Indian Motorcycles Reveals Custom Black Hills Beast

Troy Siahaan
by Troy Siahaan

Indian Motorcycle has revealed the “Black Hills Beast” built by Doug Siddens and Nick Jaquez of IndianMotorcycles.net in Sturgis to a strong reception. Based on a 2015 Indian Scout, the Black Hills Beast was customized to represent a modern day interpretation of hill climbers of yore.

Some of the customization work can be copied directly by other Scout owners, as the 1920 solo saddle and accessory laced wheels come right out of the Indian accessories catalog. However, from there, the longer swingarm, handlebar, radiator shrouds and front number plate with LED headlight are all one-off custom pieces. To add to the authenticity, a custom tire chain was designed to give maximum grip when climbing a hill.

“Building a hill climber seemed easy enough, but it posed some unique challenges,” Says Doug Siddens of IndianMotorcycles.net in an Indian press release. “Enthusiasts know what a hill climber looks like – so some of the mods were logical – but scaling them to fit the new Scout was the key and took a lot of work and planning. We are very proud of the result and the reception that the bike got at such an important Sturgis milestone, the 75th anniversary. ”

“We settled in on a design quickly,” adds Nick Jaquez of IndianMotorcycles.net “But none of it would have worked without the assistance of our suppliers and partners in this build. We cranked on it for a month and tossed out a few bits along the way – I do feel like we delivered one hell of a machine – and it was a blast getting it dirty too!”

The Scout Custom Series can be viewed here: http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/custom-scout, http://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/land-speed,

For a new video featuring the Black Hills Beast, log on to www.IndianMotorcycle.com.

Many more images are available at the Indian Motorcycle Press Site – www.IMCPRess.com.

A story on the build by IndianMotorcycle.net can be viewed here: http://www.indianmotorcycles.net/threads/black-hills-beast-storms-the-75th-annual-sturgis-rally.8824/

Troy Siahaan
Troy Siahaan

Troy's been riding motorcycles and writing about them since 2006, getting his start at Rider Magazine. From there, he moved to Sport Rider Magazine before finally landing at Motorcycle.com in 2011. A lifelong gearhead who didn't fully immerse himself in motorcycles until his teenage years, Troy's interests have always been in technology, performance, and going fast. Naturally, racing was the perfect avenue to combine all three. Troy has been racing nearly as long as he's been riding and has competed at the AMA national level. He's also won multiple club races throughout the country, culminating in a Utah Sport Bike Association championship in 2011. He has been invited as a guest instructor for the Yamaha Champions Riding School, and when he's not out riding, he's either wrenching on bikes or watching MotoGP.

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