Indian has announced that its torquey FTR 1200 line-up has been revised for the 2022 model year with several changes. Most notable, perhaps, is the switch to 17″ wheels on three of the four models, which will dramatically improve tire choice and availability. The Rally model will be sticking with larger wheels.
Here is the press release from Indian announcing the 2022 FTRs:
MINNEAPOLIS (January 26, 2021) – Indian Motorcycle redefined what an American V-Twin can be with the introduction of its category-defying FTR platform in 2019. Now, America’s First Motorcycle Company is taking the beloved FTR platform to a whole new level with a host of enhancements to the 2022 FTR lineup. Born and evolved as the ultimate intersection of style and performance, the FTR updates include a thoughtfully refined engine, a suspension tuned for the street, and 17” tires and wheels; together delivering world-class performance while making the bike feel more compact and maneuverable.
“The FTR is unlike any other motorcycle in its ability to deliver superior performance while making a powerful statement of style and self-expression. The updates we’ve delivered further solidify that promise for even the most discerning riders,” said Mike Dougherty, President of Indian Motorcycle. “Indian Motorcycle has always pushed the bounds of motorcycling, innovated, and continuously improved and I think the new FTR is another great example of that.”
Amidst the ever-popular neo-retro segment, the FTR stands out thanks to its American heritage, iconic silhouette, and class-leading fit and finish. In addition to style, the FTR delivers an unmatched feature set including a 4.3-inch digital touch screen display and a 1203cc liquid-cooled V-twin engine that produces 120 horsepower and 87 ft-lbs of torque. With its perfect balance of style and performance the FTR lineup delivers a truly superior riding experience.
“The FTR has a totally unique feel, which riders of all experience levels love. Our aim was to preserve that DNA, while at the same enhance and refine the bike,” said Ben Lindaman, Product Director for Indian Motorcycle. “The end result is a stunning, one-of-a-kind motorcycle that oozes retro character but still begs you to twist the throttle and get after it.”
All new FTR models feature a retuned engine calibration that refines cold start performance, and delivers a smoother, more predictable throttle response. Additional FTR lineup enhancements include the following:
FTR, FTR S & FTR R Carbon
The FTR, FTR S, and FTR R Carbon models are outfitted with 17-inch cast aluminium wheels wrapped with Metzeler Sportec street tires – resulting in precision handling in corners and nimble handling on the street. Smaller wheels, along with the bike’s front and rear suspension which offer 120mm of travel, contribute to a lower seat height by 1.4-inches – opening the door for more riders to throw a leg over the FTR. Additionally, the ProTaper handlebars were trimmed by 1.5-inches (40mm) to support the bike’s nimble handling and give riders more control.
Additional updates for the new FTR line further refine rider comfort. These three models offer fully adjustable front and rear suspension, a new feature added to the FTR base, as well as cylinder deactivation to manage engine heat when the motorcycle is idle.
Additionally, each FTR model packs a host of standard features that carry over from previous FTR iterations. An inverted front suspension tuned for the street, along with radially mounted dual Brembo brakes provide riders with exceptional control and superior stopping power, while cruise control contributes to a comfortable ride.
Key points of differentiations between models, include the following:
FTR
Starting at $12,999, the base FTR features an analog gauge and is available in Black Smoke with red accents throughout, including red pinstripes on the wheels, red Indian Motorcycle script branding across the tank, and a red rear shock spring.
FTR S
With two paint options, Maroon Metallic and White Smoke, the FTR S begins at $14,999. The premium offering includes Indian Motorcycle’s 4.3-inch touchscreen display, which offer phone integration via Bluetooth or USB and configurable gauges. The FTR S is standard with an upgraded Akrapovic exhaust, three ride modes, wheelie control with rear lift mitigation, stability control, traction control and cornering ABS. Additionally, a fast-charging USB port provides a convenient means to staying charged.
