Indian Motorcycle's Joe Public, dual-surface version of its podium sweeping FTR 750 racebike, the FTR Rally, sees a number of improvements ahead of model year 2022. A refined powerplant drives this model along with expanded electronics and an off-road bias in the rider's triangle, elements that play right into the “Rally's” multi-surface capabilities. It comes naked, but a robust accessories lineup lets you gear up for proper rally riding or good old-fashioned globetrotting work.

2022 Indian FTR Rally

Specifications
  • Make: Array
  • Model: 2022 Indian FTR Rally
  • Engine/Motor: V-Twin
  • [do not use] Vehicle Model: Array

2022 Indian FTR Rally Design

- Classic scrambler styling - Iconic Indian Motorcycle headdress logo - High ProTaper handlebars - Aviator-style saddle

Folks, what we have here in the FTR Rally is a bona fide rally-style bike rally-style bike}} -- just like it claims in its name -- and it's meant for a particular type of rider, the kind that thinks nothing of diving off the asphalt to find their very own path less traveled. Gnarly street-knobbies make the connection to terra firma on wire wheels that have long been favored by off-road riders.

Unsprung weight is kept low up front by the heavily-whacked front fender that doubles as a spoiler for the front forks for low-drag penetration and to protect the fork seals from grit and grime. Out back, a single-side hugger mounts the back blinkers and license-plate holder with the same eye toward weight reduction as was cast up front.

Upswept mufflers add to the Rally's rough-terrain chops by reducing the chances that the silencers will be involved in a terrain strike. That said, the header pipes are in a rather exposed position lower than the engine and frame to leave them somewhat vulnerable, but it is what it is.

The fuel tank cover bears a classic teardrop shape in profile though the actual 3.4-gallon vessel is under the aviator-style seat, so the cover itself is simply cosmetic. The tapered faux tank meets a narrow waist and sculpted seat that rides at 32.1 inches off the deck – a height that may be uncomfortable for short riders – and it comes with a lofted pillion pad and fold-up footpegs to accommodate a passenger.

The lighting is LED all around with multiple projectors in the round cyclops headlight housing, and up top, a rally-type flyscreen finishes off the visage. This model carries its ProTaper handlebar two-inches higher to make for a more relaxed seated rider's triangle and make it easier to operate the bike from a standing position for technical off-road work.

A dark-soul Blackout treatment dominates the overall finish, and since there's nothing in the way of useless bling or superfluous body structures to weigh the thing down it enjoys a curb weight of 529 pounds that should be easy to manage.

2022 Indian FTR Rally Chassis

- Eager in the corners - Nimble handling - 19-inch front wheel - Off-road capable

A tubular Trellis frame on the FTR Rally provides the main structure, so naturally the engine has to pick up the slack as a stressed member to complete the assembly and help it meet it's final rigidity requirements. This eliminates a large chunk of frame right along with its weight and bulk to simplify the skeleton in the downtube/cradle area.

Up front, the steering head sets a fairly sharp 26.3-degree rake angle that pairs with the 5.1 inches of trail to lift the Rally a little off the bottom of the scale, but not so much as to lose the eagerness in the corners and nimble nature. It just provides just a modicum of stability to keep the thing from being squirrely.

A set of 43 mm, cartridge-type inverted forks floats the front end on fixed variables and 5.9 inches of travel, the same stroke as out back, and the rear IFP shock comes with the obligatory spring-preload adjustment as the only tweak in the stems. The wire wheels come wrapped in wire wheels rubber in a 120/70-19 ahead of a 150/70-18. Those are larger wheels than the straight-up street version FTR, but that increase in diameter brings with it an increase in Pirelli's Scorpion Rally STR.

The Rally rocks offroad-ability as the larger wheels are better for use on rough terrain with dual 320 mm discs and four-piston calipers to handle the bulk of the work opposite a 260 mm disc and two-pot anchor out back. dual front brakes from Brembo

ABS comes with the standard equipment package.

