After months of teasing this exciting motorcycle, American manufacturer Indian Motorcycle finally gives us what we've been yearning for – the awesome flat track production bike known as the FTR 1200.
It seems that Flat Track fever is taking everyone by storm. In a huge announcement, the American motorcycle maker, Indian Motorcycle, has put months of public speculation to rest. At the recently concluded Wheels Waves festival in France, the iconic American motorcycle company confirmed that an FTR 1200, inspired by Indian’s storied history in flat track racing, will go into production.
Indian has been teasing us with rumours about a production spec FTR for a while now, as they showed a bunch of Flat Track racers going around a track in a heavily modified FTR 750. Speculation was intensified by the company’s development of the FTR1200 Custom – a one-off build that toured global motorcycle shows last year. They also gave some journalists a chance to ride the brilliant machine. The feedback was overwhelmingly positive, and many customers expressed their keen desire to see this motorcycle hit production. Finally, after some wait, Indian has made its production official. While a formal release date has not been set, we can expect the bike to go on sale sometime in 2019.
In addition to announcing production intentions, Indian also announced a sweepstakes where riders can enter to win one of the first bikes to come off the assembly line. Riders who are interested on owning the new Indian FTR 1200 can visit the Indian Motorcycle US website for a chance to win the highly anticipated new model.
‘When we unveiled the FTR1200 Custom at EICMA, we said we’d listen to feedback from riders around the world,’ said Steve Menneto, President, Indian Motorcycle. ‘Riders definitely have spoken, and the response has been overwhelming. We’re proud and excited to announce that we will be putting the FTR 1200 into production.’
The FTR 1200’s full specifications have not been announced yet, but it will embody a flat tracker style, will be housed in a trellis frame and powered by a new V-twin engine. It could be that Indian will choose to rework the already existing 1200cc engine of the Indian Scout, but even this has not been confirmed.
Indian Motorcycle Senior Designer Rich Christoph said, ‘We wanted to make sure that the FTR 1200 wasn’t merely a regurgitation of the FTR1200 Custom, but something uniquely “street”, albeit flat track inspired. We’re thrilled about the character this bike possesses, and its ability to take American V-twin motorcycles into new territory.’
We recently spent a few days at India's first ever Flat Track in Jaipur, and it was one of our most exciting rides yet. It is possible that Flat Track fever could very well hit India too, which means that the FTR 1200 might make its way to India very soon, something that we really hope to see.
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