Review: 2015 Indian Scout

Don't call it a cruiser. The 2015 Indian Scout is a new breed of motorcycle that's hard to pigeon hole into just one particular category. Your seating position isn't quite as leaned back as a cruiser, the price isn't low enough to be entry level, it's way too nice to be decent off road, it's fast (but not sport bike fast) and it's beautiful. So, what do we call it? The Scout.

Introduced on the first Saturday at Sturgis, the Scout had everyone talking, and not just the Harley crowd. Could this new bike pave the way for Indian, and finally get guys like Harley to take notice?

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Polaris bought the once-thought-cursed name of Indian motorcycle in 2011. No one knew their plans and we expected a rebranded Victory (which Polaris also owns). Instead, Polaris did a complete redesign on the Indian brand and created a whole new lineup of pushrod V-twin bikes that shared no parts with their Victory stablemates.

So far, every Indian we've tested has surpassed our expectations with bikes that have some serious torque, great looks and performance. Indian had, up until now, only made big bikes like the Chieftain and Chief and their newly introduced and even bigger RoadMaster. But Indian had always wanted a small performance bike to fit into the lineup, which made reintroducing the infamous Indian Scout—which has been out of production since 2002—back into the wild a whole lot easier.

In a sea of sameness. Pictures by Jesse Kiser and Indian.

What's New With the 2015 Indian Scout

Everything. This is the first of its kind. Polaris has invested a serious amount of time and money to develop the bike and equally as much promoting it. While at Sturgis, there were over a half-dozen demo rides scattered throughout the small town.

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A completely new, water-cooled, double-overhead cam, 69ci V-twin, produces 100bhp, bone-stock. That's not a tremendous amount of power for a motorcycle, but it feels insane behind the grips of a 558 pounds (wet) bike. You can feel that the Scout likes higher rpms, unlike a traditional, large cubic inch thumping Harley that has enough down-low torque to power a tug boat. Those performance numbers don't sound staggering for a sportbike, but for a cruiser they're impressive.

The Drive

We were lucky to be one of the first to throw our legs over the little Scout. Before we did so, the Indian PR guys looked at my 6'3" frame and immediately began talking about the add-ons coming soon to the little bike. He said basically all ergonomic points (handlebars, pegs and seat) will have the ability to move at least two inches with dealer installed hardware.

After picking up the bike from a warehouse on the outskirts of Sturgis, South Dakota during the rally, I was ready to ride. It had just stopped raining and Indian picked out a 100-mile route of hard twists through the Black Hills. The rain had scared off most other bikers, luckily, leaving the road wide open.

We jumped on the highway to gigantic giggles after pulling hard to 70mph. Luckily this bike doesn't have upgrades like traction control or wheelie control…

First we hit the highway, which became a workout after 30 minutes. I had to hold myself onto the bars, as the seating position intends you to lean back, but the Scout was a bit too small for me, which caused me to sit up on my tailbone, resulting in my butt falling asleep after 30 miles. That said, the brown-leather seat has a raised area that kept me planted in place.

After a long spell on the highway, we rode through Rapid City and then some twisty mountain roads. The little bit of weight the bike has is low and centered causing it to remain very stable entering and rolling through the corners. The angled rear shocks make for a stiff ride that keeps the wheels planted no matter the riding style.

Roll on the throttle hard exiting a corner and you would feel the rear end just ever so slightly squat, planting itself into the asphalt.

The Bad