Their bikes weren’t as popular as Harleys either with American servicemen or, it seemed, the American public. Indian were successful at home in the USA between the wars, with new models, including the Scout – but after having moved production to a war footing and building bikes primarily for British and Commonwealth forces in the Second World War, the company struggled through the 1940s. Indians were occasionally raced at the TT either side of the First World War – but, after the mid-1920s, they left and never returned. It’s less well known Indian also entered the 1911 TT – the first to be held on the existing Mountain course – and took the top three places in the Senior race, first time out (blimey, who wouldn’t loved to have seen that?). Most of us, perhaps, know a bit of Indian history we might know Indian vied with Harley-Davidson as the go-to pre-Great War American motorcycle manufacturer, producing a stream of successful board- and dirt track race bikes and briefly becoming the world’s largest motorcycle company. Indian is a manufacturer who flies well below the mainstream UK motorcycling radar. So what can you expect from riding a Scout Bobber Twenty ? Let’s find out. Engine and chassis are common across all Scouts. To put it simply, the differences between a Scout, Scout Bobber and Scout Bobber Twenty are based around riding position and styling – with ape-hanger bars and a flying seat foremost among the items that distinguish a Twenty from a standard Bobber, the riding position is the only tangible dynamic change between the models. The Twenty the result of turning a standard Indian Scout into a Bobber with a few choice components, then turning a Bobber into a Bobber Twenty with a few more. Rest assured this Scout is not Burt’s Scout – The World’s Fastest Indian, the Bobber Twenty ain’t.īut if you’ve reached a point in your riding career at which you’re looking for a new experience – done the sportsbikes thing, had a few adventure bikes, fancy something leftfield – then you might want to take a machine like the 2020 Indian Scout Bobber Twenty for a test spin.īecause the Scout Bobber Twenty ’s brand of low-slung, street rod-style, ape-hanger, feet-forward cruiser is a niche of a niche of a niche. If the mood takes you, you can contact Neale in one of several different ways below, and he’d love to hear from you.In the 1960s, Kiwi Burt Munro used a self-modified 1920 Indian Scout engine to famously set several land speed records at Bonneville salt flats. For those of you that have heard of this self-styled ‘philanthropic adventurer’, you’ll hear the genesis behind Neale’s true passion in life, raising money for his Wellspring Foundation, a charity based around motorcycling that raises money for both an orphanage in Peru, and subsequently for another in Africa.
#INDIAN SCOUT TV#
All very cool and all that, but for those of you who have not heard of Neale, nor did you catch his TV show Neale Bayly Rides on either Speed when it was around, or on YouTube now, then hopefully you’ll find this conversation quite interesting. Neale and I have been fellow moto-journalists for approaching two decades, generally roaring around the globe testing the latest and greatest. Our chat this week comes from long-time friend Neale Bayly. The bike comes in both standard shift and DCT flavors, and Don Williams gives us his thoughts on the DCT-Dual Clutch Transmission-version. Interestingly, with the addition of Honda’s luggage system, NC750X has a downright amazing amount of carrying capacity. Our ‘Moto’ is Honda’s NC750X… a super user-friendly and incredibly versatile middleweight that won’t break the bank. On this week’s Motos & Friends we explore the theme of travel and touring.