"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
07/15/2019 at 13:17 • Filed to: None
2
7|
"Pickup_man" (zekeh)
07/15/2019 at 13:17 • Filed to: None | 2
| 7 |
A buddy texted me this weekend and asked if I wanted to go to the Indian Demo Ride event in town, to which the answer was a definite yes. Indian had the full lineup there, but the first bike I had to try was the FTR. The fun thing about the way Indian runs things is that the rides aren’t supervised. I’m not sure this is a good idea, but it sure is fun. They check your license and gear give you a quick rundown of the bike, and set you loose on the road. They have a mapped route with signs where to turn, but it’s up to you to actually follow it.
After our brief explanation of the controls my buddy and I set off, just the two of us. I started the ride in standard mode made a couple of turns, and turned on to the side road (still on the route BTW). Once I had a clear line I gave ‘er the beans and hot damn is this a fast bike. My vision blurred just a touch, and I felt the front end get light, so I backed it down and did a few more pulls in the higher gears to get used to the bike some more.
After a few miles I switched into sport mode and the difference is noticeable , the bike is much happier to rev and throttle response is much more sharp. After a couple more miles we turn back onto a bigger highway. My buddy takes off, pretty hard, I let him get a little ways ahead, I get it rolling and straightened out and go WOT. Bottom end is a little soft, but then the power hits and the FRONT WHEEL COMES OFF THE GROUND!
I’ve been riding for around ten years or so, and I consider myself a pretty good rider, but most of my experience is on big cruiser type bikes and clapped out UJM’s. Power wheelies are new to me, and still a bit terrifying. I don’t know how far the wheel came off the ground (probably not far), but it didn’t feel like a little. We get back to the dealership and apparently my buddy did the same thing. Talking to other people who had ridden the bike the consensus was the same, scary fun.
Round two I took out the Scout Bobber which was meh, and round three I rode the FTR again because it was available and my buddy wanted to ride the Roadmaster. I didn’t ride any of the big bikes that day although I’ve ridden a couple of them before.
There were a few things I didn’t like about the FTR though, the seat is super hard and small, almost painful after just 15 miles, it’s super buzzy at highway speeds, and it does not transition well at all. Once leaned over it holds a corner nicely, but I’ve never ridden a bike that wants to keep going straight as bad as this one.
DipodomysDeserti
> Pickup_man
07/15/2019 at 13:53 |
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I really like these new Scrambler bikes. I currently have the engine out on my CL450 and am being tempted by them.
Decay buys too many beaters
> Pickup_man
07/15/2019 at 15:09 |
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My read was about the same, it’s far and away the best american bike on sale right now. Really fun, good power, good overall package, great looks, but I do feel it is overpriced by about 4k (why wouldn’t you buy a monster 1200 for the same price as is?) and yeah, I also found it buzzy.
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> Pickup_man
07/15/2019 at 15:52 |
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The ride decay and I went to was supervised! And less than 15 miles. But yeah, buzzy. Very buzzy. Great bike overall. Not as fast as my Monster which is less money and same displacement though.
Sampsonite24-Earth's Least Likeliest Hero
> Pickup_man
07/16/2019 at 17:03 |
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if i were to buy a new bike it would be between this or a scout bobber.
GenXmoto
> Pickup_man
07/16/2019 at 23:39 |
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I felt like the rear end moved around a little too much. Almost like the bike needed a larger rear wheel for more stability. I think it would look great with a 180 or 190.
beardsbynelly - Rikerbeard
> Pickup_man
07/17/2019 at 00:54 |
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I really want one, a lot of old old flat track Indians (1913-1920's) went through my dads shed growing up and it’d be great to ride the homage.
Too many dollarydoos for me though
TheRealBicycleBuck
> Pickup_man
07/17/2019 at 07:40 |
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Although my old ‘83 Seca 650 Turbo wasn’t as powerful or fast as that Indian , it had the same crazy power curve. It was slow under 3k rpm, but once the turbo kicked in, it was a completely different bike. It was one of the things that made it hard to ride. If you crossed that threshold while leaned into a curve, it could toss you into the ditch.