2022 INDIAN FTR 1200 ONE FOR THE ROAD!

We ride the new Indian FTR 1200 in Australia and check out its revised road credentials!

- SUNDEEP GAJJAR

IN the summer of 2019, I rode the Indian FTR 1200 at its global launch in Los Angeles. It was a shocker as it was unlike anything Indian Motorcycle had sold before. I say sold because the FTR750 was already lighting up the flat tracks in the US. The FTR 1200 was inspired by its flat track cousin and it created a wave amongst the journalists. As fate would have it, a few months later, I became the first customer of the Indian FTR 1200 in India. I still have that motorcycle in my garage but here, we have the 2022 Indian FTR with us. So, let’s see what’s what.

Whenever I visit Australia, Putty Road is one that I always ride. It is quite close to Sydney, it is beautiful, and it is a joy to ride. It is a motoring paradise flooded with riders on weekends and even supercars. My fondest riding memory from here is from 2017 when I rode the H2 here during our 20,000 km #PowerTrip360.

But this time, I had a very different motorcycle with me. It is not low on power per se, but the H2 is something else entirely. That said, this FTR is no docile beast either. The 1,200cc V-twin that powers it, is very, very lively. That said, the new Indian FTR 1200 is a fair bit similar and yet, a fair bit different from the one I have.

So mine is around 3-years old now but has more bells and whistles such as a full-colour TFT touchscreen and Akrapovic exhausts and so on. This one is the base variant but even then, there are some crucial structural and functional differences between the two. We will go over that as I tell you more about my ride with it on Putty Road.