FTR R Carbon
The FTR R Carbon sits at the top as the premier model in the FTR lineup. In addition to the aforementioned features listed with the FTR S, the FTR R Carbon sets itself apart with carbon fiber tank covers, front fender and headlight nacelle, fully adjustable Öhlins gold front fork and gold piggyback shock, a black Akrapovic exhaust, premium seat cover, and numbered badging on the console. The FTR R Carbon is available starting at $16,999.
FTR Rally
Maintaining its scrambler aesthetic, the FTR Rally features Pirelli Scorpion Rally STR tires over wire-spoke wheels with an 18-inch in the rear and 19-inch in front. Like other FTR models, the FTR Rally receives the refined engine calibration and throttle response, along with rear cylinder deactivation. The FTR Rally’s ProTaper handlebars are two inches higher than other FTR models for better comfort and handling with a more relaxed ergonomic position. The FTR Rally features an analog gauge and is available starting at $13,999 in Titanium Smoke.
Accessories
An ideal platform for personalization, the FTR also receives an expanded offering of style, performance and comfort accessories. New style accessories include new tank pads available in black and clear, while a host of carbon fiber parts are now available, including chain guards, V-Covers, radiator guards and a 17-inch front fender. Riders can also upgrade their suspension with an Öhlins forks and shock kit, while riders looking to go the extra mile can add a rear rack bag, R Carbon Seat and a USB charging port.
In addition, Indian Motorcycle is carrying over more than 60 FTR parts and accessories. Designed with the perfect fitment, riders can personalize their FTR with a full accessory line ranging from tank covers to high and low-mount Akrapovic exhaust options, storage bags, a luggage rack, a mid-windshield and more. The 2022 FTR lineup will begin shipping to Indian Motorcycle dealers throughout the U.S. and Canada in spring 2021. Riders can learn more at their local Indian Motorcycle dealership, by visiting IndianMotorcycle.com.
All these models are pretty darn ugly.
I owned (thankfully for only a few weeks) a Buell Ulysses and rode the XR-1200, both with variants of the same Sportster 1200 engine about which a small ratio of enthusiasts used to rave. Personally I found the low-RPM vibration to be so intrusive that I can barely believe anyone (including me) would trade money for such a “farm implement” device. IMO any engine with that much vibration (at any RPM) needed moth balls decades ago. It’s an embarrassment. H-D stock finally crashing…richly deserved.
It’s impossible to fix or “balance” an engine suffering from such horrific primary imbalance, integral to the ancient design. No aural effect including H-D’s so-called “potato-potato” can compensate for that horrible flaw.
Am I blocking?
Kawasaki K900RS. Agreed. Let the good times roll.
Happy Birthday!
I like it.
It’s my birthday. Z900, Rebel 1100, Triple 1200RS, or FTR?
They’re different enough that it would come down to personal taste. I’d lean towards the Z900, or more particularly the Z900RS if you added it to your list.
FTR 2nd, Triumph 3rd (due to the price and the overkill factor), Rebel last.
One of those four is decidedly not like the others. Don’t choose that one.
Rebel 1100 is not like the others? Hah.
Indians move to 17″ wheels, will certainly help with tire choice. Further enhance the appeal of this bike. Great to see Indian stick with this model, with updates/refinement. Harley should have done this with the XR-1200 several years back.
Z900. Best bike pound for pound by dollar bike made right now. $7900 in my area……
Nice bike and all but wish they would use this platform for an adventure bike,the FTR looks like a hoot to ride but not practical for everyday life. Come on Indian build a proper adventure bike, I know you can do it.
Even if they did, how many ADV riders would abandon the usual suspects from KTM, BMW, Yamaha, Honda, etc. and actually pull the trigger on an unproven, first-stab-at-this-thing American product?
Would you? Seriously, would you buy one, right out of the shoot?
I’m guessing there would be very few takers. We might see a modicum of faux interest on the internet forums, but I highly doubt there would be too many people who, when push came to shove, would hand over their very substantial ADV dollars to Indian or Harley instead of to the established class leaders.
