Motorcycle Classics – September-October 2019

50 MOTORCYCLE CLASSICS September/October 2019

wheel size, like they have in AFT racing,”

says Indian’s Senior Industrial Designer

Rich Christoph, who was responsible for

creating the FTR 1200 and also styled the

FTR 750. “But we couldn’t get a suitable

19-inch rear tire, so we tried 17/17, and

it just didn’t look right. So 19/18 gives us

the look, as well as performance.”

In faster turns, the FTR feels very reas-

suring, thanks to that conservative geom-

etry, which doesn’t heavy up the steer-

ing unduly, and nor does the ProTaper

handlebar wobble even slightly in your

hands at speed, as on some nakeds with

imperfect steering geometry. But in fast

70mph sweeping turns I noticed it was

always better to go back a gear to fifth,

and drive through these on at least part-

throttle, so as to make the Indian hug the

line without ever washing out the front

wheel even just a little.

And you can indeed use that wide

handlebar to hustle the FTR 1200 through

a series of tighter, slower corners both

quickly and safely — oh, and entertain-

ingly, too. The Sachs suspension has

been expertly dialed in, and you’re very

The Indian Sport Scout introduced in 1934 was America’s first

Superbike. The early 1930s had seen the near-collapse of bike

racing in the USA, forcing Indian and Harley-Davidson to stop

supporting large, professional factory race teams, owing to dwin-

dling track numbers and reduced budgets.

Faced with this crisis, the AMA created Class C racing in 1934

as the basis for all competition. The rules allowed 750cc sidevalve

motors, with OHV engines limited to 500cc, but a maximum

compression ratio of only 7.5:1 prevented these being competi-

tive against the 50-percent bigger sidevalves. Riders had to pres-

ent proof of ownership at sign-up, to prevent the factories enter-

ing tricked-out works racers, so Indian did the next best thing,

and produced the Sport Scout. Selling for an affordable $300

with a 744cc dry-sump 42-degree V-twin sidevalve engine, its

bolted-up diamond-type frame led to a quite high 385 pounds

dry weight. With aluminium cylinder heads and cast-iron barrels,

and a separate 3-speed gearbox with hand-shift, it employed

British-style girder forks which delivered a compact 56.5-inch

wheelbase, and predictable handling via its

stock 18-inch wheels.

On the Sport Scout’s debut, Rody

Rodenberg won the February 1935

Jacksonville, Florida, National 200-miler, the

forerunner of the Daytona 200. Kicking off

the inaugural season of Class C racing, the

Sport Scout swiftly became a versatile and

competitive machine adaptable to road

racing, dirt track or hill-climbs. The Sport

Scout was a fast and reliable ride, and it

dominated the early days of Class C racing.

Rodenberg went undefeated for three and

a half years on his Sport Scout.

The most famous of the Scout’s many

victories came when Ed Kretz won the

inaugural Daytona 200 on the combined

beach and highway course in 1937. Kretz

went on to race his Sport Scout ultra-

successfully, even into postwar competition — though by then

Harley had finally overtaken the performance of the Wigwam

factory’s Class C racer. Indian responded in 1948 with the Project

648 “Big Base” version of the Sport Scout, a limited edition

50-off homologation special permitted under the AMA’s revised

Class C rules. This had a completely new engine loosely based

on the previous model’s, sold at-loss-leading prices with the

intent of restoring Indian’s supremacy. His Project 648 duly took

Floyd Emde to victory in the 1948 Daytona 200, and it went on

to gain No. 1 plates for Bill Tuman and Bobby Hill well into the

1950s, despite increasing competition from the OHC Nortons

and OHV BSAs and Triumphs. Ultimately, it was only the demise

of the Indian marque itself, with the end of production at the

Springfield factory in 1953, which ended the Sport Scout’s glori-

ous competition career. There would be a 64-year hiatus before

Indian returned to competition with the FTR 750, which duly

achieved dirt track dominance, and in celebration of that, spun

off the FTR 1200 for the street. — Alan Cathcart

America’s First Superbike: 1936 Indian Sport Scout

AHRMA cofounder Will Harding’s 1936 Indian Sport Scout racer.

The range-topping Indian FTR 1200 S RR (left) and the bike that inspired it, the Indian FTR 750 race bike (right).