43 mm Inverted Telescopic Cartridge Fork/ 5.9 in (150 mm)

Front Suspension/ Travel:

Monotube IFP/ 5.9 in (150 mm)

Rear Suspension/ Travel:

43°

Lean Angle:

26.3° / 5.1 in (130 mm)

Rake/Trail:

Dual 320 mm Brembo t5 rotor / 4-piston caliper

Front Brakes:

Brembo Single 260mm t5 rotor / 2-piston caliper

Rear Brakes:

Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR 120/70R19 M/C 60V M+S

Front Tires:

Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR 150/70R18 M/C 70V M+S

Rear Tires:

Wire Spoke 19 in x 3 in

Front Wheel:

Wire Spoke 18 in x 4.25 in


2022 Indian FTR Rally Drivetrain

- 1,203 cc V-twin engine - 120 hp and 87 lb-ft of torque - Cruise control - More predictable throttle response

On the FTR Rally, the real star of the show has got to be the beating heart. Indian shoehorns in its proven V-twin lump that boasts a whopping 120 horsepower at 7,750 rpm with 87 pound-feet of torque on tap at 6,000 rpm. That's a lot of power for an American V-twin, and much of it is due to the short-stroke layout and smokin'-hot compression ratio. Bore and stroke mic out at 102 mm and 73.6 mm respectively, and that compression ratio clocks in at 12.5-to-1 so you can go ahead and disabuse yourself of the notion that you'll feed it anything less noble than 91 octane road champagne.

Dual over-head cams time four poppets per cylinder to open up the combustion chambers and let them breathe with graded buckets for the valve lash-adjustment action. A 60 mm throttle body manages the induction through direct input from the throttle grip with no intervening fandanglery, so if you're looking for traction control and other examples of electronic training wheels, you're looking at the wrong bike. I count that essential nature as a plus, and I expect I'm not alone in that.

A slip-and-assist clutch delivers a light pull and prevents loss of traction at the rear wheel by mitigating the potential backtorque before it causes problems on hard downshifts and when scrubbing speed using engine braking ahead of a curve. Power flows through a six-speed transmission with a tough chain-type final drive to make the connection to the rear wheel.

The previous model turned in a top speed around 124 mph, and though the factory doesn't explicitly state a top speed for the new bike all I can say is that you can probably expect about the same from the current-model FTR Rally.

Engine:

Liquid Cooled V-Twin

Displacement:

73 cu in (1,203 cc)

Bore x Stroke:

4.016 in x 2.898 in (102 mm x 73.6 mm)

Compression Ratio:

12.5:1

Horsepower:

120 hp @ 7,750 rpm

Peak Torque:

87 lb-ft (117.9 Nm) @ 6,000 rpm

Drive/Driven Clutch:

Assist & Slip, Multi-Plate

Electronic Fuel Injection System:

Closed Loop Fuel Injection / 60 mm Bore

Exhaust:

2-1-2

Gear Ratio:

1st: 13.361, 2nd: 9.082, 3rd: 7.237, 4th: 6.141, 5th: 5.428, 6th: 4.658

Transmission/Final Drive:

2.882 : 1

Transmission/Primary Drive:

Gear Drive Wet Clutch


2022 Indian FTR Rally Price

Indian looks to fetch $13,999 for its newest FTR Rally offering. The factory wasn't very ambitious with the paint, so the MY22 Rally rolls with a one-color palette in Titanium Smoke with a tan saddle cover.

Gauges:

4" Analog, Digital Tachometer, Odometer, Trip Meter, Engine Temp, Low Fuel Lamp

Infotainment:

N/A

Lights:

LED Headlight, Taillight, Turn Signals

Standard Equipment:

ABS, Cruise Control

Factory Warranty:

Two Years, Unlimited Miles

Color:

Titanium Smoke

Price:

$13,999


2022 Indian FTR Rally Competitors

The other U.S. bikebuilder has nothing that can remotely match the dual-surface potential of the FTR Rally, so I had to look across the pond to find a worthy competitor in the Scrambler 1200 XE from Triumph.

Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE

The early scramblers were homejob customs built on the UJM platforms and their Brit equivalents, and that drives the look of this new Scrambler model. Cut-back sheet metal and blackout paint make the connection to the custom world, but it's the pairing of the parallel-twin engine and shotgun exhaust that really sells the look.

