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2019 FTR 1200
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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
If somebody else beats me to this thread, my apologies for the duplicate.



Sultans Of Sprint » Indian Motorcycle to enter the FTR1200 in the Sultans of Sprint “Factory Class”

Indian to enter the FTR1200 Custom in the Sultans of Sprint ‘Factory Class’ | Indian Motorcycle Media EMEA

Six months ago, Indian Motorcycle revealed one of the most exciting custom motorcycles ever built to celebrate their return to flat track racing and winning the championship. In those six months over thirty thousand comments made on social media have confirmed the FTR1200 Custom’s popularity, so Indian has decided to bring it to Europe to compete in the Sultans of Sprint races and ask our EU fans the all-important question: “Should Indian build this bike?”.

With #speedisoureligion as its hashtag, the Sultans of Sprint series bring together the best bike builders from the new custom bike scene in Europe in to race and to party at key festivals in Italy, Belgium, Germany and France.

The series has a number of categories of sprint racing, with the Scout FTR1200 Custom able to enter the newly created Factory Class.

In this Factory Class, motorcycles must be four-stroke (air or water cooled) and there is no limit regarding the engine capacity providing that the tuned bike does not exceed a specific power-to-weight ratio.

Bikes in the Factory Class can either be customised by private workshops or can be entered by a manufacturer as an ‘in house’ custom built racer.

Grant Bester, VP and General Manager for Indian in EMEA says he is thrilled to be able to bring the FTR1200 Custom back over in to Europe. “We’ve been overwhelmed by the response to this bike, so to finally be able to let people see and hear it race in the Sultans of Sprint really excites everyone working at Indian,” he says. “We’ll be racing it in four key countries, Italy, Belgium, Germany and France, and we cannot wait to see people’s reactions when they see this sprint race.”

You’ll be able to see the FTR1200 Custom in action at The Reunion event in Italy in May, followed by Biker’s Classics in Spa in July, then Glemseck in early September and finally the Dandy Riders festival in France in late September. Indian also plans to have the bike on static display in the UK at The Bike Shed and during Wheels & Waves in France.

Sultans of Sprint founder, Sébastian Lorentz says: “I am very excited to welcome Indian Motorcycle in the Sultans of Sprint challenge within the new FACTORY CLASS that we have just launched this season. I think that the combination of sprint racing and creativity is a perfect match between Indian Motorcycle and Sultans of Sprint. We are super happy to have the Indian Motorcycle team with the race number #12 which will be added on the Indian FTR1200 to compete for this season. This custom bike is really a show stopper and I am sure it will be exciting to watch on our 1/8-mile races all over Europe this summer.”


Awesome news! The FTR1200 hype train isn't losing any steam. This will be fantastic for international exposure. Very excited to find out who will be piloting the beast, I don't believe it has been revealed yet.

 

· Bronze member
2019 FTR 1200
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Discussion Starter · #2 ·
Found some info on the Sultans of Sprint website regarding the competitors. Looks like Indian will be competing against BMW (nineT or R1200R), Triumph (Thruxton or Bobber), and Yamaha (XSR700 or MT-07).

Now I'm going to get WAY ahead of myself, it's time for a bit of bench racing. Just finished crunching the numbers for each bike in the competition, assuming each manufacturer is going to choose the faster of their two models:

2019 (please) Indian FTR1200
Wet Weight: 427 lbs
Horsepower (wheel): 98.4 hp @ 7,640 RPM
lbs/hp: 4.4:1
Torque (wheel): 76.6 ft/lbs @ 5,720 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

Note: The FTR1200 prototype is already fitted intake and pipe mods as it is not a production model.

2018 BMW R1200R
Wet Weight: 508 lbs
Horsepower (crank): 125 hp @ 7,750 RPM
Horsepower (wheel @ 15% drive loss): 106.25 hp @ 7,750 RPM
lbs/hp: 4.78:1
Torque (crank): 92 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Torque (wheel estimate @ 15% drive loss): 78.2 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Final Drive: Shaft

Note: 15% drive loss is generous for shaft drive, most people seem to suggest 20%.

2018 Triumph Thruxton 1200 R
Wet Weight: 454 lbs
Horsepower (crank): 97 hp @ 6,750 RPM
Horsepower (wheel @ 15% drive loss): 82.45 hp @ 6,750 RPM
lbs/hp: 5.5:1
Torque (crank): 82.6 ft/lbs @ 4,950 RPM
Torque (wheel estimate @ 15% drive loss): 70.21 ft/lbs @ 4,950 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

2018 Yamaha MT-07
Wet Weight: 403 lbs
Horsepower (wheel): 73.7 hp @ 9,000 RPM
lbs/hp: 5.46:1
Torque (wheel): 50 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

It's no surprise that the FTR1200 comes out on top as it is not a production model and isn't weighed down (literally) by EPA standards. We can assume that every one of these manufacturers will do as much weight shaving as possible to improve their times. The R1200R, even in its production form, is already quite close to the FTR1200 in terms of power to weight ratio, so modified we can bet that it'll be a tough competitor, the Triumph and Yamaha are far enough behind that there's not much to worry about. Hopefully the FTR1200's slightly lower power band relative to the R1200R will give it an edge in a drag race, though it can also be assumed each manufacturer will be tuning specifically for the race.

