Indian Motorcycle FTR 1200 Range Ride

Look at all these FTRs! It's amazing. I mentioned I like them and Indian bought me tons to play with which makes me a very happy boy. Obviously we've been playing a lot with the Indian FTR this year. Last year we had a lot of fun on it. Indian have actually now given us the full range to go and try every single FTR in the range and see how they compare and what different things they can get out of the same bike. So right at the far end we've got the Indian FTR 1200 base model. That's what I made the hooligan bike out of that you've been hopefully been following on our YouTube channel. Moving up from that we've got this one here which I'm really excited about. This is the FTR Rally. So it's similar to the base but with spoked wheels, slightly novelty Pirelli tyres and the little fly screen, higher bars and a higher seat. So it's a bit more off-road ergonomics. It's not meant to be a full-on off-road bike. That's not going to stop us taking it off-road but it's their sort of gravel roads bike. Then we've got the shiny ultimate road bike. We've got the FTR 1200 S. That's the one that again is supposed to be the ultimate road bike. We took it off-road last year but we don't worry about that. So this one's got lean sensitive traction control. It's got the fully adjustable suspension. It's got the LCD touchscreen dash you might remember from the last video. So that's got all the trick road bits and it's a fabulous high spec road bike. So we're going to take that somewhere fast and sticky and good tarmac tomorrow. And then right at the top end looking very out of place in the mud we've got the FTR 1200 carbon. That's the sort of exclusive limited edition one covered in carbon bits and with the paint scheme that makes it look like the 750 race bike. But that one's a pretty special looking bike. Also notice it's got some cheeky Akropovic pipes so hopefully it's going to sound a bit fruitier too. We've got a massive off-road site to play in today and we've got some beautiful roads to take on tomorrow. So we're going to get every single one of these, smoking tyres and having not actually hugely different to the FTR 1200 base. It's the same kind of bike underneath but with spoked wheels. It's got the Pirelli Scorpion Rally semi off-road tyres and it's got some higher handlebars as well. Give you a bit of a better riding position when you're standing up. Now Indian aren't pitching this as a an off-road bike or a full-on adventure bike. It's just more I guess you'd call it a gravel bike. You know it's a an FTR with its kind of gravel tackling ability enhanced slightly. A bit of a comfier position if you're standing up riding off-road for a while and the same bonkers engine that makes me like playing on the FTR so much. It's actually got a little wind deflector on the front as well. A little sort of bikini cowl screen thing which is kind of cool and it gives you a little bit more wind protection. Yeah I wonder if we can get up there. Let's see what this off-road is like. Okay so if you do want to do stupid things on it it will take it so what we're going to do now I'm going to nip down here see if I can find some slightly gnarlier bits of off-road to play in because although it's not pitched as a wild off-road adventure bike I think you can do more more than you would reckon on this. Being the base model it just has the nice simple round speedo no traction control it has ABS but as you might see if you can see the dash I have disabled the ABS because I wanted to do skids but it's actually surprisingly well mannered off-road. It sure isn't the plushest and squishiest comfy off-road bike but it's super slippery here today and it's actually nice nice enough that you're not frightened to take on a slippery trail it doesn't feel like it's going to keep tipping over it it does start washing the front of it if you try and push it through the muddy turns but in fairness the tyres are as much affecting that as anything else. These are the sort of street bias version of the Scorpion Rally so they're not big knobblies but they just got kind of closer together tread blocks it does do that very well right let's tackle something a bit gnarlier as soon as you stand up actually those handlebars definitely make life a little bit easier you can kind of tower over the bike a bit more and you're not feeling like you're crouched over reaching for the bars oh it's a bit overgrown in here with the bikers kind of good looking and cruisery as the FTR it seems a little bit wrong to be in here look at that it's like a swamp forest so the only thing you do have to be a little bit careful off-road there is no no big sump guard on this so you have got to be a bit cautious not to whack anything into the bottom of the engine have a leaf but apart from that it's an absolute blast rip it around these gravel roads it feels kind of just as good riding it sat down as it does riding stood up which