RE: Indian Scout Sixty: PH2 review

[tvrolet]

srob said:

Granted it's a fair chunk of a thing and of course a complete lack of aero parts means that the engine's working harder to push it (and the flailing tassles attached to it) through the air but still, that's a shockingly poor efficiency I'd have thought

Meh. My (5.7) Jeep gets 19mpg, the Masser does maybe 17, and the Tuscan is down around 9 - so 40-45 mpg is luxury.

But I've done a fair few miles touring on the Chief in the company of more 'conventional' touring tackle including BMs, GTR 1300, CBF1000 etc. Not a vast selection I admit, but in terms of MPG as a group we'd all be stopping around the 200 mile mark for a fill-up, and I wasn't putting much more fuel in the Indian than the other guys. It has a massive barn-door screen, but it will sit comfortably at 100 with with zero buffeting and nothing more than a gentle breeze and return around 40mpg. But no, despite being 1800cc it will not do 150; there's a little left over 100 for overtakes etc., and I'd guess it might find its way to 120 given enough time. But I'm happy enough most of the time at 85 or so...local laws permitting etc., where it still has some decent acceleration left in reserve.

Mine is not a Scout but Chief, and they're very different animals. But since we've strayed into generic v-twin/USA/cruiser territory...

Indian don't quote horsepower on the Chief (or Chieftain, or Roadmaster), but they do claim 120ft/lb. Folks who've had them on dynos seem to get results of around 80-85hp at the back wheel; although there's now a Stage 2 set of cams out that are meant to lift everything by 10%; just got to find me a set. But that's coming in very low in the rev range, which means riding between 1500 and 4500; it pulls like a train at 2500. if you love screaming the nuts of stuff you'll hate it; if you just want to snick it in to 6th at 40mph and let the grunt take care of things then you'll like it. But the Scout does rev quite bit higher, so maybe an intro to US v-twins - v-twin lite.

But back to touring - at a 'comfortable' speed covering miles, the Indian is on pace with any of the other tourers I've ridden with, and surprisingly happy to run a bit quicker through the twisties fully loaded than some others. Quite probably if they opened them up and/or rode closer to the limit they'd leave me for dead, but at the 'comfortable' pace that we might do 200 miles on in a single sitting, the Indian is every bit as good as covering the ground as 'conventional' tourers; in my experience at least. And I get off with less aches and pains for sure, and fresh for the next 200.

And I'd call them 'fringes' , not 'tassles'. I like the look, but that's clearly the minority view here. And I'd class mine as a 'bagger' rather than a cruiser - buy hey it's an American v-twin. I'm not that fusses on labels.

They don't set out to be sports bikes, so there's little point in saying a 600 would run rings round them. If I'd wanted a sports bike I would have bought one. The GPz hasn't turned a wheel since I got the Indian. I want a sports bike as much as most folks here want a long-wheelbase air-cooled v-twin...with footboards. But I love footboards, and I love the bike. it is an absolute pleasure to ride in any weather; it just 'feels' good on the road with so much grunt and such a relaxing motor. Don't underestimate the capability of the big v-twins to eat the miles at a reasonable pace and in comfort.

But as to the Scout - I like it a lot. But for me it's too small - not just capacity, but I actually like the feel of a physically big bike. Looking at it closely you can see it's been built down to a price though, whereas the Chief's are kind of cost-no-object, but hey, 3 times the price. I know in the US a lot of folks at pitching then as a first-time bike, or a ladies bike and there are reduced reach kits for them. But based on the build quality of the Chiefs, I think Polaris are doing an excellent job with then new Indians (and Victory too).

What will be interesting is how they take Indian and Victory forward. When the Scout was spotted testing and folks dug stuff up as designs it was presented as a new Victory to keep folks off the trail; and that made a lot of sense at the time. But there's no point in the Scout and some of the Victorys sharing the same 'sporty cruiser' segment. I wonder if Victory will end up launching a proper sporty v-twin along the lines of Buell? They're certainly putting together a 'racer' for Pikes Peak. I do wonder if Victory will morph in to the super-sport v-twins, and keep Indian for the traditionalists.

And of course Polaris own Brammo too now.

[mrmaggit]

That was the idea, but, as with a lot of Yank stuff, they have managed to completely screw it up.

The new "Octane" Victory is, to me, just a re-vamped Scout, and I'm not the only one thinking that.

Now if they had done a street version of the Pikes Peak bike..................