Faults:

Nothing has failed me on this bike. It has been amazing

General Comments:

Great motorcycle, stick exhaust note is kinda lame when cruising. Stock seat is horrible after roughly 75 miles. But bike is incredibly reliable and fun to ride. I wish it had a fuel gauge, but is a great bike

Faults:

Radiator thermostat stuck closed, had to be replaced.

General Comments:

I've put 15,000 miles on it in 14 months. I can't get enough seat time. It helps that Kentucky has endless miles of great motorcycle roads.

Pros:

- Very quick for a middle weight cruiser, with a very few upgrades you'd be hanging on for dear life. Mileage is good, Mostly non city riding gets me low to mid 50s mpg.

- Low center of gravity makes it nicely stable. Also makes it an easy bike for shorter people. Doesn't feel at all like a 570 lb bike.

- Reduced (and extended) reach handle bars and seats are available. I am 5'11" and found the reduced reach bars made a definite improvement in comfort. Made the riding position more upright.

- Belt driven. I like the reliability and minimal maintenance of a belt over a chain.

- Brake light bulb is LED and has good visibility

- The Scout and the Scout 60 share most of the aftermarket tweaks and parts. Primary difference is the Sixty has 5 speeds not 6 like the Scout. And the Sixty is 60 cubic inches whereas the Scout is 69 cubic inches. Not worth the difference in price IMO. Use the $2k to do the other things that make the bike yours.

Various observations:

- Like most bikes, the original factory headlight is barely adequate, I replaced mine with a bright LED lamp. Plug and play by Eagle and easy to install, makes me much more visible to cars. Ditto for LED turn signal bulbs, also plug & play, again big improvement.

- Don't know why, but the bike has no running lights. There is no simple plug and play solution for that.

- As with most bikes, stock tires are just adequate. When they started to wear I changed mine for Michelin Commander II, good tires.

- Seat looks really comfortable. It isn't. Seating position is good, but the seat is hard on your tailbone. Plan on changing it or getting a cushion of some kind (I have an Air Hawk which I kept from my previous bike).

- Front forks are mushy, too much dive when braking. At the 10k fork oil change I had progressive springs put in and it made a significant improvement and feels more stable at highway speeds. Progressive springs can be bought for $100. Money well spent in my opinion. Some Scout riders have said they went from 10W fork oil to 20W in addition to the springs change. I also put on some after market fork gaiters at the same time. Very cheap, great retro look and the bonus of longer life for the fork seals.

- The Scout / Scout 60 is liquid cooled. Which has plusses and minuses. The bike doesn't care what the temperatures are, unlike my air cooled Suzuki. It does complicate the bike of course and has associated maintenance requirements. Very important note, the radiator guard is not adequate and if you damage the radiator it will get expensive. Some people put on aftermarket guards. I put a $30 leather mud flap on the front fender (from Captain Itch) and it is VERY surprising how effective it is in protecting the radiator and keeping it clean. Really, Indian should have a mud flap on them from the factory. It also really goes with the Scout retro look.

All in all, a very good US made bike. Like all bikes expect to spend some money making it just the way you like it.