Indian Scout 101 VS Sport Chief - Should you buy the Sport Chief Instead?
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- čas přidán 5. 06. 2024
- If you're considering Indian's new 2025 Scout 101 Sport Cruiser, it's reasonable to expect you'd also cast your eye of Indian's other Sport Cruiser, the Sport Chief.
How do these two stack up, and which should you buy?
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Mistakes were made... In the process of making this video I inadvertently switched columns when entering data. The Scout 101 has a 150 mm rear tire not 180 mm, as claimed in the video. And I also switched the suspension travel for both bikes. The Sport Chief has the longer suspension travel at 100 mm on the rear and 130 mm on the front VS the Scout 101's 76 mm for the rear and 120 mm on the front. My apologies, I will endeavour to do my best to ensure these types of egregious errors don't occur again in the future... but for now, I'm blaming my age 😁
Of course, when hysterizing for clicks, that’s what comes, and as that’s the business model for all wannabe influencers, that’s ya game.
@GiancarloBenzina If you continue talking rubbish Giancarlo, you will be blocked.
I had a scout before it was stolen and upgraded to the Sport chief. Its a big difference but I wouldn't go back to the scout. The extra weight and the larger frame of the Sport Chief might scare you away from it but its quite nimble and very controllable, plus tons of aftermarket support that can fit the bike to anyone!
The sound of the thunderstroke with stage 2, indian cams is intoxicating! I’ve owned 2 Indians with thunderstroke 111, since 2017 and nothing else sounds as good! That pushrod air cooled engine has a ton of character. In my opinion these bikes couldn’t be more different! Both apples and oranges are round but that’s about it for similarities.
I upgraded from a scout to a chief. They're night and day difference. I wouldn't go back to a scout.
I think he's referring to the 101 model in particular. The general line up models between the two are indeed very different.
I’m having anxiety about trying to choose. I really, really, really love the bobber but I want to do some road trips. Nothing crazy but the bobber looks like it would break your back after 1h.
I’m sure the sport Chief is an upgrade over the Scout, but I wouldn’t say that it’s an upgrade over the 101. Entirely different bikes. I just spent time at the demo day and riding both back to back I’ll say it’s much closer when you set aside factors like cost. The fact that the 101 is fighting with its bigger brother and winning while also being cheaper is wild.
Was it a 101?
The 101 is not better then the sport chief. Lol not even close
I demo'd every Indian bike 2 years ago. I know the Scouts have been upgraded, but back then, I preferred the Chief Dark Horse to all others. In sport mode, it felt more powerful than Scouts and FTR's and it was far more comfortable. I'm only 5'7" and the Scout still felt small to me.
That's interesting. I went in to buy a Scout Bobber Twenty but ended up preferring the Chief. The Scout is a smaller bike but I do find the rider ergonomics to be very accommodating for someone my height, 6'1".
The Scout 101 is definitely a valid competition to the Sport Chief with its lighter weight, more lean angle, DCT, more HP and more modular design. The aftermarket folks are going to love this platform and I'm sure in a few months a lot of nice goodies are going to be available. Same with tunes, with an aftermarket intake, exhaust and tune 125+HP will be easily achievable. While it certainly will eat into the sales of the Chief lineup, I think overall it's a win for Indian. They will attract customers from other brands, even if they lose a couple Chief sales to the new Scout. Also, Indian has to work on enhancements for the Chief lineup at some point anyhow. Many have been calling for a liquid-cooled Sport Chief, which would certainly be an interesting bike.
They're not even comparable engine-wise.
They need to put the Challenger engine in a Sport Chief type frame. I like that engine but I don't want fairings and touring bling.
I did demo rides on both and actually preferred the Scout liquid cool engine over the Chief air cooled. Good torque on the Chief but I felt like it ran out of breath too soon vs Scout making power across a broader RPM range
Love the videos man. Keep up the good work
That was the question i was waiting since the arrived of the 101. Thank you ! You're the one who finaly answer like a master. Great.
Cheers Hubert.
Love these side-by-side comparisons. You nailed every meaningful detail of both bikes. Cheers!
Cheers Guy!
The Harley Davidson 1250 VROD was faster than its bigger brothers, so it isn't surprising that the Scout 101 is very competitive against the Indian Sport Chief.
For the highway or long distance I would take the larger Sport Chief, I owned a Scout and a Springfield Dark Horse.... The Scout is better around town and sportier riding.... Chief heavier and more relaxed engine...
I own a 22 scout...I went to the dealer to buy a cheif bobber in ruby smoke...I was disappointed to not love the cheif and rode the scout on a whim cause I was there already...I effing love my scout....for reference I was trading in a 2007 harley fatboy....I still own a big harley(2012 street glide) so I get that awesome low end torque when I want it. but the scout is my hoodlum bike ...I guess to make a short story long. you need both they do different things
Picked up a sport chief 2 months ago, i love it!!
