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“You’re going to want to wear shoes that can get muddy.” That’s what Brian Klock of Klock Werks Kustom Cycles told me as we wrapped up breakfast in the lobby of the Holiday Inn Express in Tullahoma, Tennessee. That’s what signaled me to lace up my Chucks rather than my nice, leather Alpinestars riding shoes.
I’m glad Brian gave me that tip because we had a rainy, muddy day ahead of us in Lynchburg. Having grown up in Brillion, Wisconsin with a population of 3,000, I thought I knew small town living. Then I went to Lynchburg, population: “about 700” according to the locals. Despite being such a small town in the middle of nowhere, Tennessee, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of it and there might even be a label or a t-shirt in your house that says “Lynchburg” on it.
That’s because Lynchburg is home to the Jack Daniel’s distillery. Every drop of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee whiskey, the best-selling whiskey brand in the world, comes from this facility. I was invited there to take a VIP tour of the distillery, have a whiskey tasting facilitated by master distiller Jeff Arnett, and ride the Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Scout Bobber.
I could wax poetic about the whole experience from beginning to end in which I saw pallets engulfed in flames to make charcoal, watched bourbon get filtered through said charcoal to become Tennessee whiskey, and visited the safe that killed Jack Daniel, but we’d be here for a while. You probably want to hear about the bike.
This isn’t the first time the two iconic American brands have collaborated on a motorcycle. This is the third consecutive year there’s been a Jack Daniel’s Indian and the one that was selected this year for the Jack treatment was the Scout Bobber which came out last year. The two brands wanted it to be a more affordable offering than the previous projects to make it more accessible to the specific group of riders it’s been catered to: Firefighters and first responders.
The other two Jack bikes had pretty general Jack Daniel’s themes. Black and white paint jobs, “Old No. 7” logos, filigree, the works. This Scout Bobber has some of those elements, but this it is specifically themed off of the Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade, which is a very real fire department of about 30 people just for the Jack Daniel’s distillery. When you’re dealing with that many dry ingredients in the Tennessee sun, a fire brigade is a necessity.
There’s a lot of pride in the Jack Daniel’s brand and just as much pride in the fire brigade associated with it. The brigade’s gorgeous Pierce fire truck is black and gold and so is this Indian Scout Bobber. This, along with the previous Jack bikes, was customized by Brian Klock, who did a tremendous job making it really stand out while carrying a measure of subtlety. Anyone who has seen an Indian Scout Bobber will know that this one is special, but it isn’t too in-your-face with the Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade theme.
It’s two-tone matte black with gold stripes to match the fire truck. When I say “two-tone” I don’t mean black and gold, I mean there are two different tones of matte-black going on. It would be almost impossible to tell unless you’re up close to the bike in person, but when you do notice it, it’s very impressive.
I don’t know what to call the pattern in the stripes, but it’s…fire trucky. The stripes have a sort of reflective checkerboard pattern and it’s a really nice touch. Other features exclusive to the Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Scout Bobber is gold badging, “Old No. 7” end caps on the foot pegs, “Jack Daniel’s” stitched into the seat, a Fire Brigade logo on the tank, a numbered badge, and a reminder inscribed on the front fender that reads “Drive Responsibly: Bottles & Throttles Don’t Mix.” The gold graphics are real 24 karat gold and so is the coating on the individually numbered badge. The one they showed us was number seven of the 177 bike production run. Get it?
That “bottles and throttles” message was heavily emphasized by the folks at Jack Daniel’s. On its surface, a motorcycle/whiskey collaboration might sound questionable. However, Jack Daniel’s representatives, especially the ones involved with this bike, made the message of drinking responsibly come across loud and clear. It was so important to them that they put it right on the bike. The unveiling event was carefully planned to make sure the imbibing didn’t begin until the riding was complete.
Speaking of riding, the aforementioned rain cleared up in time to give us decent riding conditions when the time came to take this thing for a spin. Seeing as how the ride I took was more of a photo op than a full-blown test ride, I didn’t collect enough data with my butt in the saddle to do a full review. But in my brief time with the Bobber, we got pretty well acquainted.
I had never ridden a Scout Bobber before and it was everything I hoped for. It’s a fantastic middleweight American cruiser with ergonomics that are a little hard to get used to, especially at low speeds with your feet sticking way out to reach the forward controls, but the bike is pretty comfortable once you’re at cruising speed. This is a cruiser, after all, and it fulfills that duty quite well.
The engine is a gem. It’s the same 69 ci liquid-cooled V-twin found in the standard Scout and Scout Bobber making 100 horsepower and 72 pound-feet of torque. In my brief test ride, I didn’t get to crack it open quite as much as I would have liked, but I can tell you it had plenty of guts in my time with it and plenty more to spare. Despite its low stance, this bike is quite maneuverable. Partially thanks to the fat tires, the Bobber loves to go fast in turns.
The Scout Bobber is a bike you can get both for its attitude and for its performance. If a premium American cruiser with the bobber aesthetic and one of the best V-twins in the business is what you’re after, then you can’t do much better than the Scout Bobber, Jack Daniel’s edition or otherwise.
Pricing for the Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Scout Bobber starts at $16,999 in the U.S. and $20,999 in Canada. If you want one, you have to act very fast. The 2016 Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Springfield and Chief Vintage bikes sold out in less than eight hours and the 2017 Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Chieftain sold out in less than 10 minutes. Ordering for the Jack Bobber begins on Tuesday, March 13 at 12 p.m. ET. Visit or call your local dealer. Deliveries begin this August.
Sometimes when two brands from different industries collaborate, it’s either a shameless money grab or, well, just lame. But the partnership between Indian Motorcycles and Jack Daniel’s tied together by Klock Werks Kustom Cycles has a lot of heart and soul to it.
Indian and Jack Daniel’s are two brands that are over a century old and have some really passionate fans. Not resting on their laurels, both of these brands reward the passion of their enthusiasts by making the best products they can and the results are phenomenal. The Jack Daniel’s Limited Edition Indian Scout Bobber is a great example of that, and the fact that its theme comes from the Jack Daniel’s Fire Brigade not only makes it look cool, but it’s an honorable nod to firefighters and first responders everywhere.
Eric’s Gear
Jacket: Dainese72 Freccia72
Helmet: Bell Vortex w/ Transitions SolFX shield
Gloves: Icon Anthem Stealth
