After a dominant season in American Flat Track racing last year, the Indian Scout FTR750 is becoming a very popular choice for privateer teams. The Indian Wrecking Crew swept the top three spots in the standings for the 2017 season with Jared Mees as the Grand National Champion and breaking the record for 17 total podiums in one season. With a record like that, it’s easy to see why more teams want the Scout FTR750.
The privateers running Indian racing bikes in 2018 include three-time Grand National Champion Kenny Coolbeth Jr., Jeffrey Carver, Chad Cose, and Jay Maloney. Henry Wiles and two-time champion Jake Johnson will be riding Scouts intermittently this season.
“After seeing the Scout FTR750’s capabilities last year, I couldn’t be more excited to be riding it this season,” said Coolbeth in a press release. “I’ve been training hard this offseason, and I’m looking forward to competing this year and giving the Indian factory team some competition now that we’re all on the same bike.”
“We’re extremely excited to see so many talented riders turn to the Scout FTR750 this season,” said Gary Gray, vice president of racing, service & technology for Indian Motorcycle in a press release. “We’re committed to supporting not only our factory team, but the privateers, as we have an aggressive contingency program in place that will reward these riders with performance incentives.”
Aside from its proven performance, another big reason to ride an Indian Scout FTR750 is the potential payday from Indian. Indian is offering $25,000 for a championship on a Scout FTR750, $5,000 for a first-place win, $4,000 for second place, $3,000 for third place, and different payouts for anyone finishing up to 10th place on an Indian.
The Indian Scout FTR750 has almost nothing in common with the production Indian Scout. However, Indian showed off a stunning Scout FTR1200 Custom street bike at EICMA last year. Indian calls it a “street tracker” looks a lot like the flat track bike, but with a headlight, a bigger engine, fenders, front brakes, a dash, and a mirror. We reached out to Indian asking for an update on whether or not it will enter production and we were told the Scout FTR1200 Custom is “an exploration to where Indian could go in the future.”
