Indian Motorcycle Benelux revealed the winning ‘Project Scout Bobber’ contest build at the Bigtwin Bikeshow and Expo earlier this month. ‘Hasty Flaming Buffalo’, by Dutch designer Luuc Muis of LM Creations, is a beautifully elegant blend of modern technology and the classic lines of a 1910 Indian board-track racer.
Open to amateur and professional builders from across the region, the Indian Motorcycle Custom Contest: ‘Project Scout Bobber’ saw three finalists chosen by a professional jury put forward to a public Facebook vote. Luuc’s design proved so popular that he became the clear leader with over 54% of the votes and won the opportunity to create his unique vision.
Luuc’s design for ‘Hasty Flaming Buffalo’ draws on the rich and successful history of Indian Motorcycle racing, particularly the board track racers of the early 1900s. With their innovative designs, Indian Motorcycle had a big technological advantage at the Motordromes, the timber board tracks appearing all over America at the time, and riders like Jake de Rosier became household names for their feats on these risky circuits.
“As an industrial product designer, this contest was something I had to enter. I wanted to explore the idea that, if over 100 years of motorcycling, materials and techniques had developed but visual design hadn’t, what would that look like,” says Luuc. “To be told that my design had won, and I now had the opportunity to explore the concept fully was both really exciting but also quite intimidating, especially with the short deadline to complete the build.”
Announced as the winner in the middle of June, Luuc had just 20 weeks to turn his design into reality for the November 1st unveiling, the opening day of the BigTwin Expo. With just the engine and axles retained from the original Scout Bobber, completing the build alongside working his normal day job meant many late nights to stay on schedule.
Blending his 2D design with a 3D scan of the Scout Bobber engine to refine his frame design, Luuc constructed the frame from aluminium tubing and parts machined in aluminium by Scheffers Engineering in Norway. The gorgeous handmade tank also forms part of the frame and houses the airbox and electronic components to achieve the clean minimalist look inspired by the early Indian Motorcycle board track racers.