Legacy. In the annals of American motorcycling history, Harley-Davidson and Indian stand head-and-shoulders above the rest. Both forged American motorcycle culture as we know it, from coast-to-coast cannonball runs to dangerous dashes on board tracks to ripping up nigh impossible inclines. Rivalries and alliances have been forged, roots that run deep, Wrecking Crew and Jackpine Gypsies deep, deep as the dominance of Joe Petrali and the determination of Ed Kretz.
Motorcycles that are a major part of that legacy are the Harley-Davidson Sportster and Indian Scout. It’s hard to touch the Sportster’s production run. Born in 1957, it has made the cut for 58 years running now and shows no signs of slowing down. It has thrust terms like “Ironhead” and “Peanut Tank” into biker vernacular and has been a favorite platform for customization for shops like Led Sled Customs and Roland Sands Design. In 2015, there’s six different versions of the Sportster available, a strong indicator of the motorcycle’s significance to Harley-Davidson.
The Indian Scout has its own storied past, many recognizing the 101 Scout as the best motorcycle Indian ever made. Produced from 1920 to 1949, its agility and handling endeared the Scout to hillclimbers and racers alike. Thanks to a little movie called “The World’s Fastest Indian” and the land-speed record breaking exploits of Burt Munro, the Scout saw a resurgence in the American motorcycling psyche. You can still find 101 Scouts climbing the perilous planks of the Wall of Death sideshow thanks to daredevils like Charlie Ransom of The American Motor Drome Co. But the model lie dormant for nigh on 70 years until Polaris Industries, the new keepers of the Indian Motorcycle Co. namesake, resurrected the model last month in Sturgis.
As soon as we heard the announcement, we smelled a Harley/Indian comparison brewing. The million dollar question was, which Harley do we compare it against? Because it shares the same 60-degree architecture and water-cooling as the V-Rod, some assumed it to be the most logical choice to compete against the Scout. But the V-Rod is more of a pure muscle cruiser, has a huge 240mm rear compared to the 150mm rear of the Scout, weighs over 100 pounds more, and costs about $5500 more. Both the Sportster and Scout are base models for their respective companies, gateways to what the OEMs hope is a long-standing relationship. From riding position to wheel size to torque output, the two match up better than the V-Rod and Scout. Though the two admittedly aren’t carbon copies, the Sportster running an air-cooled, two-valve engine as opposed to the liquid-cooled, four-valve engine of the Scout, we believe it’s the match-up more motorcyclists want to see. Game on.
So we rounded up a 2015 Indian Scout and 2015 Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 Custom, rode them on the mean streets of LA and around the San Gabriel Mountains in addition to dynoing, weighing, and performance testing the duo. We broke down a couple of our own misconceptions, first being weight differences between the two. The 2015 Sportster 1200 Custom tipped our scales at 568.5 pounds, while the 2015 Scout was only four pounds lighter at 564.5 pounds, both measured curb weights. Secondly, the 2015 Sportster actually put out more torque to the rear wheel than the Scout, the Sporty measuring 65.16 lb-ft @ 3800 rpm on our DynoJet 200i while the Scout spun the drum a fraction less, measuring 63.53 lb-ft @ 5900 rpm. On the other hand, our test did confirm some of our suspicions. The Scout decimates the Sportster in horsepower, the Indian putting out 84.88 hp @ 7900 rpm while the lower revving 2015 Harley tested out at 60.78 hp @ 5800 rpm. It did so while winning the efficiency battle as well, the 2015 Indian Scout getting 39.63 mpg while the Sportster was close behind at 38.1 mpg, although with a 3.3-gallon tank you’ll be seeking out gas stations on the Scout more frequently than the Sportster with its 4.5-gallon fuel tank.
That said, the gloves are off and the battle has been waged. Let’s take a look at what we discovered in this match-up between American-made cruiser motorcycles.
