The Indian That Makes Every Ride Feel Like A National Holiday
Every Fourth of July, the roads outside just about any small town fill up with people trying to make the most of a public holiday. Pickups pull boat trailers, a marching band rehearses somewhere off in the distance, and a lot of people turn to their good ‘ol V-twin cruiser, firing it up after sitting in the garage the whole winter. It’s a day that celebrates freedom, and the distinct sound of the V-twin, to some, is the promise of a ride that doesn’t need a destination.
There’s a distinct feeling in that sound, one that Indian Motorcycles has spent more than a century building a whole image around. The V-twin cruiser has always carried the emotions of freedom of the open road better than most, by being a machine built less for getting somewhere fast and more for making getting there the whole point of the day’s ride.
Why You Can Actually Trust Indian On A Day That Has No Plan
Indian earned that trust from the riders well before marketing departments existed and learned to sell it instead. The company opened its first factory in Springfield, Massachusetts, in 1901, and five years later, two of its own dealers rode one across the country from San Francisco to New York in just over a month without a single mechanical failure. That’s the kind of reliability proof that still matters on a retro cruiser, since wire wheels and flared fenders are easy to bolt on.
And what separates a real bike that you want to take out on a holiday from a poser is whether it holds up whatever the ride can throw at it. Weather, the passenger and luggage load, or even the lack of a plan opening up to changing possibilities on the ride itself. A ride with no fixed plan is a bet on the machine underneath you, and American riders have spent over a century trusting the Indian nameplate with reliability stories hitting six-figure mileage.
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The Indian Super Scout Makes Every Ride Feel Like A Holiday
The Super Scout has been built from the same architecture as the Scout Classic, hence the similarities with the flared fenders, wire-spoke wheels, and chrome trim that could pass for a shot from a 1940s catalog. What separates it from the standard Scout Classic are the additional factory-fitted accessories as standard. Indian charges a very modest $300 over the Scout Classic for all the extra bits, totaling $16,999.
It nails the luxury and comfort sweet spot for the price and the equipment on offer, as well as accessibility for a wide range of riders through a short saddle height of 25.7 inches. Power comes from Indian’s SpeedPlus 1250, a liquid-cooled V-twin making 105 horsepower and 82 lb-ft of torque, to keep things sprightly with healthy low-end grunt but still maintaining an easy pace as you trot about soaking in the sights and scenes of the Fourth well into the night.
Saddlebags, A Windshield, And Room For A Passenger
The Super Scout makes for a great deal of value over the Scout Classic, as the additional accessories it offers not only add to its functionality but also give you the option to leave it all back in the garage and make it look like the beautiful bobber it is underneath. The touring saddlebags are rated at more than eight gallons of combined storage, opening and closing with a pull tab. A pillion seat and dedicated pegs are part of the package too.
Then there’s the third element in the form of the windshield that completes the touring requirements. Leave it mounted, and it cuts wind, bugs, and road debris on the highway, turning two hours in the saddle into something closer to relaxing than an endurance test. Pull it off, and the Super Scout goes back to looking like a stripped-down Scout Classic in about the same time it took you to read this sentence, thanks to the tool-free quick release mechanism. The Super Scout is truly a big cruiser that’s manageable minus the stresses of a typical big bike.
Heritage Styling With Modern Tech Underneath
Every visual cue that makes the Super Scout look decades old also sits on a platform that carries a touchscreen, selectable ride modes, and cruise control as standard equipment. Modernity is welcome for various reasons, at the top of which are convenience and safety, but understandably, nobody wants a cruiser so buried in tech that it stops looking like an Indian. The Super Scout executes this really well by keeping the retro silhouette through and through, with no visible signs of modern tech as it functions stealthily underneath. On the move or parked beside the road, it will draw curious attention to the bike’s actual age.
Bobbed Fenders, And Wire Wheels
The short bobber-style fenders cover both wheels, and the look, while a departure from Indian’s earliest Scout models, is then complemented by other elements that make it look retro. The 40-spoke wire wheels carry the same throwback look but are finished in black for the Super Scout versus the Classic in chrome, 16 inches front and rear, wrapped in Pirelli MT60RS tires. Paint options include Ghost White Metallic, Nara Bronze Metallic, and the instantly recognizable Sunset Red Metallic that screams Indian from afar.
Ride Command And The Limited +Tech Trim
That same 4-inch Ride Command touchscreen from Indian’s flagship tourers comes standard on the Super Scout too, handling GPS navigation, Bluetooth connectivity, and ride stats. Ride Command+ builds on that with account sync and connected search over a cellular-tethered connection, useful for plotting a route on the fly. Keyless ignition, cruise control, traction control, and selectable ride modes round out the Limited +Tech trim.
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How The Vulcan 900 Classic LT And Rebel 1100T Compare
The Kawasaki Vulcan 900 Classic LT and the Honda Rebel 1100T sit closest to the Super Scout. Both midsize cruisers ship from the factory dressed for a trip, the former being closer in styling to the Super Scout while the Rebel looks much more modern. Both bikes also undercut the Super Scout by a healthy margin, enough to question why you would even consider the Super Scout in the first place.
The Vulcan at $10,599 offers a 903cc V-twin making 51 horsepower and 58.3 lb-ft of torque, substantially less power, but wrapped in a height-adjustable windscreen and a passenger backrest that make it a legitimate two-up option at a fraction of the cost. The Rebel 1100T starts at $10,899 and swaps the V-twin layout for Honda’s 1084cc Unicam parallel-twin, plus hard saddlebags that lock and seal against weather.
Both bikes have real strengths, but what they can’t match is Indian’s century-rich lineage and history, overall equipment levels like the Ride Command touchscreen and Limited +Tech electronics. But more importantly, it’s the one that looks like a museum piece that has been taken out on a national holiday as a showcase of American craftsmanship in motorcycling. Its ride, handling, and performance package encompasses the modernity that we expect of the latest Indian motorcycles, and its unquestionable reliability is admired by owners. So the extra money is easy to justify for a rider who wants that holiday feeling every time they swing a leg over.
Source: Indian Motorcycle
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