Cory Ness's 2018 Indian Digger
119 images Created 1 Aug 2020
Cory Ness Indian Digger - 2018
Our family has been in the motorcycle business for 50-years. Fueled by pure passion for custom motorcycles, we have all worked hard, but like all businesses, there have been many ups and downs. Nothing has been taken for granted and we are still learning every day. We are constantly making changes to survive in this business and will continue to carry on my dad’s legacy as long as humanly possible and to this end, I will pour my heart into making the best customs I can.
The custom you see here today was a build I have wanted to do for some time. When Indian Motorcycles was re-launched by Polaris in 2014, many builders were customizing them, but the Ness family stayed away from the brand due to our business alliance with Victory Motorcycles, as it was also owned by Polaris. When Polaris eventually decided to go with Indian exclusively, it opened the door to this project.
Starting with a wrecked 2014 Indian Vintage, I kept the engine assembly and a few key electronics and that was about it. Everything else was hand fabricated or CNC machined. The bike features traditional Digger styling that my dad perfected back in the day. It has lean minimalistic design that features a single-sided front and rear suspension with 23" offset-style billet spoke wheels. Another design feature of the bike is the small steel tubing used throughout the bike. I started with the gas tank mounts and instead of hiding them as we do on 99% of our builds, I chose to have them be in your face as a design que. I was so happy how they came out that I decided to use that tubing throughout the build. If you keep looking, you’ll see lots of details like this throughout the bike.
This was a very challenging build when it came to hiding all the electronics a new Indian is equipped with. Since I wanted an open space under the seat, I had to find a new home for many large components such as the electronic computer module, electronic throttle to cable converter, external fuel pump and much more.
Lots of thanks to our crew at Arlen Ness Motorcycles and a big thank you to everyone for their support throughout the years. We could not have done this without you.
-Cory Ness
Our family has been in the motorcycle business for 50-years. Fueled by pure passion for custom motorcycles, we have all worked hard, but like all businesses, there have been many ups and downs. Nothing has been taken for granted and we are still learning every day. We are constantly making changes to survive in this business and will continue to carry on my dad’s legacy as long as humanly possible and to this end, I will pour my heart into making the best customs I can.
The custom you see here today was a build I have wanted to do for some time. When Indian Motorcycles was re-launched by Polaris in 2014, many builders were customizing them, but the Ness family stayed away from the brand due to our business alliance with Victory Motorcycles, as it was also owned by Polaris. When Polaris eventually decided to go with Indian exclusively, it opened the door to this project.
Starting with a wrecked 2014 Indian Vintage, I kept the engine assembly and a few key electronics and that was about it. Everything else was hand fabricated or CNC machined. The bike features traditional Digger styling that my dad perfected back in the day. It has lean minimalistic design that features a single-sided front and rear suspension with 23" offset-style billet spoke wheels. Another design feature of the bike is the small steel tubing used throughout the bike. I started with the gas tank mounts and instead of hiding them as we do on 99% of our builds, I chose to have them be in your face as a design que. I was so happy how they came out that I decided to use that tubing throughout the build. If you keep looking, you’ll see lots of details like this throughout the bike.
This was a very challenging build when it came to hiding all the electronics a new Indian is equipped with. Since I wanted an open space under the seat, I had to find a new home for many large components such as the electronic computer module, electronic throttle to cable converter, external fuel pump and much more.
Lots of thanks to our crew at Arlen Ness Motorcycles and a big thank you to everyone for their support throughout the years. We could not have done this without you.
-Cory Ness
