Indian’s New Custom “Black Bullet Scout”
This custom Indian Scout was built by Jeb Scolman – the same hot-rod artisan responsible for the Spirit of Munro that was built to celebrate the launch of the ThunderStroke111 in 2014.
Jeb was delivered an engine, and the simple instruction to build what he wanted to out of a new 2015 Indian Scout engine. Jeb’s flawless 100% custom metalwork picks up on the designs of pure speed motorcycles from the late 50’s and early 60’s with a fork mounted bullet fairing and the most minimal frame possible. Bikes with this silhouette took to land speed and drag racing tracks across the country.
The post-war hot rod crowd was using airplane drop tanks for race cars, and the motorcycle racers started to adapt nose cones to help them cut through the wind. As the bike took shape we started calling it the “Black Bullet”. The minimal body and stout but seemingly simple frame are wrapped around a 1200cc Indian Scout engine as tightly as possible. This is one small motorcycle!
The all-custom, all-metal, and all hand-made bike features a custom windscreen that wraps around the front of the bike to fair in the headlight. Tight clip-ons and footrests mounted to the rear axle makes for as streamlined a riders position as possible. The minimal seat, controls and shapes all lens themselves to the single mission f exploring this bikes top speed. It was created to be beautiful and fast. Scolman even cast a custom intake manifold to turn the throttle body sideways and allow for an even tighter engine packaging.
The Black Bullet Scout will be on display in Sturgis at the company display on Lazelle St between July 31st and August 8th, and is destined to see the salt. It was built to race and continue the tradition of an Indian Scout ripping across the Bonneville Salt Flats.