INDIAN FTR 1200 S: A YEAR OF STREET-TRACKING!

We have had the Indian Motorcycle FTR 1200 S in the xBhp garage for more than a year now and here’s how living with it has been.

- KARAN SINGH BANSATTA

MORE than a year since we have had the Indian FTR 1200 S in our garage. More than a year of getting to know the ins and outs of perhaps the magnum opus of Indian Motorcycle. More than a year of figuring out how to extract the most out of it and also, how not to ride it. More than a year and we kind of have an idea what separates the Indian FTR 1200 from other motorcycles. So, what is it like to live with the FTR 1200? We found out.

The first thing to know is that there are many approaches to a certain thing and therefore, multiple ways motorcycles approach the riding experience. We will start with a few examples. In a musical reference, there’s Johnny Cash and there’s Metallica or AC/DC. In a video game reference, there’s Journey and then there’s Doom. In a Top Gun reference, there’s either Iceman or Maverick. The difference? One is the cool, calm and calculative approach and the other is the instinctive and visceral approach. Indian FTR 1200 is the latter.

Our FTR 1200 has been ridden in a variety of ways, in a variety of terrains and weather, and by a variety of riders. The one thing that remains common is how FTR 1200 brings the riding experience to the rider. Brutal is one word to describe that but it seems a bit too crude. Consider a motorcycle that does what you want it to do without any qualms and then there are motorcycles that command respect. They reciprocate even the smallest of inputs, both good and bad, and reward or punish you on that basis.