Earlier this month, the Springfield manufacturer unveiled the builds of the “The Wrench: Scout Bobber Build Off” contest at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally 2018. After three months and 100 or so submissions, 12 semi-finalists were showcased online for a fan vote to determine the final three finalists. These three builders got a full paid trip to Minneapolis for an unveiling party of their customized Scout Bobbers at Sturgis.

Of the three, Alfredo (Fred) Juarez, a NASA engineer from Las Cruces won the grand prize and held the coveted “The Wrench” title along with a feature story in Hot Bike magazine on his custom Indian Scout Bobber.

Adding itself to this latest trend of the factory customization war, Indian Motorcycles called for non-pro builders to customize the Scout Bobber. Indian teamed up with Hot Bike magazine for “The Wrench: Scout Bobber Build Off” contest that began on March 15th, 2018. The top three designs were then awarded a new 2018 Scout Bobber to customize along with $10,000 for the build.

These builds submitted were showcased online where the public got an opportunity to weigh in their votes. A panel of highly acclaimed names also scrutinized the creations in the custom motorcycling business like Roland Sands, Jason Paul Michaels, Jordan Mastagni and Satya Kraus.

A NASA mechanical engineer from El Paso, Alfredo, aka Fred, began turning the wrench at the age of 12. He took auto shop classes to understand the working of an engine, and during college, he bought a MIG welder and got to fabricating. Slowly, he began working with sheet metals, roll cages, working on a mill, lathe and eventually got the job to run flammability tests for NASA.

Fred here has built an alienated Scout cruiser drawing his inspirations form the Indian Scout FTR1200 Custom, RSD Indian Scout Customs, and David Beckham’s garage company, Knuckle. Dominated by the generously used brass and copper components, the built sees custom Chromoly frame and wall girder front end.

The copper headlight fairing houses Hogworkz Blackout Halo passing light and finishes off with a mounted speedo pod. Both side panels and the seat pan also use copper along with the heat shields on the 304 SS exhaust system. Excel 19” spoked rims with aluminum hubs are tethered with Dunlop tires and 5” over rear brake line with Earl’s brake units and Tusk front and rear rotors.

The fuel tank was painted by his wife, who had never done it before, and is modified to cover the frame tunnel. The engine gets Zippers intake manifold with open element K filter and primary sprocket, gold o-ring chain, JTR final drive sprocket and Spal radiator fans. The reversed and inverted handlebars get modified to accept stock controls from the original Scout.

“All three bikes will tour a variety of US motorcycle shows and events with Indian Motorcycle for the remainder of the year and into 2019. At the conclusion of the tour, each bike will be returned to the builder.”