Indian have heavily revised their FTR1200 with changes designed to appeal to corner-carving Europeans. The range sticks with four models (FTR1200, FTR1200S, FTR1200R Carbon and FTR1200 Rally) but each has been tweaked.
The biggest change across the range is a switch to 17in wheels for the FTR1200, S and R, which widens the tyre options considerably. The previous model had a 19in front with an 18in rear, which reduced tyre choices to the OEM Dunlops plus select adventure bike rubber.
With the exception of the Rally, the FTR now comes with Metzeler Sportec Street rubber. Reducing the wheel size has had other knock-on effects too: the head angle is now steeper and the trail reduced, which should make handling snappier, while the seat height has dropped by 36mm, making it easier to jump on for shorter riders.
To match the new front wheel and handling characteristics, the bars have also been narrowed by 40mm and suspension travel reduced by 30mm. So that’s two of MCN’s gripes fixed, what else have Indian looked at?
Well for a start the engine electronics have had a tweak. The throttle has been remapped for a smoother response, the rear cylinder deactivates while idling when it’s hot and there’s a fresh map to improve cold start up. Three more big ticks in the improvement box. The rest of the updates are model specific, so starting from the bottom the standard FTR1200 gets fully adjustable suspension instead of the old non-adjustable units on the current model as well as some funky new paint schemes.
The FTR1200S now comes with the titanium Akrapovic pipe as standard (previously only standard on the more expensive Race Replica) as well as new colours including the much desired 'red frame'.
At the top of the tree now sits the FTR1200R Carbon, which comes with fully adjustable Öhlins forks and shock, as well as flashy carbon panels, a black Akrapovic pipe and a fancy seat cover. In a nice move, the Öhlins suspension will be available separately, say if you prefer the look of the S model.
And how much when they arrive in April? The FTR1200 will be £12,299, the Rally £12,999, the S £13,699 and the R £15,599.
