SCOUT TROOPING
Indian’s Scout gets a long-awaited upgrade
The daunting task for Indian was how to take one of the most iconic names in motorcycling and make it better. Indian Motorcycle’s brief was to take the decade-old Scout platform and bring it into the roaring ’20s.
The reintroduction of the Indian Scout as a 2015 model is perhaps one of the keys to the successful revival of the Indian Motorcycle brand under the ownership of Polaris Industries — so getting the second generation of the modern Scout right wasn’t just important for the design team, it was crucial for the brand.
Thankfully, the 2025 model Indian Scout appears to have what it takes to carry the brand into the future, with a more powerful engine, revised styling and more technology all balanced with the traditions that make a Scout a Scout.
Visually, the biggest change over the 2023 model comes from the exhaust, now a HUGE single pipe instead of the previous twin outlets.
“Scout is the most iconic American cruiser of all time and is synonymous with the Indian Motorcycle brand,” said Mike Dougherty, president for Indian Motorcycle.
“As our top-selling platform, Scout has long been a staple in our line-up. And while riders around the world love the current Scout offering, we’re excited to take it to the next level and continue its evolution with a robust offering of models to meet the diverse needs of our global riding community.”
Set to arrive at New Zealand dealers in Q2 of 2025, the new Indian Scout will arrive in a fivemodel family from the off, a clever move on Indian’s part to get the maximum from the new platform by building on learnings from the gen one bike owners.
This will cater to a wide range of riders, with the Scout Classic keeping to the model’s roots juxtaposed by the top-of-the-line Scout 101 pushing the bike towards power cruiser territory. As previously, the Scout Bobber will return alongside the new Sport Scout with its Scout Rogueinspired fairing and the new Super Scout, which sees the platform optimised for touring.
“It was imperative to follow the iconic lines of Scout, and create a package that offered seamless customisation. To achieve this, it all started with the steel tube frame and all-new, V-Twin engine,” said Ola Stenegard, director of product design for Indian Motorcycle.
The Scout Classic, Bobber and Sport Scout will be offered in two trim levels, with a Standard trim focused on keeping pricing attainable with a stylish analogue dash, while the optional Limited +Tech Trim throws in Indian’s Ride Command infotainment system and touchscreen dash. For the Scout 101 and Super Scout, the Limited +Tech is the standard equipment.
While the 2014 model Scout offered an aluminium frame, Indian has reverted to tradition for the 2025 model with an all-steel frame.
Indian loves to give its engines colourful names, and the new Scout’s 1250cc unit is dubbed the SpeedPlus 1250; the new
60-degree V-twin engine puts out a respectable 79kW at 7250rpm and 108Nm at 6300rpm in variants. Scout 101 bumps those numbers to 83kW and 109Nm.
“Scout is a beloved model and the most iconic and historic of our line-up, resonating with all types of riders, men and women, from all over the world,” said Ben Lindaman, product director for Indian Motorcycle. “Since launching the current Scout 10 years ago, the mid-sized cruiser segment has evolved.
“After conducting tons of research, rider insights drove our developments that prioritised the Scout’s iconic styling, its classleading performance, and new rider-centric technology.”
While the new Scout adds many new features in technology and performance riders now expect, it remains the key to entering the Indian Motorcycle range.
With the lowest seat height in the industry at just 649mm and its range of models for different niches within the cruiser class, it looks like Indian is well on the way to another success story with the Gen-2 Scout.