If there has been one cool thing about the latest rendition of the Indian vs Harley motorcycle rivalry it is that Indian (which is a brand owned by Polaris) has enough financial horsepower to stick this one out and actually battle with its ancestral rival.
The Indians have been hammering the black and orange in the world of flat track motorcycle racing and with their upcoming release of their Raptor bagger, they are coming after the Harleys where the live on the street as well. CycleWorld got the scoop on blueprints showing the new liquid cooled V-twin that will power the Raptor and the thing is pretty neat!
The layout is kind of what you would expect with a single overhead cam actuating four valves per cylinder, but the look will be different as the cooling fins on the engine and the pushrods will no longer be part of the visual package. That’s not going to make anyone too sad though because the horsepower this thing makes from the factory is legit. An expected rating of 120hp is way out and above what the current Thunder Stroke engines produce out of the box and we know that motorcycling hot rodders will be upping the ante on that program right quick with bolt ons and more serious components as time marches on.
The engine will be hooked to a six speed transmission and the target for the engine and the whole bike is the Harley-Davidson Road Glide. This is going to be a big, rumbling cruiser that has stout power to get up and defend its territory when called upon. Interestingly the engine was likely going to be used for the Victory brand as a replacement for their Victory 106 engine but Victory was killed off and Indian was seemingly the beneficiary of that.
CycleWorld: Indian Raptor Coming in 2020? Water cooled bagger engine!
I have a 16 Indian Roadmaster. Best bike I ever had. I’m sure this liquid bagger is gonna sell like hot-cakes. Wake up Harley. I know, I’ve had lots of Harleys, still have my FXR( best Harley ever made). Nice to have American competition.
I also have a 2016 Roadmaster. Great bike but far from the best I ever owned.
Actually trading for a new Goldwing tomorrow. An Indian dealer gave me more for a 2008 Goldwing with 80000 miles than they will now give for the Roadmaster with 8600 miles. They are not holding value. Still a great bike, but I will be happy to be back on the wing
No used bikes are holding value right now. Harley even worse. Honda anything is good engineering but most dont want to ride a spaceship. Again classic looks and feel come into play…Plus woman just love the looks of the Indian
The water cooled V-Rod was the best bike Harley ever built and the dirt bags shunned it. When the current Harley generation dies out, so will Harley.
v-rod was butt ugly and too japanese looking. People still want classic looks.
Yeah, that’s why Harley is going down the shitter. The day I could walk into a Harley dealership & buy one off the floor, was the day I sold all my Harley stock.
Not that many new Indians available though…Your right though as the generation that buy Harleys are slowly going away or at least on the downward trend.
I’m getting to the age where cruisers are looking appealing. After riding Japanese and Italian bikes for the last 22 years Indian is the only US manufacture I’d even consider. The HD Breakout is a beautiful machine, but sadly not much bike for the money.
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