Great indepth review, thanks for that 👌
Cheers Phillip!
It would be nice to have a slightly bigger tank on the scout 101. Great content & video. Thank you
Great review , i have a new 23 scout rouge , with TAB MUFFLERS on it , great bikes ,
Cheers .
Great review as always Paul and don’t worry about a few little errors. You pack so much information into your reviews. I bet you are itching to get in the saddle of the new Scout range. The 101 really looks like it has it all. 👍
Cheers Paul, can't wait!
Hey Paul, thank you very much for the video, excellent comparison and it helped me a lot to decide on the best model. For the Scout 101 to be a 100% perfect choice, a slightly larger tank would be enough, I would say that 4 usgl would be an ideal capacity. Congratulations on the video, excellent work. 🤙🏻
Oh snap! First🤙 love your vids brother
Thank you!
Great video. The 101 has a 150 stock rear, the Sport Chief has a 180 stock rear. I ordered the first 101 in Colorado. 😊
Cheers, John. Yep I see my mistake. ;)
Agreed. Already got a deposit for the 101. Just sitting on my hands waiting at this point
Going to test ride both at the end of the month. Rode HD the last 8 years and Yamaha before that. I’m excited to try out the Indians
I think that the liquid cooled vs air cooled changes the riding characteristics. Both Bikes controls can be changed to make it more rider specific. Overall they are both amazing bikes. Incredible really it's Just the price difference and personal preference. As far as Indian Scouts cutting into Chief sales I think they will more than likely cut into Harley Lowrider s sales
A really good video Paul. If you're ever after someone to provide a second opinion I am not far away. I would be interested to know what the cost of a pillion seat, pegs, AND backrest is for both bikes. Maybe another video for those of us with our other halves! LOL
Cheers Graeme, much appreciated! Frustratingly, unlike the US, Indian Australia doesn't post pricing on accessories and you have to contact the dealer every time you want a price on something. I typically look at US pricing, then double it and add 15% :)
101 for me, for sure. I’m very serious about getting one, although I’d want the mids.
The best I've gotten on my Chief Darkhorse has been 48 MPG. The best I got on the Scout was 56-57 MPG.
I have a Chief bobber 111 and had a scout previously- the scout was fast but the Chief feels like an upgrade, the torque, oh the torque- I increased lean angle with some OG garage mini floorboards and added a Memphis shades fairing- wouldn’t go back
Agreed! Anyway it is a 150 rear on the 101 I think.
You're right! Whoops.
Do you think 101 is good for two up riding. Space, suspension. Will need to add seats and foot pegs.
Great video Paul. I am a bit of a traditionalist and love the look of the Chief but am impressed with the Scout 101. A tough decision to make. I enjoyed the days of just buying a bike without too much thinking and never regretting the purchase. By the way love the Lego and I have the Lego Fatboy ‘customised’ in a display case. Keep on keeping on.🖖👌
Cheers Steven. I have the Fatboy too! I think it's obscured by my body, I'll move it onto another shelf to bring it into view. I also have the Ducati waiting to be built. :)
I actually swapped some colours on the Fat Boy and made it look proper. I have the Yamaha MT01 to build next which I will custom build and change colours. I have heaps of bikes to build and bought quite a few from overseas that are Lego copies but amazing bikes.
@@steven_scattergood Hey cool. Good idea on the colour swap, I hadn't thought of that. MT01!! I didn't know that was available, I'll have to check it out. Cheers.
Hopefully bits crossed the 25 sport chief will base out with a stage one kit or a cam and power upgrade to separate it more from the base chief range to elevate it higher to halo status.
Agreed on all points
Great job with the vids. Indian is on the right track with their new lineup of Scouts. They all look great to me.
Thank you!
Isn’t rear cylinder deactivation automatic? I’ve never turned mine on or off on my Chief Dark Horse (I don’t believe there’s any option for this). It kicks on for me automatically when stopped in traffic. There’s a little indicator on the ride command.
No you can turn it off and on. It's in the manual.
disable Rear Cylinder Deactivation: 1. Press the right-hand trigger until “CYLdeAC” displays. 2. Hold down the right-hand trigger. “CD ON” or “CD OFF” will.
Interesting, thanks. Is there any benefit to disabling the deactivation option? Better performance?
@@torryc Personally, I'm leaving it off until I actually need it. I want instant response when accelerating away from the lights, I ride my bike in Sport mode. Try it for yourself and see which option you like best, off or on. ;)
Agreed!
Price is huge for me. I’m buying sport scout in all black. Will be my first bike.
Agreed!!