Polaris/Indian is likely very well aware of this.
VLJ, guess we will find out since Harley announced their adventure thingy in their 2021 model line up announcement.
I read yesterday Harley lost 96 million dollars in the 3rd q of 2020.
This actually looks like a modern upright bike. Maybe someone will design an extra fuel reservoir to fit underneath the seat to give it a bit more range.
If Harley built a bike like this they’d be coming into the modern age, too.
New subject – With most bikes having FI, there is no reason not to have all the fuel under the seat, except for spacial considerations, such as mono shocks or V twins. Also frees up room for a humongas air box.
I have ridden a couple motorcycles with the fuel below and was very surprised how much better the handling and perception of weight was improved.
I do like the tail light and I like the brakes and………….well, that’s about it.
You don’t really see the engine in the FTR, whereas you do on the Speed Triple and KTM Duke. Seems like it should be on display.
The wheelbase or swingarm looks to be longer than it should be, or rather, most modern bikes have a wheelbase that looks too short. It’s just right. Big twin front rotors build confidence. Temptation…
The wheelbase on these has always thrown the aesthetics off for me. The first time I saw one it was disappointing. It’s like those stretched swingarms. Plus, I don’t see why it needed to be like that. A Speed Triple is something like 4-5″ shorter in wheelbase. Now, the FTR 750…. that looks right.
A longer wheelbase allows greater acceleration. If you want the bike to feel like a hooligan then you shorten the wheelbase (like Buell always did) so that it’s easier to power wheelie with lower power. If the manufacturer cares more about 0-60 or 1/4 mile times, they extend the wheelbase.
I prefer the longer swingarm for high speed and stability. Wheelies were fun as a kid on a bike.
The weird stretched look is exaggerated by the absence of a proper tail section.
It does exaggerate the look but this bike does have an unusually long wheelbase for a sporting ride. I’d be interested in knowing how they arrived at that choice.
It is a nice-looking bike, but I’ve never liked dual exhausts on the same side. IMHO, make it a single, or put one muffler on each side. Also, kudos to Indian for (finally) doing a video featuring riders wearing full-face helmets.
Dual exhaust on each side give a much improved tonal quality from separation of point sources, and power pulse timing perception. Works both on and off the bike.
Pretty sure they’re going for the flat track aesthetic with the exhaust.
Of course they are. I’m just stating that I don’t like it, not that I can’t read their advertising copy.
Well thanks for clearing that up fred. I like it because the exhaust works with the flat track style of the rest of the bike. Different strokes.
they call this “neo retro”? The only think that looks remotely “retro” on this bike is the logo on the tank.
Still one major problem though: no leg room. A big no no for me, too bad because otherwise this is a fantastic motorcycle.
Lusted after this one from the inception. Swung a leg over and put a kink in my knees that lasted for days. 36″ inseams need not apply. Shame, really–I wanted to like it. I wanted to buy it. But I’m not buying a bike I don’t enjoy sitting on.
American Heritage? Polaris is 65 years old, after Indian Motorcycle Co went out of business, and only bought the rights to the Indian name 10 years ago.
Claim the name fine, you bought it, but dont claim the heritage cause you dont own it
“Polaris Indian since 2011” should be on the cases.. not 1901
Relax, friend. Using that logic, Harley would have to put “no longer AMF since 1981” on their cases.
Indian is back, just like Harley-Davidson. Both companies had some rough years, went through ownership changes, etc. If you can afford the bikes and like them, buy them. If not, don’t.
The difference is when AMF acquired Harley Davidson, it was the same plant, same workers, same engineers even people with the name Davidson on the board of directors. Every year, since 1903 riders have been able to walk to a HD dealership and buy a new Harley.
Indian went out of business in 1952. In 2011 a snowmobile company bought the rights to the name (the 7th company to do so I believe) and claimed a heritage that really wasn’t theirs. Not a single person, tool or machine was used from the company that went out of business 60 years earlier
It matters to those of us interested in the history of motorcycles.
