First Turbo-Charged Indian Scout

Unless you are a pure drag racer, all of your riding will be off-boost. So, why use forced induction (turbochargers or superchargers) in a new Indian Scout motorcycle? Especially if you consider the legal authorized carbon dioxide limits and the difficulty of fitting a turbocharger in a small bike like the Scout. As a matter of fact, forced induction has only been applied, without success, on a handful of Japanese production motorcycles. Swedish co-builders Anders Lundgren (the Fullhouse Garage Shop) and Lasse Sundber (from Roth Engineering) say that they have built this Super Scout as a tribute to Oscar Hedstrom (1871 – 1960), the co-founder of the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company. In their words, “a way to build a bike that was related with the Indian istory of board track racing and at the same time featuring the modern technology that Indian stands for today.” For them the Scout model was the perfect choice and they came up with the name Super Scout to honor the old Scout models that were almost unbeatable on the race tracks.

If you look attentively you will notice that the frame is a one-off built in-house by Lasse Sundber Objective was of course to be able to fit the turbo while keeping a familiar Scout stance. Only engine, fuel pump, headlamp and shifter pedal are from a modern day Scout…This very unusual project features a water-cooled Garret 25 turbo now making 150 to 200hp at the rear wheel depending on the boost pressure. The Garret 25 turbo itself has an external wastegate (wait until you hear it) and boost control. The head pipes and down pipes to the turbo and the wastegate are all istainless steel and fitted as tight as possible to the frame as to not interfere with the slim lines of the bike.

What looks like the gas tank is a dummy designed to look like a 1920 Indian Scout one. Its purpose is to hide all the electronics, throttle body, front master cylinder, The fuel tank is custom made, fitted under the saddle and uses the Scout internal fuel pump.

The Super Scout has some seriously impressive electrics too. Anders fitted a fully programmable ECU and there is a key fob system with Bluetooth for monitoring engine data and to tune the ECU via an iPad…Rear fender was fabricated by Roth Engineering. Indian 1133cc engine was sandblasted for a more old-school finish. Radiators are from a Honda CRF450 with electrical fans. Indian type Leaf spring front fork was sourced at W&W.

The turbo Scout rolls on a pair of 23″ x 3.75″ 60-spoke wheels dressed in Pirelli tires. Front brake is a Beringer inboard system, wire operated to front master cylinder (K-tech hidden) Rear brake uses a Harrison billet sprocket brake with a K-tech cylinder. The LED taillight is installed under the saddle and also works as brake and turn signal. Handlebars were hand made by Roth Engineering in a board track style with internal throttle control and turn signals inside the bars. Paint job is by Pobben’s Color & Custom in Springfield blue. Anders Lundgren is excited for the coming months: “I am still test riding the bike and we are just in a phase to finish the engine tuning,” he says. Feeling like you have moved back to the 1920s with a rocket between your legs? Full House Garage Shop (photos at Indian EMEA)

25 Responses to “First Turbo-Charged Indian Scout”


  1. 1 Opera & Iron Jan 15th, 2018 at 9:04 am

    Wow. That is absolutely gorgeous. I can’t stop looking at it.

  2. 2 Brandon Jan 15th, 2018 at 9:10 am

    Not practical but superb

  3. 3 Boomer Jan 15th, 2018 at 9:23 am

    What an amazing blend of old and new. I can see this bike being part of a kick-off demonstration at the motorcycle quarter mile and dirt track races. Definitely a show winner in its class. As said, not practical for the road, but really well done.

  4. 4 Number6 Jan 15th, 2018 at 10:01 am

    Somebody has got to figure out some solution to those abysmally ugly ‘ frame wart ‘ radiators that completely detract from every custom Scout built so far including this one’s overall aesthetic

    Cause baby . Them radiators is downright fugly .

  5. 5 highrpm Jan 15th, 2018 at 10:03 am

    chopper art builds an appealing entity. unfortunately, they started with that fugly sows ear motor.

  6. 6 Woody's Jan 15th, 2018 at 10:51 am

    What a beautiful bike! Just needs a little more plumbing to cover up more of the engine.

  7. 7 Chief Waldo Jan 15th, 2018 at 10:59 am

    Is it cool? Definitely!
    Is it the first turbocharged Indian Scout? Well, it didn’t take much searching on google to find a 1941 Scout that someone had put a turbo on so, no.
    And this sentence?:
    “As a matter of fact, forced induction has only been applied, without success, on a handful of Japanese production motorcycles.” Pure BS.

