Indian Motorcycles has released a limited edition of its FTR1200 to celebrate five years of victories in the US flat track championships.
The range starts in Australia at $A20,995 and the new Championship Edition is based on the flagship Carbon model at $25,995 with carbonfibre fenders, tank, airbox cover, headlight and tail cowls, but not wheels, plus titanium Akrapovic exhaust.
For an extra $1000, the Championship Edition has a race paint scheme and badging, and 19″/18″ wheel set up like their race replica model.
Price could be more than that as you can personalise the bike with your own accessories.
Only 400 will be available globally and it appears you have to order online here and submit it to your local dealer who will contact you to confirm details and availability.
The FTR Family is powered by a V-twin with 120Nm of torque and 92kW of power.
Other features include a 4.3-inch touchscreen with Bluetooth connectivity; fully adjustable forks and piggyback rear shock; Sport, Standard, and Rain modes with different throttle maps and traction control levels; lean-angle stability control; ABS with cornering pre-control; and wheelie control with rear lift mitigation.
Ducati have spun off yet another variant based on the Diavel 1260 S platform but unlike the recent Lamborghini special that is limited to only 630 units, “Black and Steel” joins the main Ducati model line-up. It is expected to arrive in Australia this August from $37,390 Ride Away.
Inspired by the concept of the Diavel “Materico”
First launched at EICMA in 2010 the Diavel has become a mainstay model for Ducati and in 2019 the low-slung cruiser-come-roadster gained the up-spec 159 horsepower Testastretta DVT 1262 engine for some extra motivation. Australia gets the recently improved Euro5 specification engine with the full 162 horsepower.
Diavel 1260 S “Black and Steel”
The chassis was also updated in 2019 along with the six-axis Bosch IMU that helps drive the myriad of safety aids that grace the platform. These systems includes Bosch Cornering ABS EVO, Ducati Traction Control EVO, Ducati Wheelie Control EVO, Ducati Power Launch EVO and Cruise Control.
Glossy grey and matt black as the main colours with sporty touches in yellow
The S version scores fully adjustable Öhlins suspension at both ends, dedicated wheels and an up-spec braking system, and it is this top-spec model that the new “Black and Steel” is based on.
Diavel “Black and Steel”
Ducati
“The livery of the Diavel 1260 S “Black and Steel” is characterised by the choice of asymmetrical and refined graphics that combine glossy grey and matt black as the main colours, to which are added sporty touches in yellow, including the frame, the lower part of the tail, the dedicated seat badge and some details of the bike.
“The Diavel 1260 S “Black and Steel” joins the S version in Thrilling Black & Dark Stealth colour with red frame and black wheels. The standard version is available in Dark Stealth colour with black frame and black wheels.”
A national roadshow of pre-production Indian FTR 1200 models has been deemed a success with “a number of $1000 deposits” being taken.
The pre-production models have been on show at various Indian dealers over the past month.
Indian Motorcycle marketing boss Christopher Gale says the roadshow was a success with “showrooms full of people at each event”.
The FTR 1200 will come to Australia in a basic black model for $20,995 ride away and the FTR 1200 S in red and grey or titanium and black for $22,995.
FTR 1200 base and S model
It will also be available in a Race-Replica paint scheme with red frame matching the FTR750 race bike starting at $23,995 ride away in Australia.
FTR 1200 and FTR 750 flat-track racer
“We have received deposits for all models but the Race Replica has been the most popular as it most closely represents the FTR750 (race bike),” Christopher says.
We spoke with one enthusiastic Brisbane rider who has paid his $1000 deposit and has been told to expect to pick up his bike somewhere between July and September, “subject to a test ride”.
Christopher says all deposits are fully refundable.
Despite a recent fire in the factory’s paint department, there have been no holdups with production, he says.
According to the leaked brochure, the Tracker will be released this year, followed by the Street in 2020 and the Adventure in 2021.
Indian sales
Meanwhile, Polaris has released its first quarter results showing a 10% decrease in motorcycle sales, although that also includes the three-wheeler Slingshot.
Polaris Slingshot
They say Indian sales held firm and gained some market share.
The company claimed results were affected by “challenging weather, continued weak market trends, and increased competitive promotional spending”.
International sales were down 4% on, but up about 3% excluding the impact of currency exchange.
Indian Motorcycle looks set to surprise with several new Apollo variants of its popular FTR 1200 (pictured above), as well as a new Raptor tourer and dark versions of its Scout range.
Two images have been sent to Motorbike Writer that seem to come from brochures that show the FTR 1200 Apollo Tracker, Street and Adventure models, the Raptor tourer and a MiniBall version of the Scout.
We can’t reveal who sent the images to us.
Part of the Indian brochure
Indian Apollo
The big surprise is the Apollo model line-up which appears to be more variants of the FTR 1200 with its 90kW (120hp) 1203cc liquid-cooled V-twin.
The Apollo range includes a Tracker to be released this year, followed by the Street in 2020 and the Adventure in 2021.
Currently the FTR 1200 range consists of the basic model in black for $20,995 ride away and the FTR 1200 S in red and grey or titanium and black for $22,995 in June. A Race-Replica paint scheme with red frame will follow at $23,995.
Now it seems the Tracker pack will become the Tracker model this year, the Rally will become the Adventure and probably the Sport will be the Street.
What we can’t work out is why the new FTR 1200 models are called Apollo.
Indian Raptor
Spy photo
Last week we posted the above spy photo of the front half of a fixed-fairing Indian tourer which seems to suggest they would challenge the Harley-Davidson Road Glide.
Indian Motorcycle asked many websites to remove the spy photos of the then-unnamed tourer which only gave more credence to the rumour.
Now a full-length photo of the bike has been supplied.
New spy photo from brochure
We thought the tourer could be named after one of the trademarks Indian’s recently for: “Indian Renegade”, “Indian Raven” and “Indian Challenger”.
However, the new brochure images seems to show that it will be called Raptor and will be powered by a 90kW (120hp) liquid-cooled 1770cc engine.
It is believed the quad-valve engine was originally developed as the Victory Freedom V2 before Polaris axed the brand in 2017.
According to the images, the bike will be released in August this year.
Scout MiniBall
Part of the Indian brochure
The brochure image is cut off and doesn’t provide full info on the Scout MiniBall, so we can only surmise.
We can see the word “Ball” which appears to be part of a bigger name, plus “MiniBall”.
Victory used to have 8-Ball models which were black versions, like a black eight ball in pool.
So we may assume these are blacked-out versions of the Scout.
We suspect there is an 8Ball version of the 1133cc Scout and the MiniBall is the blacked-out version of the 999cc Scout Sixty which we don’t get in Australia anymore.
