However, the new Indians are not an easy choice for custom builders. Neither the 111 Big Twins nor the Scouts lend themselves to frame modifications, not to mention the fact that the watercooled Scout has the cooler as an integral part of the frame design. It’s ‘all or nothing’ if you want a radical Indian and throwing away almost all of a complete motorcycle is virtually inevitable. On the positive side, all Indian engines are so well developed that they hardly need any internal improvements in terms of tuning parts or upgrades.
But these difficulties don’t prevent the customising of the Scout—indeed, it can mean a much cheaper proposition for an owner and results can be as spectacular as on Rhönmotor’s café cruiser which was built for Custom Chrome Europe’s ever-popular Bolt On And Ride programme which, each year, produces a handful of impressive custom motorcycles as well as providing the CCE staff with something rather cool to ride during the summer. This isn’t the first Scout to appear in the BOAR stable, testament to the fact that CCE realised the customising potential of the model as soon as it was launched.
The two components that immediately catch the eye on the Rhön Racer, as it’s called (although it’s technically more of a café cruiser than racer) are the Café Sport fairing by Burly Brand and the tail end which was hammered by hand into shape by Blechfee’s Jochen Lehman who is renowned for his superb sheet metal parts. The aim of the BOAR programme is to demonstrate how owners can bring their own twist to their machines through the use of aftermarket parts, but, as even professional builders have discovered, this requires some finesse and thought to ensure that a combination of components will produce the best results.
This story is from the Issue 253 edition of 100% Biker.
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This story is from the Issue 253 edition of 100% Biker.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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