W
ithin 25 metres of leaving my driveway
on the Indian FTR Urban for the first time,
it was lofting the front wheel in a lovely
controlled arc. This thing has got some punch...
I knew we were going to get along just fine. I
tested the FTR1200S back in our February issue
– you can read about it in the link – so I knew this
FTR with the added road comforts would be a
ot of fun.
EXCITING ENGINE
A quick look down at the dash revealed I was
in Sport mode and the TC was engaged. This
aspect of the FTR is super cool. It will let you be
quite the hoon with the Traction control on, but
it never lets things get too outrageous and it will
definitely still save your arse in low traction areas.
Of course, to fully enjoy the beauty of this 120hp,
1203cc and 60-degree V-twin, simply select Track
mode and turn the TC off. However, I would
recommend a dry road... with the engine also
pumping out 115Nm of torque at 6000rpm, it
could get a whisker too interesting without
electronic intervention.
Track mode feels very similar to Sport mode
but with a little more oomph in the mid-range.
To be honest, I’m not sure if the extra grunt I felt
is from the mode itself or the fact that the TC
was off, so doing it’s business subtly in the
background? Either way, having the traction
control off truly lets you feel all this great engine
has on offer. Standard and rain modes are power
delivery options too. To quote the Indian FTR
press booklet; each mode offers subtle
adjustments to power, throttle sensitivity, torque
delivery and slip angle. The up-shot being this is a
machine that can be aggressive and yet very user
friendly when desired and have a great safety
net for when things go wrong.
94 KIWI RIDER