KIWI RIDER 11 2019 VOL1 | Page 17

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE REVEALS POWERPLUS ENGINE I f you’re a fan of America’s oldest name in motorcycling, Indian Motorcycle, you’ll be aware that the company has been rumoured to be working on a water-cooled engine for some time now. The all-new powertrain features a six- speed transmission, assist clutch to reduce clutch effort, and three rider modes which adjust the engine’s throttle mapping. After what feels like years of rumours, the company has finally revealed the long- anticipated engine to the public, and it certainly has the right specification to impress. Reliability was also top of Indian’s mind when developing the new powerplant, and as such the company says the PowerPlus was tested and refined over one million miles of simulated riding, including state-of-the-art dyno testing, and more than 250,000 on-road miles (400,000km). The new engine’s PowerPlus moniker is a nod to Indian Motorcycle’s iconic history, paying homage to the Indian PowerPlus motorcycle produced from 1916 to 1924. “We challenged our engineers with the notion that anything less than best-in-class design and performance will simply not get it done, and it’s clear with this new engine that they have delivered on that high standard,” said Steve Menneto, Indian Motorcycle President. “Countless hours were spent in design, development and testing to ensure this is the best liquid-cooled V-twin ever developed, and I could not be prouder of our team and this incredible motor.” The PowerPlus takes design and performance inspiration from Indian’s first liquid-cooled engine which debuted in the Indian Scout, including an overhead camshaft design utilising four valves per cylinder, and then goes even further. Developing a class-leading 121 horsepower (90.1 kW) and 178 Nm of torque from a displacement of 1769cc, the PowerPlus engine is, at this stage, not going to replace Indian’s ageing-yet- characterful Thunderstroke 111 in the Chief line. Instead, the PowerPlus is destined to be the heart of an all-new bagger to be dubbed the Indian Challenger, which Indian claims will be the highest- performing American V-twin ever developed. Going by the fact Indian has shown off both a chrome finished and blacked out version of the PowerPlus so far, we believe the new Indian Challenger will also be made available in a Dark Horse specification. Kiwi Rider is awaiting further details on when we can expect to see the new bike arrive on our shores. KIWI RIDER 17