The only aspect of the Scout 101 that I don't like are the handlebars. I think they need to be pulled back more....somewhat like the mini-apes that was on the Scout Twenty. I test rode the Sport Chief a few months ago and really didn't like the bike. Lots of torque, but also a lot of vibration, including that front wind screen vibrating all of the place.
I am a little surprised that the power output on the 1250 engine is so low. It is obviously aimed at the Sportster S. As a package though, even though the Sportster makes more power, I would likely choose the Scout if I were buying today (I own the Sportster S so I am not talking totally out of my arse). The 101 Scout is a really nice looking machine.
This confounded me too. I know Indian could have made a more powerful Scout... Sportster S is a LOT faster and more powerful.
The new 101 just looks so much better, especially the muffler. I think a lot of people will trade in their older indian.
101 sounds like a bargain put up against the Chief, but then the BMW r18 is like 25K AUD. The 101 seems to be quite different to the rest of the Scout lineup, the Bobber, Rogue and vanilla Scout all look like they have previous models rear suspension, and same instrument cluster if you don't pay the additional fee. Have mixed feelings about bikes that are highly stylized from the factory. You can't really modify them as it defeats the purpose and thus they all eventually look the same once they start appearing on the road in any volume.
My guess is the Chief line is soon to see a major engine upgrade. When it comes I predict Indian will have a line-up any rider can stay in for life.
I love your videos and especially the height emulating pics, but could you include a little bit more data points in the median range of male heights? 80% of the population is between 5'5" and 6'1" with a median around 5'9". I think if you included 5'7" and 5'11' in addition to your 4" increments, it would make many people happy. At least I would with my 5'11'" height for sure... :))
I currently own a Scout Bobber 20 which I love, but there is no comparative build in the new Scout lineup. In order for me to take a Scout Bobber Limited +tech, then add the upgrades that would turn it into a similar Bobber 20 style, the cost would only be just a few hundred dollars short of the Chief Bobber Darkhorse, Between the two, I would probably opt for the Darkhorse. As to the comparison between the Scout 101 and the Sport Chief, the Sport Chief suspension is superior to the 101, at least in the US. The numbers are reversed with the Chief having 100mm of rear travel, where the Scout has 76mm. The Scout has about 10mm more front travel than the Chief which seems negligible to me. Also the quoted horsepower for the Scout is 111bhp. Since the Chief has no published HP, you have to use the dyno and they tend to measure whp. That's not exactly a fair comparison. I also think forward controls on the Chief could help mitigate any discomfort taller riders might have using mid-controls. Cheers!
Sport Chief is Air/Oil Cooled and the Scout is liquid cooled. Gotta say they need to put liquid cooled on the Sport Chief.
Why buy a heavy Sport Chief when you can have a lighter Scout 101? No competition to my mind. This is why they delayed a well performing, twin front disc Scout for so long.
I also think the new bmw r12 is good competition for the new Indian scout
Thumbs up!
Are they both 6in risers stock ?
6-inch risers on the Sport Chief and 5-inch risers on the Scout 101.
Either one looks better than the new sportster
Your reviews are first class. 🎉
So the scout has the suspension for bad. Roads plus the cool look. Scout line is Indian’s winner.
Cheers Rodriguez! Just a heads up... the reviews are saying the new Scout 101 rides very nicely and I even saw one reviewer call it a plush ride, but I did inadvertently switch the measurements between the two bikes in my review. The Sport Chief actually has the longer suspension travel.
@@BikesILike any idea if the 101 suspension smoother than the first generation of scouts?
Indian is going to a 122 thunder stroke. Thus the change for the scout
Wow, that would be cool.
Is that official or just speculation?
car radiators belong in cars
Don't run so fast and trade up the chief for the scout, sooner than later Indian will upgrade the chief to keep sales up, then you be back trading up for the sport chief lol
Mate you should sell Motorcycles you got the gift of the gab, I wana 101, see?. I love kTm😁.
Haha! There'd certainly be a lot more money in it, Jono. 😄
Not ever should you buy a bike, a specific bike or not buy it. It’s all youtuber BS. All these people who think they have something relevant to say. The world needs no bikes, yes, even in deepest Madagaskar. We love them though and that’s why we buy them. And for that it’s a very personal thing that defies any guidance from anyone unless it’s obvious sheit. But such does not exist since the later 80s, And recently not even from china anymore, unless you go for direct import via asian platforms. No motorcycle is value aside from fun, false calculations say HD is best, BMW second, Rolex even better. Go elsewhere for return on invest - certainly not motorcycling, ever, any brand, unless used and still well seeked on the market for resell after 1-3 years, if nothing else happens to your world.
I cant believe I sat through such a poor comparison between two bikes.
I can't believe I had to waste my time reading this comment.