RSD builds an Indian Scout for the drummer of Twenty One Pilots

Before Indian created the FTR, hooligan flat track racers were modifying their Indian Scouts to go fast and turn left. One of the pioneers of that ‘run what ya brung’ attitude was the legendary Ed ‘Iron Man’ Kretz. Famous for winning the first-ever Daytona 200 in 1937, Ed was known for riding his Indian Scout to the track, stripping off everything that made it road-legal, and racing it.

It’s that spirit that Roland Sands Design set out to capture with this custom Indian Scout. The Californian shop has been tight with Indian for eons, and currently fields Indian race bikes in America’s Super Hooligan and King of the Baggers championships. So when Indian Motorcycle commissioned RSD to customize a brand new Indian Sport Scout as part of the brand’s ‘Forged’ custom series, the path ahead was clear.

“It was like, well, OK, what would Ed build today?” asks the shop’s founder and namesake, Roland Sands. “A rowdy race bike.”

Built on Indian’s brand new Scout platform, the Indian Sport Scout adds some West Coast performance style with 6” risers and a nose fairing. RSD aimed to maintain that general vibe, but ramp up the performance aspect and crank the visual attitude to eleven. Or, as RSD lead fabricator Aaron Boss puts it, build a “Dyna killer.”

To get there, RSD decided to hybridize the Scout and FTR, while sprinkling some Super Hooligan magic on it. The first step was to scalp the forks, yokes, and twin Brembo brakes from an Indian FTR, and massage them to fit the Scout’s steering neck. Once Aaron had wrapped his head around that, he turned his attention to the rear end.

Keen eyes will notice a sporty aluminum swingarm mounted at the back. It’s a Track Dynamics part, as seen on RSD’s 2023 Super Hooligan FTR race bike, that’s been modified to run with twin shocks. Aftermarket Indian piggyback shocks connect it to the Scout’s OEM upper suspension mounts.

The Sport Scout normally rolls on 19F/16R wheels, but that wasn’t aggressive enough for what RSD was trying to achieve here. So they swapped the stock hoops for lust-worthy forged aluminum RSD x Dymag race wheels. They’re shod with sticky Dunlop Sportmax Q5 tires, with the FTR’s rear Brembo brake caliper also in play.

Moving to the bodywork, Aaron kept the stock fairing, but modified it to mount to the FTR forks. The fuel tank is standard too, and the front fender is from the FTR. It’s a different story out back though, where Aaron bolted off the original seat, subframe, and rear fender, and started over.

The new tail section takes inspiration from the Indian Scout flat track tails that RSD produces, but the design’s been tweaked to suit this build. The one-piece unit also acts as its own subframe and as a rear fender, with an LED taillight embedded just beneath the rear lip. The custom seat pad comes from everyone’s go-to flat track racing seat supplier, Saddlemen.

Once that was in place, RSD fine-tuned the ergonomics for a sportier riding position. That meant shifting the original foot controls to a more street-friendly position, and fitting a wide set of ProTaper handlebars to stretched RSD Sector risers. The stock dial was relocated to a 3D-printed bracket.

With the suspension, brakes, and wheels all upgraded, RSD opted not to mess with the Indian Sport Scout’s 105-hp motor. Aaron simply fabricated a stunning two-into-one titanium exhaust system, terminating it in a belligerent RSD muffler.

RSD’s gnarly Indian Sport Scout street tracker was then finished in a matte and gloss black livery, topped off with vivid yellow highlights, and custom tank badges by RSD’s painter, Chris Wood at Air Trix. An image of Sylvester the cat peeps out from the back; a nod to the same illustration that Ed Kretz once used on his business card.

Although RSD didn’t know who the bike was going to when the project started, that particular color scheme turned out to be quite serendipitous. That’s because the Sport Scout’s new owner is none other than Josh Dun—drummer of the energetic genre-bending pop duo, Twenty One Pilots. And the black and yellow perfectly complement the artwork of the band’s 2018 album, Trench.

An Indian Scout Bobber owner himself, Josh has previously ridden the FTR as well—so he was understandably stoked about the direction that RSD had taken with the Sport Scout. “The reason why I’m building bikes is to excite other people,” Aaron adds. “And he came in and his jaw dropped. He paused for a second, speechless. That’s when you know you’ve got him and he’s excited about it.”

“100% it’s a bike that I would personally own,” Roland adds. “How do you design a bike that makes you feel like a badass? I think that’s the formula right there.”