When Indian Motorbike unveiled the FTR 1200 in 2019, it was a uncommon second when a producer truly listened to its followers. For years, we had begged for a street-legal model of the dominant FTR750 Scout Racer, and Indian delivered a high-spec, 120 hp V-twin, trellis-framed hooligan. It was a motorcycle that lastly supplied an American various to the European bare bike institution.
Nonetheless, because the mud settled, the {custom} scene recognized just a few “manufacturing unit” compromises. The inventory FTR is a bit heavy on the scales and heavy on the plastic, with a gasoline tank format that hides the mechanical great thing about its trellis body. These perceived flaws have acted as a beginning gun for the world’s finest builders, who’ve spent the previous few years stripping away the majority to search out the pure, lean race bike hiding beneath. Listed below are 5 of our favourite Indian FTR customs featured on Bike EXIF.
The ‘FTR 1200’ by Arctos Assortment
The group at Arctos Assortment—a Swiss powerhouse comprising Gannet Design’s Ulfert Janssen and Stefan Fuhrer of Fuhrer Moto—determined that the FTR’s largest sin was its “bloated” aesthetic. Janssen, a former Renault designer, and Fuhrer, a former MotoGP mechanic, got down to put the FTR on a radical visible weight loss program. Their main mission was to show the asymmetrical trellis body, a process they admitted gave them large complications because of the complicated routing of cables and electronics hidden beneath the inventory covers.
The transformation started with a hand-hammered aluminum tank cowl, sculpted after a clay-modeling part, which allowed them to slim down the realm across the handlebars and relocate the OEM sprint into the quilt itself. Out again, the cumbersome rear part was changed with a svelte, all-in-one gasoline tank and subframe unit from Roland Sands Design. This half not solely diminished the visible mass but additionally moved the middle of gravity, giving the bike a extra purposeful, “tail-high” stance.
Efficiency was leveled up with a Hyperpro rear shock and Kineo wire-spoked wheels wrapped in Michelin Anakee Wild rubber. To match the “scrubbed” steel and midnight blue livery, they completed the body and swingarm in pearl white, making the skeleton the hero of the construct. It’s a apply in industrial design that proves the FTR seems finest when it has nothing to cover. [MORE]
The ‘Black Swan’ by Workhorse Velocity Store
Brice Hennebert of Workhorse Velocity Store is just not a person of half-measures. Whereas he was constructing an ’80s-inspired FTR for one brother, he was concurrently creating the ‘Black Swan’ for the opposite. This construct is a brutalist, carbon-clad superbike that pulls inspiration from 90s sportbikes and RAUH-Welt Porsches. The centerpiece is a 3D-scanned, one-piece carbon fiber physique package that integrates the fairing, tank, and tail, weighing a staggering 1.8 kg.
Hennebert’s “Batman meets Prime Gun” imaginative and prescient features a set of motorized “eyelids” that slide open over the headlight—a nod to traditional sports activities automobiles. Beneath the carbon pores and skin lies a {custom} aluminum gasoline cell and a bespoke swingarm, each CNC-machined by Vinco Racing. The exhaust is a one-off titanium system from Akrapovič.
The element checklist reads like a racer’s want checklist: blacked-out Öhlins suspension, carbon fiber Rotobox wheels, and an ultra-light prototype braking system from Beringer. Completed in uncooked carbon weave with gold-leaf striping, the Black Swan is maybe essentially the most technically complicated FTR in existence—a high-tech predator that swaps the grime oval for the asphalt of a MotoGP circuit. [MORE]
The Hooligan Racer by Blixt & Dunder
Whereas many FTR builds are destined for the road, Jonathan Falkman of Sweden’s Blixt & Dunder constructed his for the grime. Competing within the European Hooligan sequence, Jonathan stripped a base-model FTR 1200 all the way down to its bones, shedding an enormous 50 kg within the course of. The primary main surgical strike was to the swingarm, which was shortened by 7cm to sharpen the cornering—an important modification for tight grime ovals.
The bike encompasses a “cleansed” entrance finish with Yamaha R6 forks and a {custom} high yoke, whereas the rear subframe was rebuilt to accommodate a Saddlemen tracker seat and a smaller, race-legal gasoline tank. To maintain the traces clear and the burden down, Jonathan deleted the ABS, oil cooler, and nearly the entire wiring, choosing a easy “on/off” button and a tether kill change.
Rolling on 19-inch spoked wheels with Dunlop DT3 rubber, the Blixt & Dunder FTR is a uncooked, purposeful device. Nonetheless, it nonetheless wears a shocking “Tron-style” wrap over a body painted with purple holographic flake. It’s a reminder that the FTR’s soul belongs on the monitor, proving that while you take away the street-legal fluff, you’re left with one of the crucial aggressive platforms in trendy racing. [MORE]
The Pikes Peak Tracker by Freeride Motos
Pierre Dhers of Freeride Motos in France needed to seize the “form-follows-function” spirit of the Pikes Peak Worldwide Hill Climb. Working in collaboration with Surplus Motos, Pierre aimed to make use of as many repurposed, high-performance elements as potential. The result’s a mechanical hybrid that makes use of an entire KTM 1290 Tremendous Duke R entrance finish and a KTM 790 Duke rear wheel.
The bodywork is a intelligent piece of recycling: Pierre used the tail part from a 1996 Honda RS 250 to create a mould for a brand new one-piece fiberglass and carbon monocoque. This sits atop an aluminum gasoline cell that doubles because the bike’s subframe. The entrance quantity board, machined by BMC, homes a row of LEDs and bears the quantity 19—a tribute to the final yr bikes had been allowed to race “The Clouds.”
The construct is rounded out with a {custom} four-day pie-cut exhaust, an Öhlins rear shock wedged into the gusseted swingarm, and a leather-trimmed ignition. With its aggressive stance and mix-and-match engineering, the Freeride Motos FTR is a gritty, high-performance avenue tracker that honors the period of the mountain-climbing privateer. [MORE]
The ‘FTR AMA’ by Workhorse Velocity Store
The second of Hennebert’s FTR masterpieces, the ‘AMA,’ takes a very totally different route. Impressed by 80s AMA Superbike racers and the enduring Martini Racing livery of Lancia Delta rally automobiles, this construct is all about “battle tank” brutalism. To nail the retro muscle bike vibe, Brice transformed the FTR from a monoshock to a twin-shock rear finish, using a pair of Öhlins dampers and a custom-fabricated swingarm that’s 40 mm longer than inventory.
The bodywork was designed in CAD and 3D printed earlier than being bolstered with carbon fiber. It encompasses a blocky endurance-style gasoline tank cowl (hiding an aluminum gasoline cell) and a square-back tail part with a retrofitted LED taillight. The wheels are custom-made “turbo fan” models from JoNich Wheels, mimicking the aerodynamic covers seen on Group B rally automobiles.
To deal with the 1,203 cc V-twin’s energy, Brice fitted Beringer’s 4D braking system and a pie-cut chrome steel exhaust with S&S Cycle mufflers. The Martini-inspired paint job, penned by Axecent in Japan, is the right crowning glory. The FTR AMA isn’t only a {custom}; it’s a nostalgic time machine that reminds us why the muscle bike period stays the high-water mark for a lot of lovers. [MORE]
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