2015 Harley Sportster 1200 Custom MSRP – $10,649
Part of the appeal of the Harley Sportster is the myriad of forms it can take, be it bobbed, street tracker or café racer. For our Sportster versus Scout test, Harley dipped into the H-D1 factory custom grab bag, our test unit decked out in Mysterious Red Sunglo/Blackened Cayenne Sunglo paint. The standard chrome five-spoke cast wheels have received the black contrast cut treatment, the engine and covers have black granite powdercoating, the stock pullback handlebars have been swapped out for factory mini-apes, and the usual two-up seat has been replaced by a solo one. While none of this affects performance, it does tack on to the initial $10,649 sticker price. What does affect performance though is the addition of ABS, a $795 option our test bike came equipped with. Since the Scout doesn’t have ABS, we wanted to get that out in the open before we begin.
Because the addition of ABS does work to a rider’s advantage. Harley overhauled the Sportster’s brakes last year, going with a larger 300mm rotor instead of the former 292mm one. The 2015 1200 Custom sports dual 34mm pistons front and rear, the front exhibiting a decent bite initially followed by a bit of fade. Luckily, the ABS on the rear is effective and does a solid job of bringing the bike to a halt without having the back tire breaking loose, something that frequently happens on the Scout. The ABS allows for more control of the backside under heavy application, pulsing the foot pedal fast and contributing to the Sportster’s win in the 60 – 0 mph braking test. The 1200 Custom came to a stop at 146 feet compared to the 2015 Scout which required 151.4 feet.
Hop into the saddle of the 2015 Sportster 1200 Custom and riders are greeted with the familiar open, laid-back cruiser-style riding position. Forward controls allow for ample extension of the legs, the height of the mini-apes equate to the classic ‘fists in the wind’ pose, and the seat slopes up more modestly in the back so it doesn’t have the harsh lip like the one on the Scout. The speedo housing rises above the bars and along with the mini-apes provides more chest protection than the Scout on the freeway but my head was still getting buffeted around plenty by the wind. With a 26.6-inch seat height, the Sportster feels bigger than the Scout with its lower center of gravity, but still allows for an easy reach to the ground when stopped. Sitting higher makes it feel bigger on the freeway, too, and is one of the reasons test rider Jason Abbott, a frequent Cycle News contributor, said he would choose to ride the Sportster first if he were setting out on a long trip, in addition to the comfort of the seat.
Cruising surface streets around LA, the Sportster serves us well stoplight-to-stoplight with a solid pull off the line. In one second it’s already delivering 61.5 lb-ft at 2700 rpm and stays in that range up to 5100 rpm. On the freeway, it’s fun to ride if you keep the bike in its happy spot in the powerband around 3500 rpm, and distribution of that power is fairly linear throughout. Venture beyond that though and there’s not much overrev. Harley’s proprietary Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection does an efficient job of metering out fuel evenly, and fueling is cleaner and smoother than the Scout whose delivery is a bit more uneven.
That said, in comparison to the Scout, the Sportster feels underpowered. This point became evident during performance testing, Road Test Editor Adam Waheed managing to get the 2015 Sportster 1200 Custom from 0-60 mph in 5.6 seconds compared to the Scout’s 4.9-second run. One of the contributing factors is the fact that the Sportster’s clutch engages very late in the release, causing a slight hesitation before launching. Throttle response on the Scout is immediate and urgent, and by the time the Sportster lights up, the Indian is already gone.
“I had mixed feelings with the engine performance. The bottom end is sleepy and it’s slow to rev into a respectable midrange where the bulk of the power is. Top end is decent and overrev is minimal. The EFI really killed the bottom compared to the old carb Sportsters and the stock exhaust muffles the 1200 engine quite a bit,” said test rider Jason Abbott.
Both Abbott and I own carb-fed 1200 Sportsters, giving us a solid foundation for this observation. With the Scout’s horsepower advantage, lighter clutch pull, and the capacity to rev higher, you’re shifting more frequently on the Sportster trying to keep up. Even the gearbox on the Scout is smoother, the Sportster exhibiting that familiar hard Harley clunk on engagement. Solid and reliable, yes, with no slippage, but the Sportster’s five-speed gearbox can’t match the lighter action of the six-speed Scout. There was also a lot of heat coming from both sides of the engine on a 100-degree day, our test conducted during Southern California’s recent heat wave.
