As one of America’s long-standing icons, Indian Motorcycle brought joy to the faces of chopper riders from New York City Police, who bought early models in 1907 to chase runaway horses, to today’s easy riders along California’s coastal Highway 1.

But when Indian said earlier this month it was pulling out of the business, a sky of opportunity opened above BMC Motorcycles.

The Bend-based manufacturer of slick choppers is moving into the considerable space that Indian Motorcycles had carved out.

”What happened with Indian is a plus for us.,” said Mike Rouse, chopper designer and co-owner of BMC.

”All the Indian dealers are calling us with no products to sell. We’ve got one guy who wants 15 bikes a month and said send us whatever you can.’ ”

BMC started production in June 2000, with $100,000, four employees and four dealers interested. They made five bikes that year.

By 2002, BMC made 300 choppers and had $5.5 million in sales, according to Rouse.

Organic growth from the popularity of the edgy choppers and the recent fall of Indian has forced BMC to open a second facility in Santa Cruz, Calif., consider a new 20,000 square-foot factory in Bend and boost production to 700 bikes a year with about $13 million in sales.

The bikes are now in 42 dealers, but that network will soon expand.

Dave Nakamoto, the general manager of Indian Motorcycle San Jose, said the BMC choppers are his best-selling bikes.

”I don’t even bother to put BMC’s in the window because it’s a waste of my time,” he said. ”By the time I get it up there, it’s been sold.”

On two occasions, customers knew when a new BMC bike was coming in, Nakamoto said. They were there when they came off the truck and took them on the spot.

Nakamoto and more than 200 other Indian Motorcycle dealers will have to look for new products to fill their showrooms.

”We’re capitalizing on Indian,” Rouse said. ”We will start converting Indian dealers to BMC.”

Nakamoto said he is waiting for a new BMC sign to put out front of his shop. If Indian doesn’t make a comeback soon, he could become a stand-alone BMC dealer, he said. Indian Motorcycle survived two world wars and the Depression since it made its first motorbike in 1901.

BMC production in Bend is currently a patchwork of contractors, but it’s looking to go ”vertical.”

”We’re trying to get into vertical manufacturing,” Rouse said. ”That’s when you start controlling everything.”

Right now BMC relies on a raft of local contractors to put together its choppers. Robberson Ford facilities are used for painting; & Machining does all the billet machining of parts; DMW does BMC’s metal fabrication; Dollar Electronics does wiring, and Fluid Connector does the cables and oil lines.

In the future, Rouse hopes to have the disparate processes under one roof in Bend. He said he is looking at a parcel near his current shop on Plateau Drive on the northeast side of town.

Last summer, BMC said it would consider buy-out offers from suitors. Now the company has a strong tailwind and isn’t looking, Rouse said.

”Everything is paid for, and no new money is needed,” Rouse said. ”Are you going to give up a family-owned business that you started? All my employees have bought houses. That’s good for me. They all have mortgages and they’re in for the long haul.”

Kevin Max can be reached at 541-617-7822 or kmax@bendbulletin.com.