The Harley-Davidson v.s. Indian Motorcycle Saga Continues
Ryan F9 makes the most polished motorcycle content you can find on the internet; the guy is an absolute savant when it comes to making videos and ensuring viewers are getting all the information they need regarding the tops he is presenting.
Today, he has the answers to a question some of us may not have even thought about asking: despite having the same displacement and price tag, why do the Indian competitor bikes make 43% more power than their Harley-Davidson counterparts?
If you do a quick google search for “Harley-Davidson VS Indian” you’ll stumble upon an overwhelmingly large amount of articles going back and forth with titles such as: ‘Indian Motorcycle Is Coming for Harley-Davidson’s Throne‘ and ‘8 Reasons Indian Motorcycle Is Beating Harley-Davidson‘
With such a long history of competition between the two brands, why would H-D let Indian get such a large advantage in horsepower and torque? The answer lies in the cylinder and piston design. I’m not going to get too far into details – that’s Ryan F9’s job with the video I’m sharing with you – but through watching the video I gained clarification and more evidence as to why I’m more of an Indian guy myself; to each their own!
I hope you enjoy the video, let us know your thoughts in the comments regarding the Indian vs H-D rivalry.
If you actually took the time to dyno bikes and do reviews on them, rather than just post someone else’s review, you would know that the Indian Scout doesn’t beat the Harley Sportster in Torque. The Sporster makes almost 65 ft lbs of torque at 2,200 RPM. At the same engine speed the Scout makes only 55 ft lbs of torque and doesn’t catch up to the Sportster until a thousand RPM’s later.
Off the line in real world riding the Sportster pulls harder at lower RPM’s.
But then again if you actually tested motorcycles you would know that.
If your idea of real world riding is putting around the city then perhaps the Sportster would be your preferred choice. If you want to get out on the open road and go for a ride then the choice is obvious. On the open road at highway speeds the Scout would leave the Sportster in the dust. Then there’s the Scout’s superior suspension, more stable handling, better ergonomics…