Indian Motorcycles

We're big fans of Indian's new flat-track inspired streetbike, but its production exhaust detracts significantly from the look we fell in love with. Aftermarket to the rescue! These S&S exhausts bring the FTR1200 back much closer to the look of the original Custom we lost our minds over last year.

Rich Christoph designed one of the most beautiful bikes we've ever seen - the Indian FTR1200 Custom - and then had the unenviable task of building something road-legal out of it. He spoke to New Atlas about the Custom, the all-new FTR1200 streetbike and the blessed path that's led him to this point.

It's been nearly two years since the first photos of the outrageous FTR1200 Custom hit my inbox, and since then I've been waiting, drooling in desperate hope like a dog next to a dinner table, to see what this thing would look like in production form. And here it is.

The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering began in 2003, and has grown inside the last 16 years to become the foremost of the events which didn't begin at the very first running of Monterey Car Week in 1950.​ It is very different to what you might expect. Here's why.

Indian Motorcycles has announced sweeping upgrades to its touring bike lineup. Chief and Springfield models will now get 3 ride modes and rear cylinder deactivation, and Roadmasters get beefed-up stereos and "the largest, fastest, most customizable touch screen infotainment system on two wheels."

Motorcycle auctions have always been somewhat of a sideshow during Monterey Car Week, but just the same, some delectable machinery is scattered between the four-wheeled lots and this year saw quite a few remarkable two-wheeled offerings.

Wild man Travis Pastrana is gearing up to recreate three of Evel Knievel's greatest motorcycle jumps in three hours for a live TV special. And as part of the tribute, he's going to be jumping an Indian Scout FTR750, a motorcycle almost as inappropriate for the job as Knievel's old Harleys.

There are two big motorcycle auctions that will be part of Monterey Car Week this year, one at Mecum, which acquired the world's largest motorcycle auction house, Mid-America, a few years back, and the other through Worldwide Auctioneers. We've put together the most interesting bikes available.

​Former GP rider Katja Poensgen only signed on to ride for the resurrected Indian brand on June 10, but she has already taken two spectacular wins and generated more publicity than the brand has had in Europe for a century ... and her motorcycle is named after a famous headless chicken.

Nearly 50 years ago, Burt Munro set a record of nearly 184 mph (296 km/h) in the under 1000 cc class on a 1920 Indian Scout. In August, Burt Munro's great nephew will pilot a new purpose-built Indian Scout Streamliner at the Bonneville Salt Flats in honor of the 50th Anniversary of that record.​

The average motorcycle show attendee in the US has gotten used to events that feature a range of chopped, bobbed, lowered and chromed out V-twins that mostly wear the Harley Davidson badge. Then there's the Quail Motorcycle Gathering, where the bikes and the crowd are far more diverse.​

Nearly 65 years after the last Indian motorcycle raced in flat track racing, the company's return to the sport has given fans the potential to see a revival of the historical rivalry between it and Harley Davidson. But the path to get here hasn't been easy.