Baby Scout

Indian Motorcycle’s smallest Scout, the Sixty, is out now. Will it live up to the legendary name? We try to find out.

- Ravi Chandnani

THE INDIAN SCOUT WAS the stepping stone to the exclusive world of Indian Motorcycle. That title now belongs to a smaller Scout, called the Sixty. This new bike from America promises to be a lot like its elder, or may I say, bigger sibling. What’s the difference? you may ask. Well, we were just as curious and so we spent a day with the Sixty to find out how close it comes to the standard Scout.

To begin with, a layman would not be able to spot the differences between the standard Scout and the Sixty. Take a closer look, however, and you will discover an array of changes that make for the visual difference between these two motorcycles. The Sixty is clearly the lesser of the two in terms of chrome, I mean, because it wears a dark robe. The cylinder-heads, air-box, crank-case cover, rear-brake lever, suspension springs, and the handlebar are all covered in black/ grey paint/powder coating. These components come finished in shiny chrome on the standard Scout.

But these are not the main things that set the two apart. The Sixty actually has a smaller capacity engine. You may wonder how that 60° liquid-cooled, V-twin looks exactly the same as on the standard Scout, but the bore in the Sixty’s V-twin is different. The bore and stroke of the Sixty’s V-twin stand at 93.0 x 73.6 mm, which translates into 999 cc. In layman terms, the engine capacity has gone down from 1,133 cubic centimetres to 999 cc, making the Sixty a litre-class cruiser.