2014 Indian "Thunder Stroke" 111 V-Twin

Yeah, you totally come off as someone that just happens to find cruisers comfortable. No axe to grind whatsoever.

The new engine looks great IMO. Looks like it has a balance shaft and the primary case looks even shorter than HD's Dyna models. Will allow for even lower seating behind the engine by my guess.

Now if only they'll stay away from those hideous bulbuous valanced fenders, tassles and 100 extra pounds of tasteless metal "cough, cough" beauty trim and looked far away from the nostalgiac looks that today's buyers admire but don't really want to own, they may be able to move foward and cut their own path.

And yes! Keep those 3 generations of retarded Nesses away from it. They should've hired Pierre Terblanche to handle the styling. Instead, Confederate is hoping he'll design out their ugliness. Pierre could do wonders for Indian.

According to the specs, yes it has a balance shaft. It looks to me like the primary case is even shorter than a Sportster's.

Yep.

I would buy an Indian Scout with 500 lbs wet weight and 111 inches tomorow. Hell, I'd buy a 45 incher if it screamed.

Size/weight-wise, that would put it between a Sportster and a Bonneville. But with WAY more power.

That would be a badass retro standard!

AND it would be an Indian. Hard to get more badass than that.

If I had a bike like that, you couldn't tell me nothin'.

will they be running the LSR shaped engine display case on the salt or just toting it around to events?

I guess time will tell.

It's for the Vetter hi-miles event.

I heard the new motor run in person today as they has one set up on a stand at destination daytona today. It is a unit construction that has one oil for everything like a Japanese bike. It was very impressive to hear and seemed smooth. They ran it up to probably 3000-3500 rpms and you could not feel much vibration if at all, a lot less than my road glide has. It is a good looking motor. It did not sound like a typical vtwin.

I posted this in another thread by mistake so if you see it twice sorry.

I admit I don't care for the Ness' stuff. But that also applies to OCC, WCC, and every single one of the companies building Harley clone choppers. These things are nothing but road ornaments. For me to like it, it has to be practical, comfortable, handle well (not necessarily like a sportbike), reliable, and capable of being set up for touring with lots of carrying capacity. In other words, it has to meet all the performance criteria of a smaller Goldwing or Harley Electra Glide. Something for solo touring. The old style Japanese cruisers were perfect for this (mine was designed in 1985) The newer ones seem to be more about style than actual use. Thats why I liked the Honda CTX700 so much. A bike with the right riding position for me, without the fake Harley look of the latest cruisers, and hopefully with the ability to carry stuff.

Your post just inspired me to change my signature line, JerryH!

Tom in Salem

I suspect you don't wave to those riding those bikes either......

I wave at EVERYONE on 2 wheels. It takes a lot of guts (and dedication and skill, and a few other things) to be out there in traffic on 2 wheels in a 4 wheeled cell phone dominated world. Thats a lot of what makes riding special to me. Just riding across town can be an adventure. It can also get you killed.

......almost everything not Harley has been unit construction for 40 years.

Royal Enfield just went to a UCE. But I never actually considered one of those. Just to unreliable. I believe any mid '60s bike was probably more reliable than a brand new Enfield, including British bikes. It still has looks and some character, but not reliable enough to be a practical bike.

not the boxer twins, but little about those motors are about function before form (and I own one).


I think the 111 inch motor in a ~500 lb retro standard with 29-30 inch seat height would be effing badass. If there was a chance in hell I could order one with ABS I'd be quite interested.

Take this concept, update without gaining too much weight or cloning Harley and price it at about 15k
and I think they'd do just fine. The new engine gives me hope that's just where they are headed too:

I like that. Sort of a stately and modern cruiser for a gentleman or lady with classic appeal.

I would be damned surprised if the new Indians DIDN'T come standard with ABS.

This will likely be a totally modern motorcycle by the way of electronics and safety features. Unlike the California Motorcycle Company, which procured the Indian name some years back and started bolting valenced fenders to their S&S powered boutique chopperized customs, Polaris has the engineering acumen and money to create a product that competes on a level on and well beyond the retro thing.

Like the old Scout motor looked like a smaller version of the old Chief motor, I hope that they build a much lighter, rev-happy midweight along the same aesthetic lines. However good looking, the Sportster is overweight, poor handling, crudely suspended and slow in stock form. If done right, a new Scout would bring back the rivalry between the two brands like it was in the 1930's, where if you wanted a sporty twin, you'd buy a Scout, or if you wanted something more *ahem* utilitarian/agricultural, you'd buy a WL.





(I'd love to have either in my garage, by the way.)

And I know you can't truly compare the market from 70 to 80 years ago to now, but dropping the Scout from the Indian showrooms was a huge mistake from the Springfield bunch. It was their bread-and-butter bike, and, like how the Sportster serves as a "trainer" bike for customers who will someday pony up to a big twin, a light and snappy Scout to accompany the Thunder Stroke could be the ticket in to the new Indian experience.

I hope somebody at Polaris/Indian is monitoring the chatter.

Tom in Salem