New Nortons are not Nortons, New Excelsiors are not Excelsiors, and new Triumphs are not Triumphs. History tells us this.
In that case, new Harleys aren’t Harleys, they are AMFs. LOL
The people who dedicated their lives and fortunes to revive these classic brands care far more about the history of motorcycles than some anonymous poster on the internet.
FWIW, I’m pretty certain that HD wasn’t selling bikes to the general public during WWII.
New Indians, Nortons, Triumphs, AND Harleys are all real, whether you approve or not. You may be right about Excelsior, as I cannot find any indication of current production.
Actually Triumph is claiming “all” of its history even though they stopped producing motorcycles for a few years. The Indian heritage is still alive and well as Polaris tries to do justice to both history and modern design.
The FTR is just a perfectly balanced machine, sporty enough to switch back, up right enough to cruise around, and a dash of hooligan.
“It matters to those of us interested in the history of motorcycles.”
What difference does the history of the marquee make?
Seriously. When you buy a motorcycle, you’re buying one motorcycle. You’re buying a product as it’s currently constituted. You aren’t receiving a permanent pass to the marquee’s private museum. You aren’t receiving the keys to clean examples of all their historic products. You don’t inherit any of their old trophies, or lawsuits.
One motorcycle. That’s all you get. You get the one example currently offered by the latest keyholders of the brand.
That’s it. The rest is pure marketing fluff.
disagree VLJ.
My first street bike was a 50cc 2 stroke made by the Italian company Aermacchi and imported and badged by Harley Davidson. It wasn’t a Harley, it was an Aermacchi.
In India Harley is pulling out, but is going to let Hero build small bikes and call them Harleys. They are not Harley’s they are Hero’s.
If a Chinese conglomerate paid stupid money and bought Harley Davidson and moved manufacturing to China, and instead of making big V Twins made a bunch of 350cc p twin bikes with Harley on the tanks, and then exported them back to the US…no one would consider them true Harleys.
History and congruity of history is important. At least to some. It is to me.
Since Harley would have sold out to China in your example, yes, the new Chinese-made Harleys would then be true Harleys. They would be the only new Harleys available for sale.
They might be less desirable Harleys, similar to CBS-era Fenders, ROLA-era Celestions, AFM-era Harleys, etc., but they’d still be real Harleys.
Marquees change hands and locations all the time. Jaguar, Bentley, Excelsior-Henderson, Royal Enfield, Triumph, MV Agusta, Fender, Gibson…Indian.
In the case of this FTR Indian, even if Indian had never gone out of business before being resurrected, there wouldn’t be a single tool, dye, part, worker, or management member associated with the building of the original Indians that had anything to do with the construction of this new model.
Different era, different people, different materials, different designs, different manufacturing processes, different location, different everything, except the name on the tank.
Still a real Indian, because it has to be.
I agree with VLJ on this. Indian is just a brand. If every employee of Harley Davidson was fired and replaced, then all production moved to another facility to build redesigned bikes that were essentially in the same style and spirit as current Harley Davidson, that would still be a Harley to me. Even if they started building sport bikes, they would still be Harley Davidson, just not the Harley that I once knew.
That is to me what modern Indian is. Just a name on a motorcycle. They decide what that name is about and build bikes and market a lifestyle around it . I confess it is a bit disingenuous to sell the “since 1901” bit seeing as the brand was resurrected after a long hiatus in the grave, but they can pretend wherever they want I suppose.
The reverse is true with the SWM brand. This is a revived brand itself that sells motorcycles built with the same tooling in the same facility with many of the same employees as the pre-BMW/KTM Husqvarna. But no one ever says, “Those aren’t real SWMs. Those are Husqvarnas.” The brand left the building, but not much else. And yet we are fine calling the machines that come out of it SWMs.
if four blokes bought the naming rights to the Beatles and formed a band, it still wouldn’t make them The Beatles
You are I guess technically correct, but not in my eyes.