During our venture up one of our favorite twisted testing grounds in the San Gabriel Mountains, we not only were grinding the peg feelers down but sheared off a clamp dragging the bottom pipe on a hard right turn as well. The Sportster doesn’t turn-in as quick and light as the Indian, which despite sitting lower to the ground allows for greater lean angles. A softly sprung front fork doesn’t help, a washboard section on LA’s 405 freeway exposing this fact as my head bobbed up and down with each bump.
“The fork feels undersprung and although it’s initially plush at speed, the front end doesn’t hold up well, especially under braking where it has a noticeable dive. Preload adjuster fork caps or new springs would help improve the front feel. The back shocks have four-position preload adjustment only. On the freeway and in the canyon the rear end was too active and the overall handling would benefit from more damping in the shocks,” said Abbott.
Thumbing the electric starter of the 2015 Sportster 1200 Custom greets riders with the Harley feel that can’t be copied. The vibrations in the frame and bars bring a sense of familiarity, the chop-chop-chop at idle settling down at speed as the rubber mounts on the engine do their job. A lone gauge rests between the bars, nice and high so it’s easy to read. It’s the way it used to be before the age of advanced electronics, a simple analog speedometer, odometer, clock, dual tripmeters, and a handful of diagnostic lights. Though the mini-apes are an optional addition, they provide good leveraging for the chunky Michelin Scorcher on the front.
There’s a reason the Sportster has been in production well over 50 years now. It’s built solid and runs reliably. Its customizing potential is broad, and with the proper upgrades can be a real runner. In this test against the Indian Scout, it has the better braking package of the two, its fueling is smoother, and the seat is more comfortable in the long run. But compared to the Scout, it feels long in the tooth, unable to match the Scout’s power, handling, or suspension. And while its initial MSRP undercuts the Scout at $10,649, the unit we tested with the fancy paint and graphics, different bars and seat, and ABS, the package approaches the $13,000 range. I have to concur with Abbot on this one who thinks Harley could really benefit from performing some simple yet key updates to improve the Sportster because this is only the first year the Scouts been released, and knowing Polaris it will only continue to get honed in even more. Indian’s putting on a full-court press led by the Scout as its point guard and the pressure’s on. Will be interesting to see how Harley responds.
2015 Indian Scout MSRP $10,999
Indian Motorcycle Co. made its intentions clear when it debuted the Scout. The company needed more of an introductory level bike, something quick, lithe, and low to the ground so it’d accommodate a wide swath of riders. They wanted something that paid tribute to Scouts of the past without living in the past. It was what their vision of the Scout would be given the chance to evolve had there not been an almost 70-year gap in production. And they had no qualms saying they had Harley’s Sportster in their sights.
They gave the 2015 Scout its own identity by eschewing the standard tubular frame, opting for one forged from cast aluminum, and incorporated the shrouds housing the radiator into this casting. They doubled its functionality by situating the saddle on the rear casting and bolted the back shocks directly to it. They threw conventional covers out the window, machined cases in their stead. Love it or hate it, the fact Indian chose a clean slate for the design exercise was a refreshing twist from the cookie-cutter Harley clones others have been content to create.
At a glance, the Scout comes across as the smaller of the two. Maybe it’s the low seat height, maybe it’s the way there’s no wasted space in its design. But a peek at the spec sheet shows the Scout has a longer wheelbase, 61.5 inches to the Sportster’s 59.8, and is 3.4-inches longer overall at 91 inches. Both motorcycles run the same beefy tires, 130/90 16 up front and 150/18 16 on the rear. Ditto on the exposed rear shocks, but the cant and compactness of the Scout’s set add to the illusion that it is a smaller bike.
After rumbling around the heavily congested streets of LA, we learn the 2015 Indian Scout is a proper city bike. Its bars are narrow and seat low, carries its weight low, and allows for solid footing at a stop. When traffic bottlenecks and it becomes time to split lanes, its narrow design helps it dart and dodge in and out of rush hour. One drawback of its low stance is the sense that at times you’re looking up at cars you generally look down on are or at eye level with on most other cruisers. Another is that around 75 – 80 mph riders take a lot of wind to the chest because for me at six-feet-tall I’m upright like a sail in the saddle reaching down to the bars. After a couple hours in the seat saddle-soreness sets in, particularly in the lower buttocks because of the lip formed at the back of the seat and the way it locks riders into one position.
