Indian unveils new 1819cc V-twin engine

Historic American motorcycle firm Indian has revealed the first completely new engine in 70 years as part of the rebirth of the name under the ownership of the huge Polaris Industries; the same firm that owns Victory.

The 1819cc (or 111cubic inch) V-twin is called the ‘Thunder Stroke 111’ and was unveiled at the huge Daytona Bike Week event in Florida, America on Friday with just the new 49 degree engine being shown ahead of the launch of a completely new bike in the middle of 2013 before it will go on sale in 2014.

The engine is a 1819cc V-twin with three camshafts, pushrods, two-valves per cylinder with an integrated air and oil cooling system, fuel injection and a six-speed gearbox.

Polaris is claiming the engine has undergone over a million miles of testing both on the dyno and on the road and will be built in America once the bike reaches full production later this year.

Indian claims it has looked back over all of the historic bikes in the 112 years the firm has been in existence to make sure the engine pays homage to the history of the firm yet is modern enough to be of use for years to come.

With that history in mind the engine has parallel pushrod tubes, finned cylinderheads, downward firing exhausts and a left-hand air intake; all of which are engineering themes from older Indians.