i have to say i quite like it's quite enjoyable sort of bombing around sat down the the seat's slightly taller on this one it's the comfort seat which then again gives you a little bit more cushioning when you're uh razzling along these bumpy gravel tracks it still does that that good FTR trick of kind of cruising along rumbly bumbley low rpm posing around the shop sort of way and then if you snap the throttle open it goes bonkers and rips off down the trail without you which i think is quite a nice little trick it's nice not to have to sacrifice fun to look cool let's see uh let's see how she the FTR 1200 base model this is in fact what the uh bike world super hooligan project race bike racing project thing once started life as so this is the uh the bottom of the uh FTR 1200 range if you can call it that but to be honest i absolutely love this one it's got slightly more basic suspension is non-adjustable forks and the shocks only got rebound adjustment on it you don't get the big snazzy tft display or the traction control you still get cruise control and to be honest i really like the massive round speedo in the middle of the handlebars maybe i'm getting old and i've like old looking things but i like the analog speedo and while it may not have the traction control or the adjustable suspension it still has the awesome engine still plenty of snap to it and with this base model all in black like the project bike was it's got a real nice stealth look to it it's quite subtle it's not not peacock in all its shiny colors it's just a nice flat stealth bike that says look at me i'm all engine we are now coming up one of my favorite roads full of twists turns and jumps no traction control to distract us it's a big old engine and a pair of handlebars on the top to hang on to a little bit over excited on the throttle there what a road so much fun along here today we're on the other end of the spectrum we're on the ftr 1200 sport the fancy panth road bike one it's got the dirt track style tires still but it's much more geared towards the asphalt it's got tft display it's got lean sensitive traction control fully adjustable suspension and once again as with every variant of the ftr it's an engine it's an engine with wheels the chassis is beautiful it handles well it breaks well but all of that kind of pales in comparison to what happens when you open the throttle and it's not in a ballistic super sports missile type way it's just an engine that is really willing and whatever gear you're in whatever speed you're doing it's got such a an instant response like a powerful drive that it makes you makes you giggle like an idiot you kind of forget everything else about the bike once you start enjoying the motor you don't really notice that it's a good looking bike and the brakes are good and the suspension's good just too busy enjoying that engine it's nice at last to get some dry roads on the ftr because it means that it's a nice chance to really sample the chassis see what it does when you actually lean it over in a turn especially on these back roads it's actually quite stiff a few times i've sort of hit potholes and been surprised how firm the suspension really is but that means when you get onto a faster road so sixth gear there instant ride i love it just makes it a great engine for a road ride little hunter of any corner without mucking around changing up and down gears you can kind of be lazy and fall asleep and just cruise along and then suddenly go oh i want to pass that car crack open the gas and off she goes it's definitely a deceptive bike it's a you've got to keep one eye on the speedo when you're cruising because it's such a low revving engine and like i said so much torque you you sort of creep up the speeds that you didn't actually mean to be doing and the bike just happily sits there the the wind blast is the only clue really that you've you've snuck above the speed limit all right let's see what it corners like slightly damp road doesn't drop on its side it doesn't want to go straight on it's very neutral which for a bike of this size and this length and this sort of cruisery appearance it holds alive very nicely so now we are on the FTR 1200 carbon which is an FTR in a pretty dress with some posh silencers on it so we've got carbon fiber bodywork it has got the kind of indian red burgundy frame and the styling to make it look like the FTR 1200 carbon that we saw back at the indian hq the other month cheeky little bit more note from the exhaust from the aki again not mega loud but i'm sure a little bit of a silence of fettling could soon open up a bit more fruit if that was what you were after and it's not a limited edition as such this bike but they only bought in 35 this year to the UK which sounds pretty limited by my mind so they will be making more it's not a limited edition but it's definitely an exclusive bike there's not many left of this year's run so if you want one be quick