Indian Scout Bobber
Refined and classy Scout becomes no-nonsense blacked-out Bobber. Watch out Harley
IMAGINE A STYLISED 1960s television, with sizeable case, tactile controls and those cool thinly-slotted speaker covers. Now imagine it with in-built wi-fi, ultra-hd resolution, voice control and a smartphone app to let you remotely set the multi-channel recording. It might look all period attitude and tradition, but Indian’s Scout is very much of the moment. Its frame is cast aluminium, cunningly designed to house and largely hide the radiator. The V-twin is over-square and liquid-cooled, with double overhead cams, four valves per pot and a huge 60mm throttle body, and has the ability to reach the sort of revs that’d bend the Harley’s pushrods. There are no flappy materials or tacky details; it’s all quality castings, slick controls and want-to-touch-them finishes. Such observations apply to this new Bobber, of course. The difference is the subtle gloss and polishing of the standard Scout is gone in flavour of a full-black treatment, low-slung stance and the hacked-back mudguards necessary for the moniker. Park the Bobber on fresh tarmac on a cloudy day, and its black paint, black mechanicals and black tyres swallow all the light… and any passing spaceships. I’m not convinced – I reckon it’s too much gloom – but Ben approves. ‘Being a young-un, a blacked-out bike really appeals to me. Maybe it’s because I secretly hope my girlfriend perceives me as a badass and the Scout helps fuel such pretentions.’ Take more than a Bobber… The 1133cc V-twin is a surprise. The Indian’s aesthetic and capacity lead you to expect Harley-style thudding, but no. This is smooth, free-revving, polite performance, with accessible drive delivered cleanly. There’s no truculence; the Bobber dawdles in town with the low-speed manners of a commuter, slides along the ring-road with silent efficiency, and soars to its 8300rpm rev limit. Indian have tweaked the injection on Scouts for 2018 as well, so delivery of motive force is silkier than ever. This is all very rosy, only tea-with-mother manners are at the expense of a little pizazz. I’m not saying we want a grouchy misbehaving lump, but the Indian is a tad too whirring. ‘I do like the engine,’ reckons Ben. ‘It’s got enough torque for big twin fans and you can hold gears for much longer than is possible on the Harley. But its versatility also makes the power delivery and feel a little bland in this company.’ There’s more ‘character’ to the ride. Scout’s always steer and ride nicely, with impressive deportment and a natural dynamic that means you’re rarely so fired up as to be shortening the footpegs. The Bobber is ‘slammed’, though, and this means shorter rear shocks. The problem is they’re already short on an un-bobbed Scout, and so now there’s only 51mm of travel. Maybe the ‘slamming’ reference refers to what happens when you hit a bump at A-road speed. It’s nowt like as plush as the Harley, and a rougher ride than even the low-slung Triumph. Bobbing the Indian also brings alterations to the riding position, with revised foot location and bars that are two inches further away. It creates a clam-like cruiser stance which isn’t particularly uncomfortable – there’s plenty of space – but that isn’t as relaxed or ‘right’ as the other two bikes. I reckon it affects the handling, too. The front is quite nicely damped, and at low speed the Scout steers accurately. Get on open roads and it rolls onto its side without resistance; however, there’s often a sense that it’s leaning yet wants to go straight. We’re not talking the narrowboat antics of old-school cruisers, and on its own the Indian is a fine thing… however next to the grab-and-sling Fat Bob and nimble Bonnie the all-black Scout isn’t as keen on adopting a new direction at 60mph. Not that you notice once settled into the Indian’s seating and lapping up the sense of quality given off by its fuel filler engraved with the brand’s swirly ‘I’. It’s on the levers too, and the cylinders with their neat machined edges. In fact, there are logos all over it, though it’s not sickly. ‘The Indian is clean where the Triumph is adorned,’ muses Ben. ‘I think the Brit’s faux-carb get-up is try-hard next to the Scout’s minimal highlights and its understated finish.’ Understated is perhaps the best way to describe Indian’s Bobber. Personally I prefer the style and feel (and extra couple of degrees of lean) you get with a stock Scout. However, if you’re taken with the Bobber’s image it has the performance to equal the others, as much presence and a fine dynamic, but delivered with more restraint than the deep bass and over-eager style of the Triumph… and with less look-at-me than the gloriously shouty Harley.
‘Smooth, free-revving, accessible drive delivered cleanly’