Indian debuted their new Scout this week, with a lot of hype about their company’s history and heritage. Here’s a video that talks about all that.
Of course, while the new Scout is quite a bit more powerful than some of its competition in the same size and price range, it’s a bit silly to compare it to the originals – those bikes were the high-performance machines of their day, and were suited and used for everything. They filled roles that, today, are filled by specialized road-racing bikes, or dual sport machines, or whatever. The new Scout is designed with one thing in mind: cruising. In its current form, you won’t see them roadraced successfully, and you can bet the army isn’t going to buy them for transport.
However – kudos to Indian for actually taking the new machine up on the Wall of Death, towards the end of the video. Now, if they would just please stop referring to it as “Scout” instead of “the Scout,” that would be fantastic. That’s one marketing gimmick that needs to end, right now.
ABS maybe mandatory in Europe now. However there is no excuse for Polaris not giving us at least the option
It is incredibly frustrating. I could understand of they didn’t have the option in the catalogue, but they do. Well, they won’t get me as a customer until they give us a bike that is as safe as the European version, period.
Pierre and Chris are right. I too read the French publicity first and I was excited by the specifications showing ABS as standard equipment. I currently own two bikes with ABS and two without. Two of them I purchased new from my local dealer. While I might buy a used bike without ABS, I will not buy a brand new bike without ABS. My father had an Indian Chief and his two friends had Scouts. I will have to wait and see if Indian put ABS on the Scout.
RM
[…] of you might remember the video showing the new Scout on the Wall of Death (we showed it to you last week). If any of you were curious about that bike, you can read about its customization process on Bike […]
Great motorcycle, but it would appear that Polaris doesn’t think the lives on North American riders is as valuable as the lives of European riders. Over there, the Scout gets standard ABS (and cruise control too, by the way), and here not even as an option!!!!
You would think that a bike that will be marketed to new riders would have ABS, no? No excuse, Polaris, you’ve already designed it and making it available standard in Europe. I can’t imagine that it would cost more than $400 to add here, since even Honda can add an ABS option for that cheap…
The only conclusion that I can come up with is that Canadian and American riders’ lives are less valuable than European riders’ lives, in the eye of companies like Polaris. Or perhaps they think that we’re too stupid to compare specifications on the internet?
Hello? 2014 is calling! Pick up the phone, Polaris!
Pierre L, you are speaking from my heart. I sold my last bike for the same reason and I am no riding a Honda, not because I really wanted that bike, but because ABS is standard and that is worth it to me. I ride in a rural area with lots of deer and safety is paramount over looks as far as I am concerned.