[WillPhelps]

Hi. I've had my 2018 Scout since last August, but just found this site.

I bought the Scout after being hit on the my BMW R1200 RT. Before that was mostly Harleys... the Heritage model because I'm short. After the accident I made a bargain with my wife that I would get a shorter, lighter bike and give up on the long rides. Hence the Scout.

But I guess I'm slowly going back on that deal. I'm about as healed as I'm going to get and taking longer and longer rides on the Scout. With only 1500 miles on the bike, I went to the Indian dealer to see about trading up to a Springfield. What they offered would barely pay off my balance... and I put a good chunk down on the bike. So... no Springfield for me... unless someone here wants a 2018 Scout (shown below) with 1500 miles on it AND the 5 year warrantee plan.

I'm going to try and make some changes to the Scout to make it more comfortable for long rides. My first purchase was the reduced reach bars and some new grips. I'll document that once I install them.

After that, maybe floorboards and a seat. Any advise you folks could give would be greatly appreciated.

Will

PS. I don't really have any good pictures of my bike in person... so here's a screen shot from the "build it" feature of the Indian website. Hope that's legal.

 

[Victor.s.rod]

I would highly recommend getting a better seat or getting the stock seat redone with like memory foam. I love my scout and I’ve added a lot of mods to make it comfortable, but that seat is just awful.


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[WillPhelps]

Thanks, Victor. I noticed that the seat sucked on my first long ride. That's on my shopping list.

 

[ScotD]

I'm going to try and make some changes to the Scout to make it more comfortable for long rides. My first purchase was the reduced reach bars and some new grips. I'll document that once I install them.
After that, maybe floorboards and a seat. Any advise you folks could give would be greatly appreciated.
Will

For the seat, for real long rides I recommend the Russell Day Long. I have one I purchased from a similar-sized forum member and wouldn't have any other seat now. I've rode for 8 hours with no issues.

 

[Marcus]

I recommend getting a spring seat. It adds to the retro look and it also gives you more suspension. The angle of the rear shocks give you a short distance to bottom out. But a spring seat will give you another 2" or so. I loved the one I sell at www.IndianAftermarket.com but there are several options out there to look at.

 

[2506]

Hi. I've had my 2018 Scout since last August, but just found this site.

I bought the Scout after being hit on the my BMW R1200 RT. Before that was mostly Harleys... the Heritage model because I'm short. After the accident I made a bargain with my wife that I would get a shorter, lighter bike and give up on the long rides. Hence the Scout.

But I guess I'm slowly going back on that deal. I'm about as healed as I'm going to get and taking longer and longer rides on the Scout. With only 1500 miles on the bike, I went to the Indian dealer to see about trading up to a Springfield. What they offered would barely pay off my balance... and I put a good chunk down on the bike. So... no Springfield for me... unless someone here wants a 2018 Scout (shown below) with 1500 miles on it AND the 5 year warrantee plan.

I'm going to try and make some changes to the Scout to make it more comfortable for long rides. My first purchase was the reduced reach bars and some new grips. I'll document that once I install them.

After that, maybe floorboards and a seat. Any advise you folks could give would be greatly appreciated.

Will

PS. I don't really have any good pictures of my bike in person... so here's a screen shot from the "build it" feature of the Indian website. Hope that's legal.
View attachment 488442

New suspension front and back. Fuel manager.

 

[WillPhelps]

I recommend getting a spring seat. It adds to the retro look and it also gives you more suspension. The angle of the rear shocks give you a short distance to bottom out. But a spring seat will give you another 2" or so. I loved the one I sell at www.IndianAftermarket.com but there are several options out there to look at.

From their website... "If you are under 5'-9" tall this might be tall for you." I am 5' 5" Maybe add an inch and a. half with boots on. This seat won't work for me. It's a great look and a great idea, though.

 

[RobCourt]

The rider back rest may help on longer journeys.

 

[Bobberlicious]

I highly recommend getting a pair of floorboards for long distance rides. It was the first change I did, even before the bike left the shop. I have been riding for 30 years with floorboards on my Sportsters and I can’t miss them anymore!
You don’t need to take the expensive ones from the Indian factory which I did and later regret because of the price. You’ll find some good stuff on the aftermarket sites.

 

[WillPhelps]

I completely agree about the floorboards. I've since 1999 I've had 3 Harley Heritages and 1 Yamaha 1300 all with floorboards. Riding the Scout on the demo ride, I knew the pegs had to go.

I do see some Scouts with highway bars. The look a little far forward for short riders. Can any short riders that have them tell me if they are usable?

 

[Bobberlicious]

I am 5’5’’ as well, works perfect!

 

[skromfols]

The rider floorboards may be comfortable, but if you're an aggressive rider you'll find them scraping often. I put a set of Indian floorboards on my Scout when I first bought it and almost immediately found myself scraping them when I rode with groups up in the foothills on two lane twisty roads. Since those are the most fun roads to ride I switched back to the stock pegs and haven't scraped anything except the kick stand since then.

 

[Dr.Shifty]

I had floorboards on my Scout, Aeromach I think but the Scout is now sold. They scraped too easily for me. However, forum member @Gort makes boards, called GortBoards, and they are narrow at the rear so they don't scrape. And I think they sit a touch higher so might be well suited to a shorter rider.

My Scout was 2016 model and the suspension on the early bikes was woeful. I knew that before I bought the bike and had money put aside for new suspension. This helped but the rough roads in my area meant I still had problems with the rear bottoming out. They've upgraded the suspension on the new bikes but the travel length is probably the same on the rear. If I ever went back to a Scout I'd get a sprung saddle as well, just to give that extra bit of travel.

The stock windshield caused a lot of buffeting which was very tiring on a long ride. There were few choices in the early days but now more companies are making aftermarket shields. I made up lowers that bolted into the radiator housing where the bars go. That calmed a lot of the buffeting.

 

[WillPhelps]

The stock windshield caused a lot of buffeting which was very tiring on a long ride

I had a Yamaha 1300 Deluxe a few years ago. They had these clear plastic panels that strapped to the front forks. That helped a lot with the buffeting.