While I’ve often said I’ve never met a motorcycle I didn’t like, I’m probably a certified Indian fanboy. Admittedly, I’m a little disappointed in the Thunderstroke 111 performance I’ve seen up to this point, but I assume it’s very similar to the anemic performance of the Victory Freedom 106 fitted with EPA compliant stock equipment. I rode the Chief last year at a demo event in Cincinnati; I found the Chief mill to be a bit more stalwart than the Victory 106 at higher RPMs, but honestly neither hold a candle to the new Scout power plant. I’m told there’s no replacement for displacement, but I’m a firm believer that lighter is faster; to each his own.

At any rate, it goes without saying that the Scout has been all the rage for custom builds over the past year, many of which were featured at the show. I don’t know if any of these builds are nearly as dirt worthy as the tires might suggest, but I like the aesthetics anyway.

Indian put together another good booth this year, with quite a few demo models to sit on, along with various customs. Indian’s lineup was mostly “paint and stickers” for 2016, without an major new models or changes, aside from the Scout 60, which I don’t qualify as “new”. Considering the size of Polaris, and the “youth” of (the new) Indian, that’s understandable; I’m very excited to have another competitor in the U.S., even if they only make cruisers. I took a few photos of the Thunderstoke 111 Engine cutaways last year in Cleveland, but it was nice to get new close-up shots this year with a better camera. It was even better to get some photos of the Scout cutaways as well; I’ve been curious how labor intensive the valve adjustments would be on the Scout. From what I can tell, I am again spoiled by Triumph twin as it appears to me that you may need to fuss with the cam chain in order to adjust the valves in the event they need it.

Considering the breadth of the Indian Chief line, I’m hoping to see additional variations of the Scout mill in coming years. Hopefully Indian will produce a sportier package with improved suspension and maybe even dual front disk.

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