembles each motorcycle, along with their Victory brand of motorcycles, at their facility in Spirit Lake. The engines, frames, and other components are assembled in other Polaris factories, then shipped to Spirit Lake.

Factory tours are available Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of each week, and only by appointment, but they’re free. Tour guides insist that photographs are prohibited. We were able to find photos previously published by Polaris for use in this article.

When taking the Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour, expect no air conditioning. The day Sash and I took the tour, outside temperatures were expected in the mid-90s. Inside the factory, it gets hotter. As a result, all Indian manufacturing was halted for the day. Meanwhile, Victory assembly continued.

For the most part, each Indian and Victory motorcycle is assembled by hand, along an assembly line very much like the one used by Henry Ford with the Model A.

But instead of a guy pulling a platform to each station, each motorcycle frame is mounted to a robotic platform. The robotic platform reads a strip of yellow tape on the floor and drives itself to each station. Project managers can simply pull up the tape, and lay it back down in a different direction if need be.

The Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour takes you right up to each station, close enough to bump and brush up against each worker, watching them bolt on each piece, and move each platform on to its next station.

At any moment, someone at a station can halt the assembly process, and everything comes to a stop as project managers investigate the problem.

Once assembled, a motorcycle is taken into a dyno testing room where its run through several tests. If it passes, it goes to into a specialized crate, and shipped to a dealer.  The tour guide allowed us to gather around the window of the testing room as we watched a guy take a Victory 8-Ball up to its limits.

There’s also a woman who randomly pulls out crated motorcycles, and does a quality check going through hundreds of items.

All painting is done in the same facility.  The tour takes you through there too.

At the time we did the Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour, Polaris was building Indians for customer orders only.  They weren’t building any units for general dealer inventory. That may have changed by now.

All Indian and Victory motorcycles are assembled by non-union workers. Every worker in the factory is employed by Doherty Staffing Solutions. To get a job at the Spirit Lake facility, you apply through Doherty, who has an office at the facility, and you become a temporary. If Polaris determines you’re a good fit, they bring you on full time, though you remain an employee of Doherty. The result is lower staffing costs for Polaris, and easier elimination of problem workers.

2014 is also the first model year where Indian motorcycles were designed by Polaris.  With the 2011, 2012, and 2013 model years, Polaris built Indians based on the Stellican, Ltd design.

The Indian Motorcycle Factor Tour runs about one hour. There’s no food and no souvenirs aside from copies of their brochures.

Indian Motorcycle Factory Tour
1900 Hwy. 71
Spirit Lake, IA 51360
Phone: 712-336-3797

http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/

Steve Johnson
Connect on Facebook Connect on Twitter Connect on Linkedin

Having first started riding in 1985 on a Kawasaki KZ400, Steve has ridden all across the United States and Canada. He currently travels full time on his Honda ST1300, living wherever he can find a friendly roof. Follow him on, "Motorcycle Philosophy".

 Previous Article Santa Fe Train Diner, South Dakota, I-90
Next Article   Pagosa Brewing & Grill, Pagosa Springs, CO

Related Posts

  • chamberlain, south dakota rest area

    Really Cool Rest Area – Chamberlain, SD, I-90

    August 5, 2019
  • dows iowa rest area i-35

    Dows, IA Rest Area, I-35, Lots of Overnight Parking

    August 4, 2019
  • riverside casino iowa

    Riverside Casino RV Parking – Back for a Second Stay

    June 2, 2019

10 Comments

  1. Vic Reich Reply
    June 27, 2015 at 3:02 am

    we are headed to Algona Iowa for there rally and would like to make an appointment to tour the Indian Factory for Thursday 7-2-15 or Friday 7-3-15. PLEASE let me know.. phone # 605-216-0276..Thank you..Hope to see you soon… We sure enjoy our 2014 Indian Cheifton with a sidecar…

  2. dennis farley Reply
    November 30, 2015 at 10:12 am

    can I buy part of a bike, bing iam going to switch it to a three wheeler , like a CSC

  3. Pete Butler Reply
    May 27, 2017 at 7:45 pm

    Is it possible to order a bike and watch be built like the Euro delivery of German and Swiss cars?

    • Mark Anderson Reply
      February 14, 2018 at 8:16 pm

      Great question. I’d like to know the same!

  4. Katie Will Reply
    December 29, 2017 at 12:49 pm

    Hello!

    I would like to schedule a tour for 7/27/2018 if possible. I am bringing a motor coach bus tour to the area for two days and would like to stop by on 7/27 around 11:15am.

    Is this something we can arrange at this time?

  5. John Dough Reply
    April 5, 2018 at 6:08 pm

    Full-time employees are employed by Polaris directly.

  6. Richard Stergulz Reply
    May 17, 2018 at 1:47 pm

    Tried to make an appointment for tour 3 times. Girl was not at desk. Least someone could have done is give me the courtesy of a call back.

  7. DAVID MAGOR Reply
    August 7, 2018 at 8:11 pm

    Hi Customer Service Team

    Is it possible to arrange an appointment for the Factory Tour where the Indian Motorcycles are made as we are coming over next year around Mid April to late May 2019.

    We have purchased a Indian Springfield in late December 2017 and quite keen how they were made as we come from Australia, an opportunity for us to see in our lifetime!

    How much time do we need to notify/advise for an arranged appointment? We are in the middle of arranging our flights to Iowa & transport to visit your Factory Site as we are not sure how to get there?? Appreciate your earliest reply. Cheers David & Margaret Magor

  8. Pingback: Where are Harley Motorcycles Made? - Daily Update
  9. Pingback: Victory Is Toast - Page 7 - Harley Davidson Forums: Harley Davidson Motorcycle Forum

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

road pickle

I'm a "Man in Black", one of those guys who goes around dressed in black suits, looking for people who were abducted by UFOs so that we can keep them quiet. Sash and I travel around in this trailer awaiting orders from headquarters for my next assignment. I can't show you the details of my work, but I can show you how I live.

Follow us here on Road Pickle...

how to camp for free

Topics

  • Blog (37)
  • Camping (58)
  • Central (21)
    • Illinois (6)
    • Indiana (5)
    • Iowa (6)
    • Minnesota (3)
    • Missouri (1)
  • Destinations (32)
    • Hikes (3)
    • Museums (7)
    • Parks (9)
    • Roadside Attractions (16)
    • Towns (2)
  • Lodgings (2)
  • Northeast (2)
    • Pennsylvania (2)
  • Pacific (53)
    • California (38)
    • Oregon (11)
    • Washington (4)
  • Restaurants (24)
  • Roads (9)
  • Towns (1)
  • Uncategorized (6)
  • Vlog (6)
  • West (71)
    • Arizona (23)
    • Colorado (6)
    • Idaho (4)
    • Kansas (2)
    • Montana (5)
    • Nebraska (2)
    • Nevada (6)
    • New Mexico (3)
    • North Dakota (2)
    • Oklahoma (1)
    • South Dakota (6)
    • Texas (1)
    • Utah (11)

Recent Comments

  • Steve Johnson on Setting Up a 4G LTE Antenna in our RV
  • David Johnson on Setting Up a 4G LTE Antenna in our RV
  • Cori Mills on Free RV Boondocking in Idaho – Shoshone Falls Road
  • Teresa on Sheep Bridge Road, Utah – Free RV Boondocking
  • LARRY PUTNAM on California Highway 25 (Airline Highway)
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact Us

Social Media

  • Connect on Facebook
  • Connect on Instagram
  • Connect on RSS
  • Connect on YouTube
© Copyright 2014. Theme by BloomPixel.