Indian Scout to appear tomorrow?

INDIAN is to reveal another new model at Sturgis tomorrow and all clues suggest it will be a water-cooled machine reviving the ‘Scout’ name.

The evidence, while largely circumstantial, all heads in the same direction. First up we have the unequivocal fact that Indian has put a teaser on its website, showing the firm’s range, including the newly-launched Roadmaster, next to a bike-sized box stamped with the date 8.2.2014 (that’s 2/8/2014 in English…)

So there’s definitely a new bike appearing tomorrow. But what is it?

Well, earlier this year, Indian applied for a renewed trademark on the name ‘Scout’ which surely suggests that the firm is working on a smaller, lighter, sportier bike to carry that title – history tells us that the Scout was always the firm’s lightweight machine. And a combination of leaked design drawings and spy shots have shown that Polaris, Indian’s parent firm, has a variety of water-cooled V-twin cruisers under development.

Finally, there’s a teaser video, just a few seconds long, on Indian’s YouTube page. It shows nothing but a few brief words from Indian designer Rich Christoph, who says: 'I think it answers a question that’s been asked for a long time, by a lot of riders, which is: ‘I like the cruiser, and I like the brand equity that Indian offers to me, but I don’t want to have to sacrifice power, and adrenaline, and a spirited ride…’

Funnily enough, delving into the details of one of the leaked Polaris drawings, the one you see here in fact,  reveals that its designer’s name is… Richard Christoph.