Welcome to the social gathering, pal! When Harley-Davidson launched the brand new Sportster lineup again in 2021, it introduced an enormous engine and many energy to the mid-size cruiser recreation. The Sportster pushes out between 90 and 121 horsepower, whereas the prior-generation Indian Scout managed simply 78 ponies with its cheap Sixty line and 100 horses for the full-fat fashions. With spectacular competitors from the Bar and Protect, Indian went with a clear sheet design for its new Scout, giving it a contemporary chassis, a contemporary engine, and contemporary styling. Was it price it? In two phrases: hell yeah.
Full disclosure: Indian flew me to San Francisco to trip the 2025 Scout lineup. The trip was break up into two days with the sport-focused fashions on at some point and the cruiser crowd on the opposite day. I ate plenty of nice meals and slept in two completely different accommodations with a view of the ocean. I had a good time.
Whereas Harley remains to be producing simply two bikes on the Sportster platform, Indian launched the Scout with 5 distinct fashions in two classes. The Bobber, Traditional, and Tremendous are style-forward cruisers full of goodies, and the Sport and 101 are stripped-back machines with a dedication to hurry. All 5 fashions are based mostly round a brand new tubular metal body with alloy subframes and the brand new SpeedPlus 1250-cc watercooled V-twin engine. The Bobber, Traditional, Tremendous, and Sport all get the identical 105-hp output, whereas the 101 is given a slight bump to 111 ponies. Technically, as a result of they’re all constructed on the identical platform, these Scout fashions are all modular. You’ll be able to combine and match just about any of the elements to make your bike your personal. If you’d like a 101 with an enormous windshield and luggage, you are able to do that. If you’d like a full-chrome Traditional with mid-controls and bar-end mirrors, you are able to do that, too.
On the primary day of the trip occasion, which took us from the Golden Gate Bridge to the seaside in Santa Cruz, I swapped between Scouts Bobber, Traditional, and Tremendous. They’re all variations on a standard cruiser theme, and I’ve lined them in a separate piece. The second day was a twist-and-turn blast by means of the mountain roads inland heading again north to San Francisco. Whereas I had a bit of little bit of time on the Sport, I spent most of my day on the 101, which was completely effective by me.
Nearly as good because the Scout Sport is, I used to be very impressed by the top-of-the-line 101. I’m unsure I actually seen the additional six horsepower of the 101, however there have been a ton of different elements that made its $17,000 price ticket make sense. You’ll be able to instantly inform what this bike is about if you have a look at it. It’s bought a techy four-inch spherical touchscreen digital sprint, gold inverted forks and piggyback rear shocks, dual-front Brembo brake parts, blacked-out every thing, 6-inch bar risers, and 1 / 4 fairing. There’s a whole lot of throwback SoCal scene happening right here, combined with some high quality parts. It’s a peg-scraping good time.
At round 550 kilos the 101 Scout isn’t precisely a light-weight, however it’s a full 10 kilos lighter than the outgoing Scout fashions. The engineers at Indian will need to have been actually protecting monitor of the ounces and kilos, as a result of the brand new steel-frame bike is lighter than the previous all-aluminum bike. Astounding. All that mentioned, it’s about 10 % heavier than Harley’s more-powerful Sportster S, which is strictly the identical value because the 101 Scout.
After simply over 101 miles on the 101 Scout, I used to be a bit fatigued on the finish of the trip, largely attributable to visitors within the metropolis and combating the wind on the freeway, however it was the sort of drained you get after having enjoyable all day. The roads have been a very good mixture of tight, technical, flowing and clean, although a number of have been a bit lower than clean. With fully-adjustable suspension, the 101’s trip wasn’t dangerous even on the worst roads California may throw at us. The Scout sits low to the bottom with a 26.8-inch seat top and three inches of suspension journey. Add within the ahead management format and my big-and-tall body, and also you’ve bought a recipe for days of again ache after a number of hours within the saddle, however Indian managed to search out the correct mix of suspension and seat to maintain my backbone pleased.
For me, the most important improve from the Sport to the 101 was discovered within the braking. The one entrance rotor on the Sport is satisfactory, however the sporty-ish Metzeler Cruisetec 19-inch entrance tires can overwhelm the brakes into the tightest corners. Including a second entrance rotor and caliper and upgrading to Brembo {hardware} actually made a noticeable distinction in braking character.
When Indian put us on the roads round Alice’s Restaurant, I knew it needed to be fairly assured within the Scout’s talents. They’re, no doubt, among the many greatest driving roads on the earth. Fortunately the bike dealt with it with aplomb, delivering far more grip than the large ahead management pegs would enable lean angle. I spent many of the day dragging the pegs from nook to nook. Grip is sweet, braking is sweet, energy is sweet. It’s a reasonably stable package deal.
Would I purchase a 101 Scout over a Harley Sportster S? They’re each 9,500-rpm big-bore V-twins making severe energy. The Harley is lighter, however makes do with only one entrance caliper. The Indian seems to be cooler with a narrower radiator and low-slung exhaust. The Harley will get higher gasoline mileage, however the trip is a bit of irregular with cartoonish balloon tires, whereas the 101 Scout has higher (and adjustable) suspension. There’s a whole lot of positives to both, however the Indian is the protected wager.
Indian wasn’t precisely beating across the bush when it launched the brand new Scout. For many years the mid-size cruiser market has been dominated by Harley’s Sportster, although Indian has grown from simply two % of the section to 18 % within the final decade. With the brand new H-D pushing right into a sportier and speedier realm, Indian is aiming for the part of market that Harley lately vacated. It’s a wise transfer, and the brand new Scout matches proper in.
This shall be a profitable bike for the model, I believe. The Scout has at all times been Indian’s gross sales chief, shifting a number of thousand items yearly. It’s immediately apparent to me that the brand new Scout is miles higher than the previous Scout, and because of this it ought to proceed Indian’s upward trajectory available in the market. For those who’re the sort of one that desires a mid-size cruiser with throwback-cool visuals and a sport-focused trip, the 101 might be the bike you need. For those who can’t swing the value tag of the 101, a Sport would in all probability suffice.