and it does look bloody good in the carbon if you do buy an indian i hope for your sake that it doesn't rain on you every time you get out of the garage because while they work well in the rain every single time i ride one it seems to rain although that might be more to do with where i live than the bike itself let's have a little luggy test there we go 30 mile an hour sixth gear 1700 rpm actually pulls along really well there i think if you're not fully into going flat out and riding sports bikes i think as a road bike you really can't go wrong with one of these they're so nice to ride fantastic engine and they're great fun to ride at 75% to ride at a kind of yeah sensible road speed you don't have to be hammering the brakes and winding the throttle wide open out of every corner they're just a nice bike to cruise along a road and enjoy the ride on and if you want to make a few passes to get get past a bit of traffic you can wind open the gas and the FTR responds very willingly good bike fun bike pretty carbon fiber bike it's got the legs to do some probably fast track work if you want it to it's got the ability to take you off and charge down gravel roads and yeah get away from the tarmac as well and it's got the ability to do flat out drag strip runs it's not the best bike in the world for any of those things but it's way way more than just a good looking street bike with a powerful engine it's got something about it that everything you everything it turns its hand out it makes it good fun and that i think is important there are a lot of bikes that fall into the sort of good looking cruisery cafe racery hipster bike category that is a sector at the moment that's packed full of options you're spoiled for choice but i think what's important about the FTR is it doesn't just hang all its uh success on being a good looking bike it's actually nice to ride it's got a well well developed chassis that handles well but isn't twitchy that holds the line nicely but doesn't snap across onto the side of the tyre when you don't want it to it's built to be a nice route road bike a nice cruiser road bike and it has a brilliant engine that makes you smile every time you open the throttle it's more than just a a fashionable bit of metal and plastic to stick in your garage it's got bags of character an absolute lunatic of an engine so the last couple of days have been an FTR fest indulgence of indians we've had all of them we've had a million FTRs to play on and if you didn't like FTRs before this i can only apologize but we have had a fantastic couple of days playing with these bikes as i said at the beginning we've ridden the range from the base right the way through to captain bling pants the indian FTR carbon we had a wicked time yesterday riding off road we got properly soaked covered in mud i managed to roost every bit of camera equipment the bike would have with us made me very happy and that FTR rally was a right hoot no it's not an adventure bike it's not a fully converted off-road bike it's an FTR with some spoke wheels and some knobbly tires and some higher handlebars riding it again on the road today it's quite interesting really because it's made it a bit more of a practical all-comers bike you know the higher bars a little bit of luggage in the saddlebag it's something that makes the FTR that little bit more usable dare i say practical then we've got the S and of course the carbon now they're the kind of cream of the FTR crop riding them was brilliant fun you've got the traction control which means you can lean on that especially in these minging conditions you've got you can slide the tire with a bit more confidence that if it goes too far the bike's going to catch it the carbon as well for me i i just can't stop looking at it it does look exactly like the FTR 750 race bike which makes me very very happy and i have to admit if i was going to pick one out of the range it'd be the carbon purely based shallow on looks i have no apologize for that i just think is it miles different to ride than the base no it's not the one thing that i've noticed riding all these bikes and they're all subtly different in their own way is that it doesn't actually matter what you do to an FTR whether you cover it in carbon whether you stick big handlebars on it the engine dominates everything and that really for me is what these bikes are about that 1200 ccv twin is just a big angry ball of power and noise and i don't really care what shape it is i can have any one of them as long as it's got that engine be a happy man if you've not had a chance to go and test ride one do it you i guarantee you'll get off it laughing like an idiot i never get bored of that so i'm off now to go and finish the FTR hooligan race bike the bikeboard special bike we've got our first proper test of that bike this weekend super excited teensy bit nervous but riding all these has made me really really happy to be doing skint on an indian