Suzuki’s New Motor + Mark Leiss and The Cannonball Run on a 1928 Indian Chout

Hello everyone and welcome once again to Motos and Friends—the weekly Podcast brought to you by the editorial team at Ultimate Motorcycling. My name is Arthur Coldwells.

This week’s two show segments highlight two very cool engines. There’s much more to a vehicle than just the engine of course, but for motorcycles, the engine is of course, the heart of the machine.

The first of the two motors is explained by Editor Don Williams, who tells us about a brand new powerplant from Suzuki, just announced at this week’s EICMA show in Milan.

The second motor is the Indian Chief inside an ex-Max Bubeck Indian 101 Scout from 1928. It's entered in next year’s Cannonball Run.

Both of these engines hold some surprises. The Suzuki motor is an exciting departure for the brand.  It's an upper-middleweight parallel twin, set to power several exciting new models from Suzuki.

The Indian Chief motor’s story, is told by new owner and vintage bike enthusiast Mark Leiss. He tells us all about not just this bike, but it’s late owner: land speed record holder and AMA Hall of Famer, the legendary Max Bubeck.

Bubeck held land speed records for several decades, and is considered one of the more important figures in Indian Motorcycle history. Mark has drafted in the Sturgis Hall of Fame builder Micah McClosky to ride the bike in the Cannonball. This is no easy feat for either the rider, or the support crew.  Mark explains the superhuman effort it takes to finish, let alone win, a Cannonball Run.

So from all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!