America's other great cruiser company has announced its latest and greatest big motorcycle donk, a 1,770cc, 60-degree V-Twin making an impressive 122 horsepower and 128 lb-ft (173.5 Nm) of torque.
Indian has built the Powerplus engine ahead of its upcoming Challenger, a big ol' fixed-fairing bagger that aspires to some pretty hard-charging, tire-smearing acceleration; a level of performance for which the gloriously named Thunder Stroke motor was deemed insufficiently grunty.
Thus, the company took its very pretty 1,133cc Scout engine for inspiration and set out to build a liquid-cooled, overhead cam, four valve per cylinder monster – the highest-performance American V-Twin ever developed. Presumably some of the knowledge Indian's parent company Polaris imbibed during its custodianship of the Victory brand came in handy here; Victory's big liquid-cooled twins were a pleasure to run up the tacho, as well as delivering that famous American grunt at lower speeds.
The Powerplus, though, is about 30 horses up on the motor in the old Victory Vision, and although it'll undoubtedly have to shift a heavy bike in the Challenger, it's going to be a fun ride on the way up to its 6,500 rpm redline. Its six-speed transmission, including a true overdrive in sixth, will give it the ability to motor down the highway in a very relaxed fashion, and help with fuel economy when you're not spinning the engine up and snarling your way into the top end. And its assisted clutch will make things easier on the ol' left forearm around town.
Importantly, for the cruiser scene, it seems to be a good looker, with nice detailing akin to the metalwork that makes the Scout such a terrific bike to look at and customize. We look forward to seeing what the Powerplus looks like once Rich Christoph and the rest of the Indian design crew build a bike around it, and feeling how it does its thing on the road.
Source: Indian