New Indian Scout $10,999

[emptysea]

First cruiser to really make me do a double-take. This could be my wife's next bike....of course, I'd probably have to ride around on it now and then just to make sure everything was running correctly, ya know.

[The Spaceman_imp]

I think it diverges much from the typical Japanese cruiser. Weight and performance are going to be the big differences. To start, 100lbs less than the Honda Saber at $13000, 100lbs lighter than the Yamaha V Star 1300 at $12290. And engine power, the Asian cruisers are not even in the contest.

I don't think Indian intends this bike to be a "retro" Scout but rather an evolution of what the Scout may have become if Indian had never gone bankrupt. A modern hot rod cruiser with ties to the original Scout concept of a light "sport bike". To reach the very high performance numbers it has, water cooling is the only option and rather than hide this fact with fake engine fins and chromed plastic covers, the designers chose to show it's engineering openly. If Indian had designed this as an air cooled bike it would be just another underwhelming V twin with lackluster performance. The time is not far off when all air cooled bikes will be something we old timers will bemoan as the passing of "the good ol' days".

Your points are valid, but are they the specs that small/mid-size cruiser buyers are looking at? In the beginning the XL was HD's modern, performance bike. But for decades XLs have been the "starter bike" that gets traded in for a "real Harley". They're heavy and they're slow, but they sell.

At this point, Indian doesn't have the brand culture of HD, so the Scout will have to pull buyers from the type of bikes you named. I'm just not sure this bike will do that, orvtgst they've created a bike that's different enough to draw the very few cruiser riders who give $.02 about performance.

There's a big Indian dealership only 5 miles from my place; I guess I'll have to CB on over there and check this thing out once they get a demo ride.

[ChipBeck_imp]

If they didn't introduce water cooling on this bike, they would be trapped and forever locked in to air cooled bikes with less horsepower, less reliability and unable to meet more restrictive emissions which are undoubtedly coming. Harley realizes this as well with their two new smaller models.

Air cooling just isn't the way of the future. Harley knows it, BMW knows it and Indian knows it, which is why the traditionally air cooled companies are introducing water cooling to new models. Consumers might as well get used to it.

The Japanese has realized it forever which is why the CB was such a shock to the mc world, and also why its such a poor performer for its displacement.

Mic,

I agree with everything you said except the "trapped" part. Makers will either water-cool to help meet emissions standards or they will stop making bikes for sale in the US. I agree that water cooling is functionally superior and it's inevitable. Even HD will lose their air cooled V twins in a few years. My attachment to air cooling is like my attachment to '60's Rock & Roll. It's just the way things were when I was a kid. I was stunned when Honda brought out the CB1100. Yeah baby!!!! It made me feel nostalgic even though I never owned a Honda 4 back in the day. So I bought one. I sold my air cooled Ducati 900 Monster some years ago because I never rode it. I just thought it was beautiful. When I just heard that Ducati has stopped production of it's last air cooled bikes, the 696 and 796 Monsters, I called around and bought one of the last new 796's shipped to AZ for my son Charley.

I was upset when Porsche had to start water cooling the 911. And with this years water cooling of the Harley Electra Glide I know the end of this era is near.

I like vintage guitars, Schwinn steel framed one speed cruiser bicycles, radial aircraft engines, and big block muscle cars, all being outdated, inefficient, and inferior to modern items. So the throw back CB1100 gets it for me. Water cooled everything will be here soon enough. But any one of the 5 air cooled motorcycles in my garage will still have enough power to propel me from 0 to 1969 in under 5 seconds. Cheers.

Chip

[OldF7Guy_imp]

First cruiser to really make me do a double-take. This could be my wife's next bike....of course, I'd probably have to ride around on it now and then just to make sure everything was running correctly, ya know.

Its made me do a double take also and I am not a cruiser guy. Its erily similar to the CB11, Bonnie, and Sportster but different than all three. Just a different way to go about things. Not a fan of that big radiator but otherwise I Kinda like it. Water cooling is the future I know but Im am sorta like ChipBeck and want the full retro package for better or worse.

[the Ferret]

Chip I meant they would be trapped in the sense that Harley has been trapped for so long. Forced to produce air cooled lumps well past the point that technology could have helped them make better bikes, or risk angering the faithful who would feel betrayed. So HD is sneaking it in a little at a time, but you are right, HD can read the writing on the wall. The new 500 and 750 prove that. HD can't even call them water cooled, they are liquid cooled lol

Smart move on Indian's part. They will be ahead of the curve when the time comes, and in the meantime Scouts will be leaving all HDs in the dust that dares to challenge them at a light.

[redbirds_imp]

Ride review on Motorcycle Daily.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2014/08/2...irst-ride/

[The Spaceman_imp]

Ride review on Motorcycle Daily.

http://www.motorcycledaily.com/2014/08/2...irst-ride/

Huh...that's quite an interesting review. "A modern, technologically advanced, kick àss Indian.". No ABS, single disk brake, feet-forward controls, lay-down shocks...these aren't high-tech features in my mind.

Maybe Indian has produced a bike that can be more than a segue to their big bikes. 9000 rpm, slick shifting, and skinny 16" tires...yeah...I'm going to ride one of these puppies for sure. It'll be interesting to see just where it falls along the line between Tech and Cruiser.

[ThomWill_imp]

I really have no objection to the water cooled engine, or even the radiator my RSTD has both of those, and as noted the oil coolers on many air cooled bikes are as big as some small radiators. I just don't like the aesthetics of that V. Even my Yamaha RSTD has bolt on plates that give it some fins. I am a cruiser guy, and a standard guy, and I know that under all those cowlings, many water cooled sport bikes don't have fins, but in an homage to the original scout, they just seem glaringly missing.

[the Ferret]

As does the girder front end, plunger rear suspension and floor boards lol

I think what a lot of people wanted was more along the lines of the later model Sport Scouts modified for racing.

[ss2wheels_imp]

I went out to my truck this morning and my radiator was missing.