My premature and hopeful prediction is that it'll come down to Indian vs. BMW and will ultimately be won by the skill of the chosen rider rather than the bike. Wouldn't it be grand if Indian whoops BMW in a drag race right after stealing their lead motorcycle designer? Talk about insult to injury. If BMW walks away with the win I might have to re-position my HP4 poster above my Indian Motorcycle Racing flag.

Also note that one of the Sultans of Sprint competition's rules is a limit on power to weight ratio, based on the specs above I would guess that limit is 4:1, which is why BMW aren't using the S1000R, Yamaha aren't using the MT-09, and Triumph aren't using the Street Triple.
 

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Found some info on the Sultans of Sprint website regarding the competitors. Looks like Indian will be competing against BMW (nineT or R1200R), Triumph (Thruxton or Bobber), and Yamaha (XSR700 or MT-07).

Now I'm going to get WAY ahead of myself, it's time for a bit of bench racing. Just finished crunching the numbers for each bike in the competition, assuming each manufacturer is going to choose the faster of their two models:

2019 (please) Indian FTR1200
Wet Weight: 427 lbs
Horsepower (wheel): 98.4 hp @ 7,640 RPM
lbs/hp: 4.4:1
Torque (wheel): 76.6 ft/lbs @ 5,720 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

Note: The FTR1200 prototype is already fitted intake and pipe mods as it is not a production model.

2018 BMW R1200R
Wet Weight: 508 lbs
Horsepower (crank): 125 hp @ 7,750 RPM
Horsepower (wheel @ 15% drive loss): 106.25 hp @ 7,750 RPM
lbs/hp: 4.78:1
Torque (crank): 92 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Torque (wheel estimate @ 15% drive loss): 78.2 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Final Drive: Shaft

Note: 15% drive loss is generous for shaft drive, most people seem to suggest 20%.

2018 Triumph Thruxton 1200 R
Wet Weight: 454 lbs
Horsepower (crank): 97 hp @ 6,750 RPM
Horsepower (wheel @ 15% drive loss): 82.45 hp @ 6,750 RPM
lbs/hp: 5.5:1
Torque (crank): 82.6 ft/lbs @ 4,950 RPM
Torque (wheel estimate @ 15% drive loss): 70.21 ft/lbs @ 4,950 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

2018 Yamaha MT-07
Wet Weight: 403 lbs
Horsepower (wheel): 73.7 hp @ 9,000 RPM
lbs/hp: 5.46:1
Torque (wheel): 50 ft/lbs @ 6,500 RPM
Final Drive: Chain

It's no surprise that the FTR1200 comes out on top as it is not a production model and isn't weighed down (literally) by EPA standards. We can assume that every one of these manufacturers will do as much weight shaving as possible to improve their times. The R1200R, even in its production form, is already quite close to the FTR1200 in terms of power to weight ratio, so modified we can bet that it'll be a tough competitor, the Triumph and Yamaha are far enough behind that there's not much to worry about. Hopefully the FTR1200's slightly lower power band relative to the R1200R will give it an edge in a drag race, though it can also be assumed each manufacturer will be tuning specifically for the race.

My premature and hopeful prediction is that it'll come down to Indian vs. BMW and will ultimately be won by the skill of the chosen rider rather than the bike. Wouldn't it be grand if Indian whoops BMW in a drag race right after stealing their lead motorcycle designer? Talk about insult to injury. If BMW walks away with the win I might have to re-position my HP4 poster above my Indian Motorcycle Racing flag.

Also note that one of the Sultans of Sprint competition's rules is a limit on power to weight ratio, based on the specs above I would guess that limit is 4:1, which is why BMW aren't using the S1000R, Yamaha aren't using the MT-09, and Triumph aren't using the Street Triple.
Great post!
Looking at this, I come to pretty much the same. I'd add, while there is the higher shaft drive loss bringing the numbers closer, I feel another aspect of shaft drive that will be a challenge for BMW, is at the standing start. dealing with shaft jacking may compromise it's launch up against the chained scout...
 

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2019 FTR 1200
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1,328 Posts
Discussion Starter · #10 ·
Finally some footage from the event, no decent race footage yet but it does look like a damn good time:


Next race is at Bikers Classic in Spa, Belgium, 30th June to 1st July.
 
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