Doesn’t matter … I won’t be much longer for this earth anyway and it doesn’t seem to matter to those younger than me.
As a collector of motorcycle memorabilia, and motorcycle history books, which will probably end up in a dumpster when I am gone, it’s a shame to me that people are so quick to dismiss history and it’s significance.
Chinese Harleys…harrruummpphhh
mickey, no one is dismissing history. History is exactly that: the past. It’s there. It exists. It happened.
History is not, however, necessarily connected to the present, nor is it always indicative of the future. It can be, but there are no guarantees.
See: Harley V-Rod; Indian-made, liquid-cooled, toy-bike Street Rod 500; LiveWire.
See, also: Chrysler-built M-B; Ford-built Jaguar and Mazda.
Knowing this, either you buy used, sometimes very used, or you buy a new product produced by the ownership group that currently possesses the rights to slap your favorite brand’s name on the tank.
The suggestion is that this is the same company and accumulation of experience and knowledge since 1901. You can’t buy this when you’re only acquiring a name. My surname goes back to at least the thirteenth century. I can’t claim that experience on my resume. I can only provide the value and experience of a couple decades accumulation of school and work. My name being around for hundreds of years does not give me hundreds of years of experience and honing to perfection!
ask ed kretz if that’s an Indian”.
Maybe price maybe marketing, dealers sitting on a old stock at big discounts.
Now if they could just figure out how to squeeze another gallon of fuel in to it!
This. So much this…
I agree. Indian needs to offer a fuel tank with at least 5 US gallons. People who think otherwise generally aren’t thinking, they’re feeling. Recall if you will, the fairly recent “pit bike” known as the Harley Sportster ’72. It came standard with that massive 2.1 gallon tank. Sold well on ego alone until those that bought them got sick and tired of filling up every other day or worse and the word got out.
Useless in the real world.
I have to say, that top bike is extremely handsome. Except that ridiculous pipe, of course. Toss an aftermarket one on there anyway for better noises and you’re good to go.
I find it much easier to look at and more appealing on many levels than the Speed Triple 1200 from the previous article, and having had a 2008 Speed Triple 1080 that I adored, that’s saying a lot.
Sample size of 1, and approaching middle age, but maybe other manufacturers could take styling cues from these bikes?
I agree it’s a looker. The exhaust has even grown on me I think.
So sample size of two.
ew, that exhaust has grown on you? You can probably get it removed…
😂
That black one at the top might just be the best-looking new motorcycle of the year.
I almost threw up in my mouth saying that, but, damn, that thing looks absolutely fantastic. Full stop. That black tank with the red ‘Indian’ logo is definitely the best tank I’ve seen since, well, the stupidly gorgeous tank on the 2017 CB1100 EX.
I’m trying to recall what this bike competes against. BMW RnineT? Yamaha XSR900?
No way they pit it against the Super Nakeds.
Maybe trying that Harley Davidson “we only compete with ourselves” approach?
I’d say given its price point, they look to be an option among buyers of the more performance oriented retro bikes. Thruxtons, R9Ts, even the Kawasaki.
I concur that red on black livery looks pretty sweet.
gettin’ there…
17 inch wheels. Finally they came to their senses.
Agreed.
Indian the american ducati.
Trellis frame, vtwin, nice design!
Best time in history to be alive and buying a motorcycle. So many great choices, and Indian adds another one.
Agreed! Just take a look at the MD front page now, all sorts of options with great capabilities and technology.
You guys are fortunate. The only name I know right now for off the rack street bikes is CCM and you can’t buy those in The States. And they only make singles.
Since cost is not an issue for you per your previous posts why not just have someone build your ideal bike? Seems like anything else would be a waste of time for you.
For just a little over 500 pounds wet this is a bunch of motorcycle. Nice to have a choice of wheel sizes by choosing the Rally for a little taller.
Love it on many levels. Would be nice if it wasn’t so heavy but so was my FZ1 and it was amazing for a 500# bike once I changed the suspension/chassis.