Big news coming from RE this weekend

[barenekd]

I talked to my dealer yesterday. He said the show bike was still preproduction. The real one will be available presumably in July as a 2014 model. He says the guys will be at the IMS Show here in December, but didn't say whether the bike would or not. He did say it's 40 lbs lighter than the current models.
Bare

[GSS]

Here are a couple more

Marty,
Thanks for the photos. It is a very nice bike that has been done a disservice by whoever decided to slap on the silver paint to save a little expense on chrome.

[jartist]

I like it.  I know that it's supposed to look like a Continental GT but it sure does look like an italian racer from the 60's!  The red tank and silver paint on fenders and bits was a paint scheme used by ducati and MV Agusta and others.

[Arizoni]

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I like the red, black and silver on the bike.
In my opinion, chroming all of those silver parts would look to gaudy for a Cafe Racer.

[GlennF]

A carby would have been nice.

[AgentX]

Indian chrome is terrible, and kind of out of place on a cafe racer IMHO.

Indian polished aluminum, is, well, polished aluminum and it's done very nicely and inexpensively.

But all in all, this bike is somewhat like a moden Camaro or Mustang to me.  Neat and slightly nostalgic, with much updated technology, but with the rough edge well-blunted, without the  presence of the real thing. 

It's kind of neither here nor there.  I think I'd rather have a real old bike (in design and manufacture, if not chronology)  or a real modern bike with the benefits that come with it.

[ace.cafe]

I had to come to terms with that "retro" thing.
They just didn't have any choice, because they couldn't make the old engine meet Euro Standards for emissions anymore. And as such, they had to have something new that would.
Unfortunately that severed the umbilical to the past, and now it's something new. I'm trying to embrace the new, because that's what is going to be the future for at least a while.  It does have even more similarities to the old, under the surface, than many of us might even think.
But, we can't get the old engine back in the new bikes because of regulations.

Now, my own bike is always going to be the old type. But the new bikes deserve respect too, and I'm doing it for the owners who have them. Who knows? Maybe these UCE bikes will be able to really kick some ass when they get the right mods. I look at all new bikes as a "starting point", and not a finished work.

And a nice powerful single in that Cafe Racer platform might be pretty nice indeed!

[GreenMachine]

When I saw the subject line I was thinking that the 700 cc twin was coming out...Red and black always did look good on a cafe racer..Agree with 72Westie, sounds like cost out the door will be closer to 8 and inching closer to the 9 k mark out the door .Be curious to know the production numbers geared towards the export market vice domestic sales..Ace:

[GreenMachine]

Ace: I know how u feel about always having the old bike but I can live with it....Man I hate it when Nortons does a update when I'm typing a message..It really is a cpu hog and makes me hit the wrong key...

[ace.cafe]

I'm thinking that they might use this frame for the twin.

But now there's the talk that the twin might not come out.
And now we hear that they have a joint venture with Polaris/Victory.
I don't know what to think about them, so I'll try not to.

[Blltrdr]

A carby would have been nice.

You can the EFI to a carb. I know Hitchcock's sells an Amal conversion kit for the UCE.

[72westie]

Pictures look nice. Dual Horns!

[AgentX]

Pictures look nice. Dual Horns!

I find that feature odd on a "cafe" bike, but I can personally vouch for the value of really loud horns on Indian roads.  It's sad you have to contribute to the chaos and noise pollution, but when in Rome, it's best to stay alive...

The bar-end mirrors will be really polarizing among Indians, too, but if they're actually on the machine in a showroom, I think those inclined to get this bike will think they're cool.

I had them on my first Bullet and people were mesmerized by them (and wouldn't stop fucking with them incessantly while it was parked) but a good portion immediately sought to warn me that they were dangerous or going to be ripped off immediately by a passing autorickshaw.  Which is true, but that's why I got cheap ones...I considered them kind of a sacrificial indicator that I was riding stupidly in traffic.

[GSS]

Different strokes for different folks I guess.

I like the red, black and silver on the bike.
In my opinion, chroming all of those silver parts would look to gaudy for a Cafe Racer.

Jim,
I am not into gaudy chrome either. Polished aluminum would have been nice. I am happy to see the cafe racer like everyone else.  Maybe it is just the lighting in these photos......paint/chrome/aluminum is a very minor issue.

GSS

[iowarider]

I am not trying to hijack the thread, just curious. I saw a picture of the clubman kit. It appears to me, the difference is only cosmetic. The brushed aluminum tank. can some of you speak to the differences between the cafe and clubman? Thanks in advance.