  8. 8 Guzzigreg Jan 15th, 2018 at 12:11 pm

    Beautiful!!!

  9. 9 Greeko Jan 15th, 2018 at 2:20 pm

    Chief Waldo. Cyril meant 1st turbocharged NEW Scout (Polaris). Curious to know the production motorcycles sold new equipped with a turbocharger? Name of brand, model, year?

  10. 10 Tom Ryan Jan 15th, 2018 at 4:16 pm

    The bike rads are rather large. I wonder how the bike would look if the rads were about half as wide and were stretched down to the bottom of the engine area along with custom covers on the rad edges?

  11. 11 Opera & Iron Jan 15th, 2018 at 4:43 pm
  12. 12 Fzzzz Jan 15th, 2018 at 5:18 pm

    Beautiful job on a good looking bike.

  13. 13 Roberto Jan 15th, 2018 at 5:30 pm

    Not a scout……a scout motor.

  14. 14 rcupp Jan 15th, 2018 at 8:39 pm

    Looks like a turbo bicycle…

  15. 15 Stony Crane Jan 16th, 2018 at 12:42 am

    A turbo and tiny brakes, love it. Style over function is perfect for today’s connoisseurs. Hats off! Double hats off to anyone who designs a cool looking bike that actually works on the street.

  16. 16 Calif Phil Jan 16th, 2018 at 9:00 am

    One of the best bikes that I have seen on here in a long time. Amazing craftsmanship!

  17. 17 Willyd Jan 16th, 2018 at 9:12 am

    Can you imagine how fast I could get from Michigan. to Sturgis on I-90. That 1200 miles from my house would certainly be exciting!!!

  18. 18 highrpm Jan 16th, 2018 at 9:52 am

    nice effects of blue-gold playoff. starting with the gold name on the tank, down to the chainlinks.

  19. 19 Chief Waldo Jan 16th, 2018 at 10:23 am

    Greeko, Opera & Iron was nice enough to link to an article that lists production, forced induction motorcycles. Even if they only sold for a year or two, it doesn’t mean they were unsuccessfully applied. It’s not unusual to see them coming up for sale on ebay, 25+ years old and still running.
    But, since this motorcycle is a custom, not a production motorcycle, there’s no reason to limit the comparison to production only models. Customizers and performance builders have been both turbocharging and supercharging motorcycles for decades. Some of them were indeed, unsuccessfully applied, with the engines grenading in a very short time. But others are out there successfully being ridden. Just google “motorcycle turbo kits” or “motorcycle supercharger kits” and you’ll see that forced induction is alive and well in the motorcycle industry.
    PS: Kawasaki is now offering the H2 as a Sports Touring machine, as well as a sports bike. 200hp on touring bike! Whoo hoo!

  20. 20 nyc Jan 16th, 2018 at 3:32 pm

    Nice work Anders as usual.
    I’m not an Indian scout fan ah (Polaris)
    But really nice work
    Great front brake & Details

    This is the right way Indian should have been reintroduced 20 years ago.

  21. 21 Larry Barnes Jan 16th, 2018 at 9:42 pm

    It’s beautiful! Do you think I could borrow it for the board trackers’ race at Wauseon this July? Just take off the brakes and it should be legal there!

    Indian Larry #4L

  22. 22 Pat h Jan 16th, 2018 at 10:02 pm

    Very nice craftsmanship may not be everybody’s cup of tea and some may knit pick parts but that’s why there’s so many manufacturers and custom builders , well done is well done, klock werks built a rigid scout which was well done also, I’m no fan of polindian which was established a few years ago but hard to argue with well built customs even their ftr tracker

  23. 23 Indnfan Jan 17th, 2018 at 2:55 pm

    Wayne Kolden ran a turbo charged new Scout at Bonneville a couple years ago.

  24. 24 DAYTONA DONNIE Jan 17th, 2018 at 6:35 pm

    Absolutely appreciate all that has gone into this bike …and as always each to his own ,,,the talent exhibited by these guys I have no doubt that regardless of the tribute theme ,,,,,FASTEST , LEANEST, LIGHTEST ..what-ever-est ,,,,it would be World Class. oddly was recently strolling back memory lane and Pics of Shovelhead builds I did back in the 80’s with Rivera Engineering SU carb/ Turbo kits.They were by no means nearly as efficient as what available today ,,,,,Properly installed there is nothing that will catch a turbocharged bike ( and competent rider ). Anders and Lasse well done

  25. 25 WRXr Jan 18th, 2018 at 3:33 pm

    Looks great, but is the frame up to the job?

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Cyril Huze