Triumph pulls away to an early lead with its full-spectrum suspension tweaks at both ends and switchable, corner-sensitive ABS protection. The Brit also veers into higher electronics territory with a sextet of riding modes and switchable cornering traction control to hold it apart from its more-essential/less-fandangled foe, and the good news is if you'd rather not have those safety nets, you can turn the things off so you get to pick and choose as you like.

Slipper clutches are a constant across the board, as are the LED lighting, Brembo brake components, wire wheels, stealth-knobbies, and cruise-control features. The Bonneville engine brings with it an 89-horsepower max output backed up by 81.1 foot-pounds of torque, far short of the 120/87 Indian brings to the table in spite of their common, two-cylinder configuration and almost dead-level displacement. You'll pay for that extra power and electronics though, to the tune of $15,400 which leaves some dead presidents on the table in favor of the Indian model.

Read our full review of the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XE.

He Said

“Indian's race team dubbed “The Wrecking Crew” stunned the world with its sheer domination of the Flat-Track Racing circuit just a few short years ago, so the factory is riding a wave of popularity that it looks to capitalize upon, as they should. I can see this as a viable alternative for riders looking for mid-size V-twin performance who don't want to go to the metric market want to go to the metric market}}.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “The FTR Rally is keeping more with the off-road bent than the rest of the FTR stable, but losing any reference to its flat-track beginnings. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing, just pointing out that it is. The Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires speak volumes about what this bike is meant to be in a more scramber-esque-type setting. Indian developed the new FTR line with direct input from riders, so I expect the FTR Rally to be more. More fun, more agile, more of everything that made the FTR a success.”

2022 Indian FTR Rally Specifications

Engine & Drivetrain:

Engine:

Liquid Cooled V-Twin

Displacement:

73 cu in (1,203 cc)

Bore x Stroke:

4.016 in x 2.898 in (102 mm x 73.6 mm)

Compression Ratio:

12.5:1

Horsepower:

120 hp @ 7,750 rpm

Peak Torque:

87 lb-ft (117.9 Nm) @ 6,000 rpm

Drive/Driven Clutch:

Assist & Slip, Multi-Plate

Electronic Fuel Injection System:

Closed Loop Fuel Injection / 60 mm Bore

Exhaust:

2-1-2

Gear Ratio:

1st: 13.361, 2nd: 9.082, 3rd: 7.237, 4th: 6.141, 5th: 5.428, 6th: 4.658

Transmission/Final Drive:

2.882 : 1

Transmission/Primary Drive:

Gear Drive Wet Clutch

Chassis:

Front Suspension/ Travel:

43 mm Inverted Telescopic Cartridge Fork/ 5.9 in (150 mm)

Rear Suspension/ Travel:

Monotube IFP/ 5.9 in (150 mm)

Lean Angle:

43°

Rake/Trail:

26.3° / 5.1 in (130 mm)

Front Brakes:

Dual 320 mm Brembo t5 rotor / 4-piston caliper

Rear Brakes:

Brembo Single 260mm t5 rotor / 2-piston caliper

Front Tires:

Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR 120/70R19 M/C 60V M+S

Rear Tires:

Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR 150/70R18 M/C 70V M+S

Front Wheel:

Wire Spoke 19 in x 3 in

Rear Wheel:

Wire Spoke 18 in x 4.25 in

Dimensions & Capacities:

Overall Height:

53.9 in (1,369 mm)

Overall Length:

90 in (2,286 mm)

Overall Width:

34.1 in (867 mm)

Seat Height:

32.1 in (815 mm)

Dry Weight:

497 lbs (225 kg)

Curb Weight:

529 lbs (240 kg)

Wheelbase:

60 in (1,524 mm)

Fuel Capacity:

3.4 gal (12.9 L)

Ground Clearance:

7.2 in (183 mm)

GVWR:

948 lb (430 kg)

Details:

Gauges:

4" Analog, Digital Tachometer, Odometer, Trip Meter, Engine Temp, Low Fuel Lamp

Infotainment:

N/A

Lights:

LED Headlight, Taillight, Turn Signals

Standard Equipment:

ABS, Cruise Control

Factory Warranty:

Two Years, Unlimited Miles

Color:

Titanium Smoke

Price:

$13,999


Further Reading

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