Polaris Announces New PowerPlus Engine For Indian Motorcycle’s Upcoming Challenger V-Twin Bagger
Polaris, owner of the Indian Motorcycle brand that bills itself as “America’s First Motorcycle Company,” has announced a new PowerPlus liquid-cooled 108-cubic-inch engine for Indian’s all-new Challenger, a model the company says will set a “dramatically new standard for V-twin performance.” Promoted as Indian’s most powerful engine to date, the PowerPlus produces 122 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and 128 pounds-foot of torque at 3,800 rpm. The engine’s name pays tribute to Indian’s PowerPlus motorcycle, which it manufactured from 1916 to 1924.
“Best In Class”
Indian Motorcycle President Steve Menneto says Indian challenged its engineers “with the notion that anything less than best-in-class design and performance will simply not get it done.” The resulting engine makes it clear “they have delivered on that high standard,” he says. While the PowerPlus carries over some design and performance features of Indian’s liquid-cooled 1,133-cc Scout engine, the “comparisons end there,” says Indian, which notes it developed the PowerPlus with a “big-piston, big-torque mindset with an end game of maximum power delivery across the entire curve.”
Featuring a six-speed transmission with true overdrive, assist clutch, and three ride modes, the PowerPlus underwent what Polaris says was “one of the industry’s most rigorous development and testing programs,” involving roughly 1 million miles of simulated testing, including state-of-the-art dyno testing and 250,000-plus on-road miles. As for the Challenger, Indian says the fixed-fairing bagger is “the highest-performing American V-twin ever developed.”
V-Twin Sophistication
John Callahan, Indian Motorcycle vice president, engineering, says that in developing the “most sophisticated V-twin power plant in the industry,” Indian spent “month after month, hour upon hour, putting it through the most intense paces to ensure it could take whatever we threw at it. The end result is something truly special.”
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Source: Polaris