By Sabrina Giacomini, RideApart
There’s one thing Indian has been excelling at for the past three years and that’s flat-track racing. The factory team, the Wrecking Crew,
has been dominating the dirt oval with Jared Mees in the lead. The
manufacturer scored a home run with the introduction of its new FTR 750
dirt warrior, so much so that it too everything it learned on the flat
track and applied it to a street-friendly bike. Thus the FTR 1200 was
born. Now, we’re about to find out how whether the 1200 has the same
racing chops as it competition-specific counterpart with the Indian FTR
1200 Hooligans.
The two specially-prepared FTR 1200
are the work of Wisconsin-based shop S&S Cycle, incidentally
Indian’s official part supplier on the dirt track. The two FTRs have
been significantly modified to go from street to dirt tracker. The
exhaust pipes have been re-routed to high-set tips, the headlamp has
been removed and replaced by a number plate, sitting on top of the new
S&S billet triple-clamps meant to increase and improve steering. The
new clamps also decrease the rake angle, making for a slightly shorter
wheelbase.
The front brake has been stripped down and the 19 and 18-inch cast
wheels have been replaces with Roland Sands Design circles. The front
inverted fork has been stiffened and the rear suspension has been
replaced with a FOX FTR 1200 race monoshock with remote reservoir teamed
with a new, shorter swingarm.
A reworked frame positions the footpegs higher up for improved ground clearance and the new subframe receives a smaller battery and a carbon fiber tail. All and all, these modifications has allowed the FTR 1200s to shed a significant 55 lb.
The two Indian FTR 1200 Hooligan will hit the track in the second round of the European Hooligan Championship during the Wheels & Waves event taking place in Biarritz, France. The two track-to-street-to-track bikes will be raced on the dirt oval by Krazy Horse’s teammates Lee Kirkpatrick and Leah Tokelove.
A reworked frame positions the footpegs higher up for improved ground clearance and the new subframe receives a smaller battery and a carbon fiber tail. All and all, these modifications has allowed the FTR 1200s to shed a significant 55 lb.
The two Indian FTR 1200 Hooligan will hit the track in the second round of the European Hooligan Championship during the Wheels & Waves event taking place in Biarritz, France. The two track-to-street-to-track bikes will be raced on the dirt oval by Krazy Horse’s teammates Lee Kirkpatrick and Leah Tokelove.
