Krazy Horse Street Hooligan
By Ross Sharp - 19 Jun 19
A couple of years ago I tripped over my own jaw on the Krazy Horse stand at the annual NEC Motorcycle show. The KH team had built an awesome street tracker out of an Indian Motorcycle Scout, and I wanted a go on one. It's taken a while to make that happen, and in the meantime I've raced against the actual Hooligan flat trackers in the DTRA Championship. They might be heavy old barges but with the right pilot they really haul the mail, as American commentators would put it. I spun a couple of laps on Lee Kirk-Patrick's (KH Chief Mechanic) racer a few weeks back during an FTR750 test - feature here - and I now have even more respect for him and teammate Leah Tokelove. A pair of lion tamers!
The Street Hooligan kit has been developed alongside the race bike conversion and can be bolted-on at the dealership or bought in stages and fitted DIY style at home. The whole shebang is five grand, which when added to the price of a secondhand Scout offers a turnkey custom, that can be commuted on in the week and raced at the weekend, for around 10 grand. Admittedly you'd need a slightly leggy donor to achieve that figure but I'm a fan of using damaged, insurance write offs for custom projects. The wheels, pipe, seat unit, rear light unit and foot controls are included which leaves plenty of scope to individualise your Scout tracker.
A part that chomps a chunk of the budget is the wheels. Talon produced the hubs exclusively and they're laced to race-ready 19" rims. This particular demo bike runs road legal Maxxis flat track rubber which was the DTRA control tyre a couple of seasons ago. I think the tread pattern and profile is more handsome than the current Dunlops, and you could use a Mitas or Goldentyre too. The fork brace will take a stubby front guard if you plan on riding in the wet, and want to do so within the parameters of the law. Here in the UK the cops and MOT man don't like a bare front wheel.
The stainless steel exhaust system isn't something to fit if you're the shy type. It's flipping loud! See the video below. It's part of the kit though and could be baffled if you really wanted. But to be honest this setup is no louder than the scores of Harleys on straight through pipes that visit the Bike Shed, and the Indian motor sounds way sweeter with its more sophisticated, guttural howl. A dedicated ECU remap is included in the package to ensure the Scout's brain can deal with the open pipe, and air filter, should you choose to fit the latter.
In addition to these components the demo bike I rode also had a few extras fitted, which are straight forward over-the-counter parts from the Krazy Horse, either from their two branches in the UK or via their webshop. The plug-and-play projector headlamp front number board and radiator cover add to the tracker looks while the Öhlins piggyback shocks and cartridge fork inserts allow a degree of suspension adjustability. Although this actual bike was set on full rock hard mode at the rear. As you'll see from the video below. I didn't want to spend valuable riding time faffing around but a personal setup is easy to achieve.
There's also a chain conversion kit allowing for gearing changes. But to be honest the Lee and Leah either scream the things in first or deal with way too much torque in second. A chain and sprockets does look cool though.... it depends on your budget how far you want to go.
As for how the bike rides, rather than repeat myself you can find the original ride report from the Scout Bobber launch here and the full Scout Hooligan video is below. And for those of you who can't be arsed to look at either of those, no, this is nothing like the FTR1200. They are completely different motorcycles. Like very different. The Street Hooligan is the love child of Connor McGregor and Tyson Fury while the FTR is a bit more Anthony Joshua.
If any of this sounds appealing then give Krazy Horse a call, and tell them we sent you. We've known them since the very beginning of the Bike Shed and they're a proper bunch, with a really cool HQ too. Well worth making the trip, especially for their monthly party - check the video here. And their London branch is just 30 minutes east of Shoreditch.....
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