CarBrandLogos archive · Indian Motorcycle · 1920

Indian MotorcycleScout

Charles Franklin's V-twin: low, durable, and the bike wall-of-death riders chose.

Photo: Piero at Dutch Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Indian Motorcycle history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Indian Motorcycle Scout, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Charles B. Franklin was an Irish engineer and racer who joined Indian and produced, in 1920, the machine that defined the company's middleweight for the next three decades. The Scout used a 42-degree V-twin of around 600 cc with the primary drive taken through helical gears running in the same oil bath as the engine, an arrangement that was quieter and vastly more durable than the chains most rivals used.

Burtmunro1920indian · Daniel O'Neil on en.wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0

Design and engineering

Its other quality was accessibility. The seat was low, the weight moderate and the handling forgiving, which made it the machine of choice for police forces, for riders of modest experience, and for the wall-of-death performers who needed a bike that would hold a steady line at a constant throttle for hours. Indian's advertising leaned on that reliability, and the slogan claiming you could not wear one out was repeated often enough to become part of the language.

Zwei Rad Museum NSU Indian Scout · Joachim Köhler · CC BY-SA 3.0

In production

The 101 Scout of 1928 to 1931, with a longer wheelbase and lower seat, is the version riders still argue is the best-handling American motorcycle of the era, and its replacement by a heavier frame was widely resented. The Sport Scout that followed carried Indian's racing effort, and Ed Kretz won the first Daytona 200 on one in 1937.

1942 Indian Scout 500cc v twin 2 · Terry Whalebone · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

Production continued alongside the Chief until 1949, when the company's collapse ended it. Polaris revived the name in 2015 for a liquid-cooled V-twin cruiser, which sells well and shares nothing with Franklin's design beyond the intent.

At a glance