Lightning Thunder An Ftr Flat Tracker From Sweden

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The flat track bug seems to have permeated all corners of the motorcycling world—including Sweden. We love this very sharp Indian FTR 1200, which comes from Blixt & Dunder, a parts and lifestyle shop in Malmö.
Friends Jonathan Falkman and Mattias Malmgren opened the shop two years ago in Sweden’s third-biggest city. Their shelves are stocked with everything from custom components to clothing, plus a healthy selection of racing essentials.

Racing is in Jonathan’s blood and his FTR 1200 is a distant cousin of the Scout FTR750 racebike, so this machine has gone full circle back to the track. But the conversion wasn’t exactly easy.
“I race flat track, and enjoy modifying bikes, so a flat track build was just down my alley,” Jonathan tells us. “I grew up racing motocross, but since I’ve got older it’s been mostly all about choppers and flat trackers.”

Jonathan races in the European Hooligan flat track series, and two years ago he secured a ride with the Krazy Horse Indian team in the UK.
“The FTR wasn’t released then, so we rode Scout Hooligan Trackers. Indian Motorcycle in Sweden was very supportive, and they contacted me to see if I was interested in racing a FTR 1200 in the 2020 Hooligan series. I couldn’t say no.”

The bike started out as the base version of the FTR 1200, stripped down so it could be built back up.
“The first cut was into the swingarm, because a shorter wheelbase makes for easier cornering,” says Jonathan. He took around seven centimeters (2.75 inches) out of the swingarm, which meant installing a custom HyperPro shock. The shock has also been tuned for the lower 175 kg (385 pound) final weight.

That’s massive 50 kg saving, but this machine has minimal wiring, no ABS, no lighting, and virtually no switchgear. It doesn’t have an oil cooler either: “It makes for a cleaner look on the bike, and since it’s only for dirt track ovals, the radiator will be sufficient for cooling,” Jonathan explains.
A shorter swingarm on an FTR 1200 means there’s a danger the back wheel will hit the rear subframe and fuel tank, which lives under the stock seat. So Jonathan and Mattias built a new rear frame around a Saddlemen tracker seat, and installed a smaller fuel tank that works with the stock pump.

The front end follows a common flat track protocol—a swap to a cleanly shaved Yamaha R6 fork with a custom top yoke. It’s all polished to a mirror finish and topped off with Neken flat track bars. A pair of 6061 aluminum fork guards from Sudo Cycles helps to protect the fork tubes.
The matching 19-inch spoked wheels are fitted with Dunlop DT3 flat track tires. The front is a rebuilt dirt bike wheel, and the rear has been built up around a Sportster hub—with a PBI sprocket, a 520 chain conversion, and a custom brake caliper.

On the engine front, Jonathan has removed the air filter box and the bike now runs KX450F foam filters. The empty space under the ‘tank’ made it possible to slim down the outer, and at the same time hide all the electronics and the battery.
The stock cat and mufflers were replaced by a Bassani low mount slip-on, and a Dynojet Power Vision fuel tuner has been plugged in to get the bike running well with the new exhaust and intake system.

Jonathan has removed all safety switches to clean up the bike, and swapped out the ignition key-switch for an on/off button—along with a tether kill switch on the handlebar.
Despite the functional nature of this racer, Blixt & Dunder have given it a gorgeous finish. The frame is painted with a purple holographic flake, and the seat unit and tank covers are wrapped in a Tron-style design by Clara Landtmanson.

Jonathan is now straining at the bit to get the FTR onto the track and ride it in anger. “It sure has potential, and a lot of raw power,” he says.
We’re not racers but we know that the road going FTR 1200 is a looker, and rides well too. We’d love to see some of the Blixt & Dunder visual touches applied to a stripped-down factory bike, to create the missing link between the road and race FTRs. What say you?
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Blixt & Dunder would like to thank Indian Motorcycle, Parts Europe, Icon and Neken for their support.


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