Indian FTR 1200 Teaser Videos: It’s Time to Speculate
This is our first official glimpse at the production version of the Indian FTR 1200.
One of the most hotly anticipated motorcycles of 2019 so far is the Indian FTR 1200. It’s the production model of the FTR1200 Custom that Indian showed at EICMA last November, which got riders really excited about a street bike inspired by the Indian FTR750 race bike that’s been unstoppable in American Flat Track the last two seasons.
We’re getting close to the Oct. 1 unveiling date of the production version of the bike and as we get closer teasers are making us more excited than ever to finally see this thing. Here’s the first teaser which shows flat-track champ, Jared Mees, doing what he does best; thrashing a flat track on an FTR750. It’s followed by an enticing growl from an unseen bike that we’re lead to believe is the production FTR 1200.
Pretty cool, but what does the thing look like? We get our first official hint from a new teaser that dropped today. It shows us the front of the motorcycle and gives us a little more audio from its V-twin. Take a look and a listen.
If we didn’t know better, we would think we're looking at the face of a Ducati Scrambler 1100. The headlight, signals, and handlebar look pretty similar to the Ducati and a couple other similar standard bikes on the market already. We're not saying this is a copy of a Ducati, but rather, it looks like Indian is getting in on the mid- to heavy-weight standard bike segment which often has retro inspiration.
Even if this Indian does end up looking a little too familiar, it will be a really nice change of pace for American motorcycles. Indian has been saying for a while that it’s going to start introducing bikes to its lineup that are not cruisers and the FTR 1200 is still looking like it will be the beginning of that new era for Indian Motorcycle.
In any case, these teasers are a nice reminder to manage our expectations and not be too surprised when the production bike doesn’t look exactly like the FTR1200 Custom that we’ve all been so excited about. There are a few obvious things about that concept that need to change if it’s going to make it to production at a reasonable price point, like an exhaust that won’t burn your leg, less carbon fiber, a bigger fuel tank, and probably revisions for comfort and convenience on the street like a bigger seat, different suspension, and somewhere to put electronics systems like ABS and USB ports.
Again, this is all pure speculation until we see the real thing. What are you hoping to see on Oct. 1?
