American firm Indian Motorcycles has discontinued its FTR1200 hot-rod V-twin in Europe from 2025, which is a real shame we reckon. The smart-looking flat-track replica is a victim of two things: Euro 5+ emissions regs, which would have required a chunk of investment from Indian to comply with the tests, and mediocre sales in Europe.
But I spent all of last summer with an FTR1200 in my garage, as a long-term test bike for Motorcycle Sport and Leisure magazine (buy that mag, it’s great!), so got to know the beastie quite well – both its strengths, and some of the weaknesses that might ultimately have killed it off in this market.
First things first – the Indian is a great-looking piece of kit. The bike I had was an FTR1200 Sport in a classy grey/blue paint scheme, with a neat headlight nacelle, and as the delivery driver wheeled it out of his van, I was a happy man.
A closer look reveals a really nice chassis setup: Brembo brakes, Sachs fully-adjustable suspension all round, sporty Metzeler Sportec rubber and a smart braced swingarm matched to a sinuous steel tube trellis frame. There’s a hint of the power-cruiser about it – which can sometime spell compromise on both the engine and chassis fronts – but I’ve got a good feeling about how this piece of American iron will perform, and can’t wait to jump on, as it were.
Bizarrely, I’d never actually ridden any Indian motorcycle, so was intrigued to find out more. From what I’d heard, it was a solid piece of kit, with a great engine, very decent handling, and a solid suite of modern-day equipment. Would it live up to its reputation?
My first few rides came up with a positive response for sure. Jumping on for a quick spin to Box Hill on a sunny Friday, there’s plenty to be happy about. The seat height is low-slung, giving a comfy riding position that puts you right in control. The engine gives a pleasing rort, thanks to the airbox location: right under your chin, hidden by a faux tank cover (the real fuel tank is under the seat – more on that later…), and the power delivery is really strong from the off.
Indian claims 124bhp from the big 1,203cc four-valve DOHC V-twin motor, so it’s quite a gently-tuned lump. That means a flat, fat torque curve, with oodles of grunt whenever you fancy it.
The Indian press bike was brand-new, with just 150 miles on the clock (which partly explained the slightly rough gearchange) but the rest of the powertrain is a treat. I’d heard some people describing the FTR as an ‘American Monster’ and there is indeed some hint of a Ducati V-twin roadster about the experience.
If you were to think of something like the old Monster S4R from 2003, with the 113bhp 996 superbike engine, then you’ll get the idea. The FTR is longer and a lot heavier (30kg more dry mass), it’s but much more modern in its design, and puts out a bit more power all through the rev range. As it is, this is a proper, old-school, big twin, with all the benefits that brings.
Can it wheelie like a mad Italian? Yes, kinda, is the answer: the weight and wheelbase both count against it, but there’s more than enough grunt to hoik the proverbial minger away from the lights, should you fancy such a thing (and have remembered to turn the wheelie control off…)
There’s more than a hint of Italy about that chassis as well. The steel tube trellis frame is an obvious nod to Bologna and Ducati, Brembo brakes are present and correct, and while the rubber is by German brand Metzeler, we all know that Pirelli ultimately owns that brand now, making the sporty tyres essentially Italian too.
The handling it provides isn’t quite up to the finest Italian thoroughbreds though – it’s a sort of a halfway-house, between the straight-line prowess of an American hot-rod cruiser and the curve-cutting dash of an Italian super-naked.
The FTR has its roots in the uniquely American sport of Flat Track Racing (hence FTR!) of course, and that explains the slight discrepancies: a 1,500mm+ wheelbase with Brembo brakes and fully-adjustable sporty Sachs suspension. Think of it like Tony Soprano: born and bred as an Italian, but in the end, not really from that sunny Mediterranean peninsula at all.
On the road then, you have a super-stable machine, that can still boogie when you need to. The Brembos are powerful, and make a big difference to how you can push, helped by the grippy Metzeler Sportec M9RR tyres. There’s a lot of mass going through that front contact patch – nearly a third of a tonne when loaded up with an 82kg Scotsman on board – and you’re always aware of that. But once you adapt, it’s in the same ballpark as the likes of a Triumph Rocket 3 or Ducati Diablo in terms of the riding experience.
Over the next couple of months, I settle into the FTR life, and like any relationship, there were some rocky moments. The main Achilles’ heel of the bike is, weirdly, the fuel tank. A glance at the spec sheet shows the first problem: it’s a little less than 13 litres in size, or nearly three gallons. Not terrible, but not great either on paper.
In the real world, there are two factors which affect the ‘fuel range experience’ too – firstly the fuel consumption, which is actually not at all bad. Over my time with the bike I averaged 52mpg, and even when trying hard I couldn’t get it much below that on a ride.
A 2.85 gallon tank at 52mpg means 148 miles in theory – loads of range Al! But as a bit of a nervous Nellie when it comes to fuel, I like to fill up well before running out, which meant a 120 mile top-up, and little in the way of margin to push it.
The more irritating problem comes when you actually physically start pumping petrol into the thing. As I mentioned, the fuel ‘tank’ is actually the airbox, and the fuel storage space is a plastic cell back under the seat (as an aside that means there’s not even space under the bolt-on seat for a disc lock). But the remote tank means there’s a long pipe from the filler cap back, and the gasoline sort of backs up into the neck.
You start filling from empty, get maybe 8-9 litres, and the pump clicks. Wait 10-20 seconds, the filler clears, and you can start filling again. Repeat for another few cycles, till you lose the rag, declare that 11 litres will have to be enough and storm off.
Again, it’s not the end of the world, but when you’re in a rush, those extra couple of minutes at a fuel stop are irksome in the extreme. And it seems like such a basic oversight: the test riders must have cursed it to death too during the R&D process you’d think.
