The new Indian Motorcycle FTR’s are perhaps the first true American performance bike in a long, long time. Bred and born from the soil and clay of oval race tracks across the US Indian has managed to be the first company to launch a dyed in the wool Street tracker with the performance chops to match the aesthetic. So it’s a natural transition to build hooligan racers out of the FTR’s for our 2019 Super Hooligan National Championship Series Presented by Progressive Insurance.
First order of business is a wheel swap. Just so happens Indian and RSD have teamed up on a group of aftermarket products for the FTR to be launched shortly after the bike hits the show room floors. A part of the collection are a new lightweight forged wheel set. In the case of the Super Hooligan bikes we’ve mounted them up to Dunlop DT3 dirt track tires to get us into Hooligan territory. The rear wheels are special heavy wheels made just for the project to help control the explosive power delivery of the FTR and calm it down a bit. The removal of the dual front calipers and rotors helps carve a chunk of weight off the front of the bike as well.
Stock bikes do not come with the type of steering angle needed for flat tracking, so we’ve designed and machined adjustable offset triple clamps to the bikes getting us closer to flat track trail numbers and getting plenty of steering out of the bikes. Anyone who’s ran out of steering angle knows the sinking feeling of the back of the bike coming around as the fork hits the stops, so we’ve removed that issue. Street suspension was modified by the crew at GP suspension.
The GP guys were nice enough to come out to the track for our initial tests and get us started on a dirt set up with modified forks. New rear shocks were also modified to get us adjustable ride height. Pull back risers were designed and machined in house to get the Pro Taper DT bars in a comfortable position. Other RSD x Indian components include the crash sliders, shift levers, foot pegs, rear stand spools and reservoir covers. Further weight reduction and an increase in HP was easily obtained by removal of the large cat system from under the swing arm which we’ve replaced with a new Larger Carbon Slant exhaust tip. Stock batteries were replaced with light weight lithium ion models. Oil coolers and lines were removed for weight reduction. 3 of the machines carry a modified rear sub frame which has been narrowed and weight removed to make them rider friendly as the stock sub frames protrude out from the seating area.
The K&N version has been taken a bit further as we’ve experimented with a one off fuel cell and flat track tail to bring the bike to full flat track specifications. The stock bikes plastic fuel cell was removed and we built an aluminum fuel cell and bracketry allowing for use of any tail section.
We also have an Indian Scout that is rebranded by J&P Cycles. J&P is sponsoring our Hooligan Amature Class this year.
The final results are machines that retain much of the stock aesthetic of the FTR while removing nearly 50 lbs. of weight