As for the '72 XLH/XLCH hitting 1000cc's, I don't really think it was a big improvement. I had a '72 and I borrowed a friend's '69 "900" for a spin. Really didn't see or feel much of a difference.
Indian may have been better served (hindsight, surely) if they had absorbed Crocker's Indian OHV conversion business and incorporated it into their own model lines way back in the '30s. Too bad HD had some part in crushing Crocker (by messing with parts suppliers Crocker was dealing with rumor has it)before it MAY have made the jump beyond custom "to-order" and into regular mass production. They had a unit V-Twin that could outrun most Indians and HD models at the time according to what I've read of testing they did. Of course, the fact that Crockers were being sold at a loss didn't help. Their speedway motors were also not performing on the level that cheaper JAP motors were.
Have a great weekend....signing off.
I agree, that and the fact that HD was going to become part of AMF was the reason I kept my '68XLCH. Besides, I already had "Sportster Leg" and could cold-kick start mine on a 30deg. day at Ft. Lewis, Wash.