2018 Indian Scout Bobber First Ride Review

2018 Indian Scout Bobber Unveiled

Things can sometimes change after an actual road test, so I put my initial thoughts into the back of my mind and looked forward to the debut ride the following day.

Indian made a conscious decision to launch the bike concurrently with X Games due to the extreme-sport audience being a target demographic for this model. Also invited to the media launch was freestyle motocrosser Carey Hart, who spent the weekend riding with us, adding to the vibe. Stunt rider Aaron Colton unveiled the bike to the world in grand fashion by sliding the Bobber out onto the stage and shredding some rubber at the Indian Hometown Throwdown party Friday evening. Colton also joined us for the press ride on Saturday.

Indian’s target customer for the Scout Bobber is the younger, hipper, wanna-be-edgy type that sometimes prefers style over practicality. And before you light up the comment thread below, that’s okay sometimes. Every bike doesn’t have to be practical; something more visceral can be desired.

Someone once told me, if you don’t turn around at least once to look at your bike after you park it, just to look at it, maybe it’s not the right bike. I agree with this sentiment 110%. A motorcycle should make you want to just admire it for the particular qualities that make it special to you. The great thing about this is that it is subjective. There are no wrong answers, there are no wrong bikes.

The new Scout pulls its existence from these very ideas. It’s not a ridiculously raked-out chopper or a hard-tail bobber that will compact your spine just by running over a manhole cover. But it is, in some regard, form over function.

Shootout At The MO Corral: A Bout With The Scout + Video

I was reminded of this as soon as I sat on the bike and we began to make our way out of Minneapolis. The bar and footpeg locations force a rider to lean forward into a somewhat aggressive riding position. For me, it was just forward enough to start feeling some strain in my lower back, yet not so far forward as to require my core to hold myself up.

2015 Indian Scout First Ride Review

I enjoyed the new position of the footpegs, which is 1.5 inches back from the original Scout. The position is conducive to riding aound town, but after a bit of highway riding, I wasn’t the only one resting my heels on top of the footpegs to stretch my legs. Another caveat to the new peg location is it comes at the cost of two degrees of cornering clearance, which was evident during the peg scrapes while flipping back and forth through roundabouts.

Chopped fenders front and rear are key to the minimalist bobber styling. This may lead you to think that the massive front tire is bigger and fatter on the Scout Bobber when reality, it is the exact 130/90-16 from the original. The shorter fenders cost practical points; another rider I was following crossed through some water in a gutter, sending the street aqua straight up into the air reminiscent of a Jet Ski. To be fair, I think Indian chopped the rear fender at a reasonable cut so you won’t end up with your back covered in dirt and water should you get stuck in a downpour riding to your next stop.

Some of the guys on the ride whined about the seat at our next stop after about 50 miles, but I didn’t have any issues. I wanted to stretch my back and enjoy my coffee, but I was still looking forward to jumping back on the bike for more time in its two-toned saddle. An extra inch or two of leg length from my 30-inch inseam would’ve better locked me into the seat. I did have times where I felt myself sliding back after having choked up in the seat for one reason or another. The seat height, at 25.6 inches, will put most riders flat-footed, which will help newbie feel more comfortable with the 554-pound curb weight. The Bobber’s thicker saddle raises ride height ever so slightly. Weight is down by five pounds from small changes, most obviously from the shorter fenders.

Now let’s talk about the suspension. If people have an issue with the idea of the Scout Bobber after reading its spec chart, it has been mainly the loss of an inch of rear suspension travel. To best put it to the test, I aimed for each and every bump in the road and train track I could find to give you my rear end’s feedback.

First off, let’s be clear about the Bobber’s intention; this isn’t a touring or adventure bike, so it doesn’t need cushy, electronic, dynamically damped suspension. On the roads around Minneapolis with my geared-up weight of about 165 pounds. I was pleasantly surprised by the suspension’s performance. It was only over sharp bumps, like train tracks at speed, when objectionable harshness was felt. For the majority of riding, in the city or out on the highway, the 2 inches of travel in the rear was sufficient. The new cartridge-style fork up front also did a great job of keeping things compliant in the twistier stuff, and front-end dive while braking was nearly non-existent.

Toward the end of the day most of the guys were ready to call it and head for beers at Minneapolis’ Indeed brewery, which was where our ride would finish. A few of us decided we wanted to go out and grab a few more photos before handing back our keys.

At this point we were back in town and I was feeling comfortable on the bike. As we blasted through some gravel in a construction zone, the overwhelming urge to break traction consumed me. After a quick glance behind me to make sure I wasn’t about to pelt another new Indian motorcycle with rocks, I spun up the engine, dropped the clutch and kicked the bike sideways in my best Brad Baker impression. ABS (which is only available on the Thunder Black Smoke colorway) is easily disabled for extra fun. The bike had done its job. I felt like a badass.

As our time grew to an end on the Scout Bobber, the last few of us seemed to want to test out its hooligan abilities. This ended up seeing another journalist jump the bike over a loading ramp. I’ll be honest, I think he may have been wishing for a few more inches of suspension travel due to the impact bringing his voice up an octave or two.