Hi, I loved the looks of those Royal Enfield's with the Chrome tank. And the Bonniville. I liked the speed of my Norton better though, lol.
Yesterday was a nice day to receive the Indian, cool but not cold or wet. I'm becoming friends with the Scout and have found some interesting design functions. The most interesting is the Start push button. Then again you have the manually operated fuel pump and since the fuel pump stop button stops the fuel it also acts like the old kill switch. So the start procedure goes like this, Insert the key and turn on, the headlights come on and no choice about this as the "Safety" Cops finally got their way. Start the fuel pump, you will hear it come to pressure and stop. Push the start button, now this is a bit interesting to me, the button, once pushed will automatically operate the starter for 3 seconds. If it does not start you have to wait 5 seconds and repeat. This design prevents a fools from grinding the starter to death and burning it to carbon. Not a bad idea, after all if it doesn't start in 3 seconds at the speed it turns then you need to check the bike. Anyway, it always starts and always in about a second and a half. Rides good and has a nice steady pull, but for now only 1/3 twist on the grip, until more miles. I am removing all snap on parts and checking inspection points while running through the operators manual one page at a time to familiarize myself to the Scout. Just like Quals, then I can have my Indian Chest Pin. More details later and a few pictures too, not that I could do any better at the pictures than the Pros did for the Advertising Department. As reported the Scout does not have a fork lock! Expect many to add the same style fork lock as an accessory that is sold for the other Indians. A pad lock through the front brake disk will work for now. Anyway all it takes to steal most Metric Bikes with a locked fork is a skate board. I am in need/want of a good luggage rack over the back fender, only one style I've seen on line comes close to what I need but nothing I can lay hands on yet to check out. Riding Coast to Coast may never happen again but I want to have a a rear luggage rack that is large enough to hold 200 lbs and be able to use a Diamond Hitch to secure the load, no bungees for me, solid line need only apply for tie downs. After all, everyone likes a nice heavy duty rack. Standard seat and controls for now and no Pee pad will be installed.
You never rode my Norton. It wasn't stock. But no Honda or anything else could beat it in many tries. Especially if it was a road race. Nothing handled close to a Norton Atlas. My Kawasaki H2 Triple was faster in a straight line but way harder to ride. 750 Hondas were nice but I don't remember much about them. But I was overseas in their heyday. By the time I got back into bikes Kawasaki's were top of the heap. I did at some point have a Nighthawk Honda that was fun. By then my racing days were over.
No kick starter. Fuel requirements, 91 octane or better. I have no desire to kick over a 69 Cubic Inch High Compression Twin.
As they say, "I usta could!" Of course the Harley 45 I rode was a low compression bike as built and you could retard the spark, the same as my Indian 700 twin from the 60s.
A few pics I'll add text later, right now we are under a severe thunderstorm alert. The fuse block and the battery is below the seat. The design is such that it is easy to move the fuse block out of the way to service the battery. A 12 Vdc accessory plug came installed, you can see it, the black wire with cap, at the lower right corner. This is the clip point for the back of the seat. It is attached to the cast aluminum rear frame member and drilled for other accessories. This is the rear fender and a blanking plug. The plug fill hole is through the fender at a point just aft of the cast aluminum frame. A solid point and a solid steel fender. Clean engine design and as narrow an engine as you could have, thanks to the liquid cooling. I will be adding Road Bars as soon as they reach me. No more clamp on to the down tubes as on some bikes. The Indian Bars are designed to fit the front cast aluminum frame member. Who'd a thought, 16 inch rims! Story is, only the first editions will come stock with this "est 1901".
Oh yeah, My old Norton was pretty high compression. Really hard to kick over. If you didn't do it right it could really hurt you when it kicked back. Lotsa stories about that. Your bike looks nice. Ride report?
Thanks, It's been raining for a couple of weeks, except for tomorrow! Well maybe. Full Report when the weather allows and the roads are clear of sand. I did ride it a few miles before I had it shipped home and can say it rides well. Sure glad I finally got it. I have to say I'm still amazed at the timed start function, maybe not new to others but it is nice to tap the switch and listen to the starter operated by its lonesome. Starts every time and always to same quick smooth way. Sure beats the ticklers on my old Bonneville. Or the maybe first time start on the Harley.
Nice. Yeah, that sparked another old memory Amal carbs, Lucas lord of darkness electrics and kicking rather jumping on the kick starter until your foot hurt. 3 cheers for modern engineering. I live near the Polaris home office and have been a Polaris guy from about 1970. They did a great job with the Indian I from what I hear.
A little update on the fork locks non appearance. Fork locks are not required by US Law nor for insurance purposes. So it appears that along with the Kick Stand lock out and the non ABS the Scout can have some bolt on parts from US suppliers. Empty spot on the fork of a 2015 Indian Scout for the Euro Fork Lock. Can be sourced from Polaris Item 10 and do not forget the installation bolts two number 9 bolts. If i read it correctly this also includes the new locks for the ignition and the fuel cap lock. A lot of bucks latter to save a little at the Dealer's Sales Desk. Not a good move by Polaris. Instead, for now I have a disk brake lock with built in alarm. It appears that a tear down of the front forks is required to install this lock assembly. The milled area is complete as is the lock's pin hole in the front frame casting on my Scout.
It's the scam for the Warranty. At least they sell it as a package deal with the filter and two copper washers. Save the receipt and paste it in the maintenance section and you have a leg up with the date and mileage.
Just some PR stuff from Indian but nice to see a Mil Tribute Bike that is not all stretched out and unable to be in the dirt if needed. IND=
I heard that diesel KLR's were used in Desert Storm. The bad thing about a motorcycle is that you can't shoot back. Sometimes I would have wanted a rocket launcher on mine, lol. You mentioned 200 lb racks. That is way heavy duty. There is a company that makes heavy duty racks, and aluminum panniers for adventure bikes. I can't think of the name right now. I can look it up a post it later.
