In the Fall, a continuing three model range of Scout, Chief and Four was announced, all being substantially as produced the preceding season, except for detail improvements.
The most notable change was the fitting of cast aluminum fuel tank halves to the Chief. These were replaced by the former conventional pressed steel type, however, in midseason, as the new type proved more costly due to the number of porous castings that came from the foundry.
New President Du Pont decides to concentrate upon manufacture of motorcycles (!!!)
With a firm determination to concentrate on motorcycles [after disastrous attempts to manufacture shock absorbers, refrigerators, outboard motors, a light car, etc], the company bravely announced its 1931 sales program. The three model range was to be continued with minor improvements, the most noticeable being the fitting of heavier gauge cadmium plated wheel spokes which were slightly polished, relieving somewhat the rather severe look of the former black painted wheels. The headlight brackets or 'horns' which had been used since the earliest days on both cars and motorcycles to support these one-time optional fittings, were replaced by a simple bracket cast into the forward end of the handlebar, which had the effect of slightly lowering the headlight. The cast aluminum fuel and oil tank halves fitted to some 1930 Chief models was dropped entirely in favor of the pressed steel type. A most definite improvement was the first offering of a really comprehensive selection of paint colors in either solid or varying combinations - du Pont Dulux, of course.
The most critical problems facing the company at the end of 1930 were the falling away of sales incidental to the general decline in business, following the stock market collapse, the insecure condition of Indian's finances, and the diminished dealer representation suffered since President Bauer's regime.
Sales Promotion Manager Jim Wright tirelessly visited dealers in various areas of the country, bolstering the courage of those who wavered in their loyalty and urging likely enthusiasts here and there to take up franchises surrendered by others. Charles Franklin, as usual, spent as much of his time as possible working on prototype designs, including overhead valve and overhead camshaft engines, but the stringencies of the times prevented any serious thought on the part of management in deviating from the current model range.
After 1930, President du Pont took more of a personal interest in motorcycling. He kept a sumptuous apartment in Springfield, but quite naturally spent much of his time at his luxurious mansion near Wilmington. Here he kept a stable of the current Indian models and all of his four sons soon learned to ride them.
He was also in the habit of presenting machines, mostly Scouts and Fours for their easy starting characteristics, to various young du Pont nephews and cousins, and soon the Brandywine Valley was alive with the purr or bark of Indian motorcycles.
Many of these youngsters brought down maledictions from their elders for some of their less than polite tactics of riding over lawns and gardens of some of the palatial estates in that most exclusive area of Delaware. One of the worst of their offenses was to stop in front of Christ Church on a Sunday morning and gun their engines to disturb the services as many of them did not like the rather stern vicar then in charge. The crowning blow came when a number of them tore up a part of the lush lawn at Granogue, the ancestral estate of Eleuthere Irenee. A hastily passed ordinance by the village council subsequently barred motorcycle riding in certain parts of the valley.
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