Indian Privateers Ride The FTR750 In American Flat Track 2018
Two stories about switching to the FTR750
Privateers lead a different life from factory riders – and it’s not just the disparity in the paycheck, either. From van driver to mechanic to team manager, these committed riders have to wear many hats besides their helmets on race weekend. This year in American Flat Track, fans have witnessed a big change in the field of motorcycles competing in the events. The same Indian FTR750 that the factory guys are riding is available for privateers, too. The result has been some exciting racing and different names at the top of the standings.
Indian Motorcycle sent us an early look at a video it’s about to launch about two privateer racers who have switched to the dominating FTR750 for the 2018 season after struggling on inferior equipment last year. The release of this video is well timed, as veteran Kenny Coolbeth and up-and-comer Chad Cose have recently been posting some impressive results.
Both have completely different stories to tell. Coolbeth is already a flat-track legend, with three championships under his belt and a relatively big budget for a privateer. Meanwhile, Cose is a California kid who must help work on his bike and drive himself to the races. He’s hoping the dominating FTR will get him closer to the sharp end of the field. At Daytona, where this video was shot, neither of them performed that well, with Coolbeth bagging an eighth-place finish and Cose not even qualifying for the main event.
But, as it turned out, Coolbeth vaulted into the championship points lead after winning at round 2 in Atlanta when reigning series champ Jared Mees was disqualified for using a chemically altered rear tire. Then, at last weekend’s Texas race, Cose was the fastest qualifier and was able to score his first-ever AFT Twins podium finish in third place.
The added relevance of this video to MO readers is that our former Editor-in-Chief, Kevin Duke, was the producer behind this project.
“I hope you enjoy this video piece I helped put together for Indian Motorcycle,” Duke commented, “as I’ve become a bigger fan of the action-packed series after being more involved. If you’ve got an interest in flat-track racing, I encourage you to tune into the live feeds on Fanschoice.tv or to NBCSN a few days after the events for a tidy one-hour package.”
The AFT circus races this weekend in Calistoga, California, May 5.
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Like most of the best happenings in his life, Evans stumbled into his motojournalism career. While on his way to a planned life in academia, he applied for a job at a motorcycle magazine, thinking he’d get the opportunity to write some freelance articles. Instead, he was offered a full-time job in which he discovered he could actually get paid to ride other people’s motorcycles – and he’s never looked back. Over the 25 years he’s been in the motorcycle industry, Evans has written two books, 101 Sportbike Performance Projects and How to Modify Your Metric Cruiser, and has ridden just about every production motorcycle manufactured. Evans has a deep love of motorcycles and believes they are a force for good in the world.
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Which leads inexorably and inevitably to my next question: Whence FTR1200? Whence, dammit?
Nice design and development work by Indian; nice results for a job well done