Indian’s GS moment
The pressure’s on for the all-new – like BMW’S GS, the entire company Indian Scout is built around its success. So, will more power and riding modes do the trick?
This all-new Scout is a massive deal for Indian. Forty percent of all the American company’s sales are Scouts, they’ve sold over 100,000 in the past 10 years, and 93 percent of Scout buyers are new to Indian. It’s a cash cow and marketing campaign rolled into one. So, no surprises that there’s been some effort.
The engine, frame, tank, seat and electronics are all new.
‘We changed everything,’ confirms Indian’s design director, Ola Stenegärd. ‘But we realised very quickly that this would be evolution not revolution. Our top priority was to ensure the new line-up is as timeless as all its predecessors. It was imperative to keep it clean, follow the iconic lines of the 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.’
The new engine gets a 10 percent capacity hike – up from 1133cc to 1250cc – which helps boost power from 100bhp to 111bhp on the sportiest version (the rest get 105bhp), and increases torque from
72 lb.ft to 82 lb.ft.
The torque curve looks impressive, hitting 70 lb.ft by 3000rpm and wafting slowly up to 80 lb.ft at
6000rpm where it stays before drifting down at 7000rpm. For reference, Yamaha’s brilliantly tractable MT-09 makes 69 lb.ft at its peak.
The electronics include traction control and three riding modes – Rain, Standard and Sport. Rain mode softens the throttle response as you’d imagine, but interestingly Indian emphasise that it’s also good for inexperienced riders, explaining that for 28 percent of buyers the Scout is their first big bike. Standard mode is similar to the current bike’s throttle feel, and according to Ola, Sport is intended to ‘extend the riding life of the bike so it stays fun forever’. The frame has been changed from cast aluminium to steel tube. ‘This was very important,’ says Ola. ‘The radiator is 22 percent smaller, which allows us to tuck it in between the new frame’s S-shape downtubes. So now if you look at the bike from the side,
‘Our priority was to ensure the new line‑up is as timeless as all its predecessors’
it takes a ton of visual weight out of it. Also, the frame is tucked in under the tank so it feels smaller and narrower from the saddle.’
Steel is also easier to work with, should owners want to get their bike customised. ‘An aluminium frame can be daunting to work with,’ says Ola, ‘whereas steel is much easier. We also restyled the mid-frame [under the saddle] because we had to house more tech – customers want this in their bikes but they don’t want to see it. ‘Details like this are crucial. Looking at it now, it doesn’t look that hard to tuck away cables and wires, but in today’s industry it’s very easy to make things complicated. It takes a tremendous amount of work to make things look simple.’