For the year 2018, America's oldest brand will give the world a brand new lineage of motorcycles that are sophisticated and technologically packed while keeping the core values of being the vintage charmers intact.

Then there are these Swedish chaps, who take things a bit seriously when it comes to paying tributes. They went and built a 200 hp turbo-charged Indian Scout in remembrance of the co-founder of Indian, Oscar Hedström.

Oscar Hedström joined Indian in 1900, and by 1903, he had already set the world motorcycle speed record of 56 mph. Together with George M. Hendee, the founder of the "Indian Motocycle Co.", Indian rose to being the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world in the 1910s’.

Being a Swedish, it was but obvious that a tribute came from his motherland. And so it did. Anders Lundgren and Lasse Sundberg from Stockholm have built this incredible Super Scout that gives you the feeling of the ‘20s, but with a “rocket between your legs.”

That’s the work of the water-cooled Garret 25 turbo tethered to the liquid-cooled, 60-degree 1133 cc V-twin mill that runs on the modern Scout. The power bumps up from a mere 94 ponies to a killer 150-200 depending on the boost pressure running the turbo.

The same electronic closed-loop fuel-injection system handles fuel delivery and the six-speed, sliding-mesh gearbox sends power to the rear wheel via chain drive instead of the fiber-reinforced belt drive. The radiators have been swapped with a Honda CRF450 along with its electrical fan to run the cooling down here.

Monitoring engine data and tuning the ECU is done via an iPad that can connect to the fully programmable ECU through Bluetooth. There is a key fob system for ignition and keyless entry.

This is all of the modern bits on the bike. Everything else your eyes falls on shouts retro old-school. Starting with the name, the “Super Scout,” it honors the old Scout models that were almost unbeatable on the race tracks. There is the 1901 timestamp on the intake covers as well, and the brass bits on the fuel tank do justice to the ‘20s.

The frame on this bike was a one-off built from three sections. Made by Roth Engineering in Sweden, they claim the frame to be the most complicated part of this build. Surprisingly even more tricky than the fitting the turbo. And these are the chaps who have already built frames to multiple Indian Custom motorcycles.

Fitting the turbo was not much of a hassle, compared to getting the frame designed right. They had to keep the turbo components tightly packed to the engine bay to make sure the bike retains the slim profile. The headpipes, downpipes and the wastegate are all made of stainless steel, and the bends on them manage not to disturb the slim lines.

The bike gets a Springfield blue custom paintjob, courtesy Pobben’s Colour & Custom in Hagfors. It’s on the frame and the dummy custom made fuel tank which is styled on the ‘20s. It manages to hide all the electronics, throttle body, front master cylinder, etc. A combined brake and turn signal LED light gets under the saddle.

The functional fuel tank, again made by the folks at Roth, sits under the saddle. The custom saddle made by H and F Mesinger and is a replica of the boardtrack style used on Indians in the ‘20s. So is the handlebar that has internal throttle control, LED turn signals. Original Indian Scout LED headlamp is seen here and perfectly matches the aura.

The steel wheels see 60-spoke cross-radial laced structure and get wrapped in Pirelli tires. The front receives W&W Indian leaf spring fork with a Beringer brake calipers. At the rear, Harrison billet sprocket brakes keep the retro flair going.

The Super Scout is still not complete though. Anders comments: “I am still test riding the bike and we are just in a phase to finish the engine tuning,” he says. “The Super Scout is planned to be a daily runner…if it’s not already sold by then.”

Minimalism and understatement do not always go hand in hand. In this case, it is the whole point of the design. Bringing the designs from their history books and fusing them with cues of high-performance tech was the intention with this Super Scout.

Reference

Indian Scout