Indian Pursuit and Indian Guardian Trademarks
Wed, 20 May 2020
New models could be offshoots of the Indian Challenger
Indian has filed trademark applications for two potential model names: “Indian Pursuit” and “Indian Guardian“. The two trademark applications, initially filed with the USPTO and then with the Australian intellectual property office, were registered for use on “Motorcycles and structural parts therefor.” As usual, the trademark applications don’t offer many details leaving us to speculate on what the names will be used for.
The Indian Pursuit sounds like a police vehicle, and Guardian has a similar vibe to it. It’s unusual, however, for manufacturers to pick a new name just for law enforcement use. Typically, these vehicles are modified versions of commercial models, and their names are the same, just with “Police” or “P” tacked on to them.
Harley-Davidson‘s law enforcement lineup, for example, consists of the Police Road King, Police Electra Glide and Police Iron 883. Meanwhile, Honda still offers the ST1300P police motorcycle, despite the civilian version being discontinued in 2013. Closer to home is Indian’s parent company, Polaris, which offers police packages for its off-road vehicles, all keeping the same Ranger XP branding as the civilian models. As Chris Cope reminds me, however, Victory has a history of unique names for police models in the Enforcer (based on the Kingpin) and Commander (based on the Cross Country). Strangely, neither of those names were ever trademarked. As such, we can’t rule out the possibility of the Pursuit and Guardian being police models or civilian models.
Looking at Indian’s current lineup, two possibilities seem to make sense: more FTR variants or more models making use of the Power Plus engine. The latter seems a likelier fit to both Pursuit and Guardian names, perhaps adding a cruiser and full-on tourer to follow the Challenger bagger using the liquid-cooled 1768cc V-Twin. The next FTR variant is expected to be an adventure touring model, and neither new trademark seems to fit the mold.
The trademark filings don’t provide any indication on when we can expect these new models. Indian already has several registered names in the works, such as “ Renegade” and “ Raven“, both filed over a year ago and likely to arrive first. A 2022 launch may be more likely, especially with the pandemic causing delays across the industry.
Dennis has been a part of the Motorcycle.com team since 2008, and through his tenure, has developed a firm grasp of industry trends, and a solid sense of what's to come. A bloodhound when it comes to tracking information on new motorcycles, if there's a new model on the horizon, you'll probably hear about it from him first.
More by Dennis Chung
I find it interesting that Harley put the seat in the proper location for Police models:
https://www.harley-davidson...
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Arjen Bootsma on May 21, 2020
I don't know if that seat is available as an option on civilian models, but thusly equipped, I might consider a Harley.
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Jason on May 21, 2020
I'm sure it is but that doesn't help me much. The only Harley's I ride are rentals. The Softtail Heritage Classic is my favorite but it suffers from a low seat that is dished to lock the rider into one position. It desperately needs a higher seat. I've actually though of making a foam topper to fit into that dish, raise the seat, and make it flat.
https://uploads.disquscdn.c...
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Arjen Bootsma on May 21, 2020
Yeah, I'm 6'5", with a 36" inseam. I do not understand at all the preoccupation with the low seat heights for cruisers, or any kind of bike for that matter.
As far as rentals are concerned, if I need a bike on the other side of the country, I simply ride my own bike there. -
Jason on May 21, 2020
I'm only 5"9" and don't understand the fascination with low seat heights. It seems to be completely styling related.
I travel a lot for work and it is nice to pick up a bike for the weekend if I have to stay over multiple weeks. Riding coast to coast and back once a month isn't really practical. My wife and I also do 1-2 fly and ride trips in the winter to escape the constant rain in the Pacific Northwest.
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Arjen Bootsma on May 22, 2020
I grew up in The Netherlands, constant rain is the worst, so incredibly depressing. You're right, only one cure for that: fly south and ride in the sun.
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Rocky Stonepebble on May 25, 2020
https://youtu.be/CZsMsAsc8Lw
I would have guessed that Guardian would be the name of an SOS feature like the system that exists on some BMW bikes. Not sure what Pursuit would be; adaptive cruise control?
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Denchung on May 22, 2020
Not likely. These applications listed the intended use for the trademarks as for motorcycles and parts therefor (e.g. body panels/fuel tanks and anywhere else bearing the name). In the past, Indian's trademarks for systems and features like its Smart Lean Technology and Powerband audio system specifically identified the type of systems they ended up being used for.
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Chris Cope on May 22, 2020
Good point. **Checks internet, notes that Victory used specific names (Enforcer and Commander) for police bikes** Then I'd say the theory of them being police vehicles is probably correct.
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Denchung on May 22, 2020
Good call in the Enforcer and Commander. Oddly, Victory/Polaris don't seem to have ever tried to trademark those names, which it's weird in itself. I've also seen mention of a Chieftain Dark Horse converted for police use in Fort Lauderdale, but I'm not sure if that was an official product.
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Rocky Stonepebble on May 23, 2020
I don't know about "Enforcer", but as for "Commander", one should think they would have been sued by both the fine people at Jeep™ and a mister Cody and his lost planet airmen.
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See also: Indian FTR Carbon, 2020 Indian FTR Carbon Announced for International Markets, The 2020 Indian Roadmaster Elite Gets More Power, Better Audio, And Custom Paint.