America’s oldest motorcycle company roared back to life with Polaris funding and a solid first showing in the form of the old-school Chief V-Twin. That bike, a full-size cruiser/tourer meant to go head to head with the large displacement Harley-Davidsons, was a throwback. A gorgeous throwback, to be sure, but it wasn’t going to raise the collective pulse of America’s 25-45 year-old urbanites. Indian hasn’t forgotten that new generation of bikers, however- and, where Harley gave them a Made in India 500cc learner bike, Indian gave them this. Say hello to the 2015 Indian Scout.
The new Indian Scout is a clean-sheet design. It has classic proportions, sure, and is easily recognizable as a Scout to Indian aficionados- but the 542 lb. base (!?) bike is powered by an all-new, 1133cc liquid-cooled V-Twin that should make short work of the middleweight Harleys and air-cooled Triumph cruisers this bike will be competing against in the marketplace. The new Insian Scout also offers (what Polaris is calling) a “breakthrough” chassis design that features a lightweight and rigid cast aluminum frame- which begs the question, “What would this beast have weighed without the lightweight chassis!?”
“A lot,” would be my bet.
The Scout won’t reach dealerships until later this year, but it’s got the might of Polaris‘ fortune and R&D brain trust behind it, so I expect nothing short of a thrilling two-wheeled experience from the bike, as well as 45 MPG (plus!) fuel economy. That’s not bad for a vehicle that you can get for just under $11,000, and that will embarrass machines costing many times that with its straight-line acceleration! You can see more of the bike in the Indian-provided press photos, below, and learn about the Indian Scout model’s history in the video, at top. Enjoy!
Indian Scout: Vintage Red (11 Photos)
Indian Scout: Black Smoke (6 Photos)
Indian Scout: Thunder Black (13 Photos)
Indian Scout: Silver Smoke (38 Photos)
Source, Images, and Video: Indian Motorcycles.
