^^^^^^ THIS is what American moto manufacturers need to focus on. Racing and winning. Nothing else matters. Cruisers are cool and have their place but I’ll always prefer the faster motos.

Bravo Indian, hopefully HD hits back, that naked bike they are going to be making could ignite an arms race in regards to performance between the two brands....which would be AWESOME...if HD can fight the urge to ignore performance and fling chrome bits all over the bike.

One day American moto manufacturing will be able to truly challenge the bikes coming from Japan and Europe when it comes to performance.

quote:

Originally posted by Jimbo54:
It's great to see café racers making a comeback. I wish I was 40 years younger.

Jim

I guess us Jim's think alike. My thoughts exactly! Afraid my bones are not up to enjoying a bike of that potential.

I have an itch to do some dirt track riding on a Sportster setup for that, just because.

It looks super fun.

Those all look great.
The Indian Scout Bobber is a looker & this new one looks great too.

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
I have an itch to do some dirt track riding on a Sportster setup for that, just because.

It looks super fun.

Do American Supercamp.

Seriously!

http://www.americansupercamp.com/

quote:

Originally posted by RichardC:

quote:

Originally posted by 46and2:
I have an itch to do some dirt track riding on a Sportster setup for that, just because.

It looks super fun.

Do American Supercamp.

Seriously!

http://www.americansupercamp.com/

Cool.

I have a Sportster now that won't take much to make Flat Track ready, at least in a pure fun sense, and I know guys who run those tires all year long on the street anyway.

I'll seriously look into this. Thanks...

I like Indian, I like standard bikes. I think that's a winner, pipes are meh, but there's quite the after market.

Meet the new boss. Same as the old boss ...

http://www.motorcycle.com/top1...-indian-ftr1200.html


"10. Swingarm through engine cases, “Lots of people have done it; we did it because we wanted to shorten up the total package, shorten the wheelbase up so the bike’s more nimble, more agile. It also makes the whole structure really stiff. We also wanted to do it with the tubular steel design to carry the look and feel of the race bike.”



9. Non-archaic electronics
With the S model, we have stability control, traction control, ride modes, ABS of course. What’s cool on the S model is you can turn off the ABS, so if you do want to take it off-road, take it to a circuit or something, you can turn that off and have the bike’s unrestricted capabilities.

8. Sachs suspension

“The base suspension is really good, a Sachs 43mm inverted fork and 150mm travel front and rear (5.9 inches). Upgrade to the S, and you get the gold finish, and fully adjustable both front and rear.”

Indian’s not marketing the thing as an ADV bike, or a dualsport one – but 5.9 inches of wheel travel at both ends is only about 0.4 inch less than the Suzuki V-Strom 1000 XT we just loved on in the big ADV comparo.

7. Nice details including one Important One

“With four bolts you can take that headlight nacelle off, and there’s a cool, classic round headlight underneath with Indian branding.

6. Wheels and tars

“For the racebike, they like heavier wheels and tires, they like inertia. For us, we wanted the look of flat track, which is why we went with the 19-inch front and 18 rear. Then we worked with Dunlop, we wanted to carry on that dirt-track tread pattern, but obviously that race tire isn’t going to last long on the road. So we changed the tread blocks – the spacing and depth – changed the compound. This one performs a lot better on the road and will last a lot longer. So they’re a little heavier than a 17-inch, but that wasn’t an intended goal like it is with the race bike. 43 degrees of lean angle. 43 degrees is probably taking those tires right to the limit, but they’ve been optimized for street use. You’ve got to really push it, but those peg feelers will drag.”


5.
4.
3.
2.
1. Power!


“Something like 80% of the parts in the engine are different than the Scout engine. Basically, they’re both 60-degree liquid-cooled V-Twins, and that’s where the similarity ends. We built new high-flow cylinder heads to work with the new dual-throttle body intake, two 53mm bodies. There’s a new low-inertia crankshaft that lets the engine spool up much faster. The biggest thing on the power increase is the increase in compression ratio, going to 12.5:1. All the extra power is easy to control, though. We aimed for a really flat torque curve, and the slip assist clutch gives you the really light feel and the slip helps with the downshifting.”

Are those stainless exhaust headers double-walled? They look huge.

“No, those are single-wall,” says Dan.

Dang, they look like they could flow a lot more than 120 hp worth of exhaust.

“For sure, people will be able to get more power out of it, a lot more. As an OEM, we can’t. Not legally.”

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

I like this, but that exhaust pipe letting out right behind the rear peg looks to me like a fast route to an uncomfortable passenger.

U.S. market Ducati scramblers are made in Thailand.

quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:

I like this, but that exhaust pipe letting out right behind the rear peg looks to me like a fast route to an uncomfortable passenger.

It might have rear pegs but trust me, that bike is for one up riding. Luckily since its been out for a while, the aftermarket has plenty of exhaust options to replace the stock pipe.

I rode one of these at a motorcycle show out at our convention center, and it was a really fun ride. The upright seating, light weight, and torquey/revvy twin put a smile on my face for the short time I got on it. For around town blasts this thing would be a hoot.

If my body could handle the riding position I'd be all over that LOL. I thought about converting my '06 XL 1200R in to a street tracker my damn knees wouldn't let me enjoy it.

Well done Indian, I'm sure proper mufflers will be along soon on the aftermarket.

quote:

Originally posted by doc45:
If

Well done Indian, I'm sure proper mufflers will be along soon on the aftermarket.

Very nice! I remember seeing a few aftermarket exhausts for the new GSX-R1000 before the bike was even available. Manufacturers know one of the first things many riders do when getting a new bike is swap out the craptastic factory exhaust for a proper exhaust.