Another basic oversight is the lack of a quickshifter. Now, I served my time in the trenches of 1990s sportsbikes, and can do very well without a ‘gearshift assistant’ of course. But they do exist, and like a colour LCD dash or a Bluetooth connection, I’ve adapted to them, and miss them when they’re not there.
Indian’s not even bothered developing one as an add-on option either, so there’s no simple way of getting even a basic up-shifter as seen on even fairly low-spec commuters these days. It’s even more surprising when you know that the bike has ride-by-wire fuel injection, which makes the cruise control setup easy to implement. Oh well.
My final grumble is the turn signal indicator – it’s a green arrow on the LCD dash rather than a separate bright green lamp, so is easy to miss. The self-cancel is pretty good, but still. Want more moans? There’s no immobiliser chip in the key, which is asking for trouble in London, and meant I was even more reluctant than usual to park the FTR12 up in a strange location without at least three heavy-duty locks.
That’s it for complaints though, largely. The finish on my bike was good, surviving some wet weather miles without any complaints. A small bit of rust appeared on the threaded holes for the paddock stand bobbins on the steel swingarm, which was easily sorted with a smear of grease. Otherwise, day-to-day life on the FTR was easy and predictable.
BY the end of the summer, there was around 900 miles on the FTR’s smart colour LCD dash, most of those clocked up riding round London and the south-east, where it was spot-on. I considered taking the 1200 to Scotland for a summer trip, but I struggled to get any proper ‘touring’ kit for it.
I managed to fit a slightly taller Puig screen, which took some of the windblast off, and fitted an SW-Motech pannier on the left-hand side. Together with a strap-on tank bag (no metal tank for magnets and the filler-cap is too far back for a tank ring fit), I had just about enough luggage space for an overnight stay.
Trying to strap on a bag for a ten-day jaunt would have been miserable, and the thought of doing the ‘fuel stop/range battle’ with the service stations of the M6 and M74 filled me with dread.
That’s the nature of the FTR1200 of course. If you want an Indian to cross countries (or continents) on, then there are plenty of far better big-bore touring options in its range. But kept to its natural environment – a high-octane urban burn through town, a sunny Sunday seaside cruise, or a bank holiday twisty country road blast, it’s a genuine treat. And with UK and EU sales now ended, it will become an increasingly rare one.
Tech highlights
ENGINE
Corking great water-cooled 60° V-twin with four-valve DOHC heads and a massive 102mm bore with 73.6mm stroke. Compression is 12.5:1. It’s got magnesium cam covers to save weight, and integrates the inlet manifolds into the cylinder heads.
Gearbox is six-speed and there’s a slipper clutch. It’s a decent design, but seems to be very big and long compared with competitors – a hangover from the firm’s cruiser design ethos perhaps.
CHASSIS
The frame is a steel trellis design, inspired by the company’s FTR750 flat track racebike, it’s a classy-looking piece of kit, but together with the steel tube swingarm and that extra-large engine, contributes to the high all-up weight.
The swinging arm uses an offset shock location, which makes for easy access and looks sharp, as well as improving the packaging of the engine’s rear cylinder and exhaust header. It limits you in other ways though: together with the dual can silencer, it means you can’t fit luggage to the right hand side of the bike easily.
Suspension is ZF/Sachs kit, adjustable at both ends, which is a pretty decent spec, if not earth-shattering. Ditto the Brembo brakes, with four-piston radial mount calipers up front and 320mm discs offering a basic-premium setup. The rear brake is a more powerful install though, thanks to the long wheelbase and weight: you get a 260mm disc and dual-piston caliper.
Finally, cast aluminium wheels look good but don’t help much in the weight stakes, and Metzeler Sportec M9RR rubber is a perfectly decent sporty road fitment, albeit an older model of tyre nowadays. The 2024 Sport FTR I had used proper 17-inch wheels front and rear, but some other models have a 19-inch front wheel and come with special flat-track-style Pirelli tyres, which are a bit less sporty for road use.
ELECTRONICS
The S variant has an IMU-assisted set of rider aids, meaning cornering ABS and traction control, with various levels and switchability. There’s also rear wheel lift mitigation, which is largely moot on a bike this long and heavy, and wheelie control, which is again nice to have but not something you’ll be troubling every day.
There’s three rider power modes – rain, street and sport, and it’s all controlled by a pretty decent touchscreen LCD dash, with switchgear control too. Add in a USB socket, cruiser control, on-board navigation and phone control, and you have a pretty solid setup all-in.
SPECIFICATIONS
2024 Indian FTR1200 Sport
Price: £14,995
Engine: DOHC 8v, 60° V-twin, l/c, 1,203cc
Bore x stroke: 102×73.6mm
Compression ratio: 12.5:1
Carburation: Closed loop fuel injection, 60mm throttle bodies.
Max power (claimed) 124bhp@7,750rpm
Max torque (claimed) 87ft lb@6,000rpm
Transmission: six speed gearbox, wet slipper clutch, chain final drive
Frame: steel tube trellis
Front suspension: 43mm USD ZF Sachs front fork, fully-adjustable, 120mm travel
Rear suspension: steel tube braced swingarm, fully -adjustable ZF Sachs piggyback monoshock, 120mm travel
Brakes: dual 320mm discs, four-piston radial-mount Brembo calipers (front), 260mm disc, dual-piston caliper (rear)
Wheels/tyres: cast aluminium wheels, Metzeler Sportec M9RR 120/70 17 front, 180/55 17 rear
Rake/trail: 25.3°/100mm
Wheelbase: 1,524mm
Seat height: 780mm
Dry weight: 223kg
Fuel capacity: 13 litres