“The Scout does feel a little on the small side, mostly in the tank and bar area. Around town it’s no big deal but when traveling on the freeway the lower tank and bars really come through giving the Scout a ‘minibike’ feel. The grips are rock hard. You don’t notice them much around town but on the freeway where you’re holding on a little more, the harder compound really starts to stress the hands,” said fellow tester Jason Abbott, whose motorcycle reviews frequently grace the pages of Cycle News.
There’s more than the Scout’s agility in traffic that garnered our respect in the city. Drop the clutch on the Scout and this thing rockets off the line. It revs high so you’re not shifting a lot because you can wind it out a bit longer than the standard cruiser. During performance testing, Road Test Editor Adam Waheed left a 100-foot-long strip of rubber in first gear, putting a huge grin on the face of a speed demon who isn’t easily impressed by cruiser’s performance. Getting up to freeway speed, the Scout hit 60 mph 0.7-seconds faster than the Sportster. Its ride-by-wire system is calibrated spot-on, so as soon as the clutch is released it hooks and books. Granted, fueling isn’t as smooth as the Sportster, an observation supported by the bumpy torque line on our dyno graph. But a peak at that same graph also shows how much more rev the Scout has in comparison, further distancing it from the 1200 Custom. Indian geared it to accommodate this as few other pure cruisers, if any, top out at just shy of 90 mph in second gear. The Scout does.
“The engine is surprisingly powerful, it has plenty of get up and go at any speed and fairly smooth delivery throughout the powerband. Overall HP numbers and overrev are impressive. Unlike the Harley there’s little vibration from the counterbalanced engine and it has a very refined feel. Initial throttle is a little jumpy while traveling on the freeway but in the city and on the canyon roads the quick throttle response is something I enjoyed. There’s a light clutch pull and shifting is solid with a positive engagement. Engine design is on-point and its look is probably my favorite part of the entire bike,” said Abbott.
While we dote over the 1133cc mill, there are areas for improvement. Around 6500 rpm you do get vibrations in the bars. At idle and slow speeds, there’s a tat-tat-tat-tat sound coming from the engine that will grate on your nerves after a while but isn’t as noticeable at speed. It also had an issue pumping gas up when it gets below a gallon on a blistering hot day. It felt like it’s starved for fuel resulting in hard-starting during this time, sputtering and coughing before finally turning over. Until we hit the gas station, flow was a bit inconsistent.
In addition to engine performance, the 2015 Indian Scout also sees an advantage in handling. Action is lighter at the bars and the front doesn’t feel as heavy as the Sportster. Greater lean angles are also achievable. I believe Abbott nailed it on the head with his assessment.
“The chassis is solid, the frame has just the right amount of rigidity and there’s little vibration felt throughout the bike. Suspension has a balanced feel from front-to-rear. The fork has a plush initial and a stiffer mid-stroke that allows the front end to hold up better under braking and gives the fork more predictable action. Out back the shocks perform just as well and help to give the bike a balanced feel. The threaded shock bodies allow for a wider range of preload adjustment and fine tuning compared to the cheaper four-position shocks. Cornering is a strong point with the Scout as it feels very connected to the road. Even though the bike has a lower stance than the Harley it has more ground clearance in the turns.”
The 2015 Scout runs a comparable base braking package, the single rotors front-and-back a touch smaller at 298mm. The Indian also has a single-piston caliper on the rear instead of the Sportster’s dual arrangement all the way around. As mentioned, the 1200 Custom we tested had the optional ABS package, a factor that contributed to it braking faster, the Sportster requiring 146 feet to go from 60-0 mph while the Scout required 151.4 feet. The front brake of the Scout lacks a little bite initially but once you get into the brakes there’s a strong feel through the lever and it does a good job of bringing the bike to a stop. The back brake has a strong bite even without ABS, but the rear end had a tendency to break free under hard braking.
For a first year bike, the 2015 Indian Scout is an impressive machine. From the spunk of its engine to its capable chassis, well-sorted suspension and slick gearbox, it exceeds what you’d expect from a “cruiser.” Sure, there’s room for improvement, but after riding the two motorcycles back-to-back, the Sportster feels dated. Kudos to Indian on this one because they nailed it out of the gate.
Bryan Harley Motorcycle Tales 
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