The Roland Sands Scout Remembers the Racing Days

Roland Sands knows that quality and beauty cannot be rushed. It’s a process that takes proper planning, foresight, and patience. This Roland Sands Design Indian Scout has technically been in the works since 2014. Sands said he knew he wanted to do a custom when the Scout was announced at the Sturgis Rally two years ago, and he even sketched out an idea. Today, that project is complete.

If the build looks familiar, it’s because Sands hasn’t kept it completely in the dark. Last year, he actually drove the unpainted work-in-progress to Burning Man. At that point, it was still raw with wires, zip ties, and pipes all over the place. Since then, it’s been polished and refined into a show-quality Indian. The look is inspired by the past, but Sands didn’t want it to be completely retro.

“Stylistically this RSD Scout points towards the future with say a 15% nod to the Scout of the past, Sands said. “What it’s not…well it’s definitely not a ‘cruiser’ anymore. If you’re a traditional fan of the Indian Scout than you understand that the Scout was originally a racer. This RSD Scout carries that racing heritage.”

Sands and his team built a ChroMoly girder fork from nothing, added new radiators, used an Ohlins TTX rear shock, fitted a custom stainless steel exhaust with a “track” muffler, and hit up Airtrix for the beautiful red and gold paint job.

It might not make a lot of sense to some people to tear down a brand new bike, but if this is the end result, we are ALL for it.

via [Indian/Roland Sands]