Braking is fine, although Duke lamented the lack of feedback. I found them grippy, not grabby; light

In what had to be one of the most anticipated reveals in motorcycle cruiser history, Polaris boldly used the backdrop of the world’s largest motorcycle rally to unleash doubletree hotel orlando the latest generation of Indians on the motorcycling community. On the steps of the Sturgis doubletree hotel orlando Motorcycle Museum and in the shadow of the Black Hills, notice was served with a loud and clear report: Indian Motorcycle is back.
As with all great expectations, the risk of anticlimax is real. But after spending a few days aboard the newest American cruiser, doubletree hotel orlando two things are as clear as a Sioux war cry: One, when it comes to disappointing its purists, Indian has no reason to worry; doubletree hotel orlando and two, that little motorcycle doubletree hotel orlando company in Wisconsin had better get busy acknowledging that it just might have a border war on its hands.
Truth be told, Harley-Davidson never really considered Polaris’ other motorcycle company, Victory, to be much of a serious threat. As a start-up, Victory faced the usual assortment of obstacles and hiccups, and besides, how do you compete with an icon?
American Picker Mike Wolfe at the Indian Motorcycle plant in Spirit Lake, IA. Indian released three new motorcycles last week in Sturgis: from left, the $22,999 Chieftain, the $18,999 Chief Classic and the $20,999 Chief Vintage.
The new Indian’s tag line is “Choice is Here in American Motorcycles,” and with the three 2014 models doubletree hotel orlando coming in at a price point far below what experts (and even Indian insiders) initially predicted, it’s the truth. With the naked Chief Classic ($18,999), doubletree hotel orlando the soft-bagged Chief Vintage ($20,999) and the faired Chieftain bagger ($22,999) arriving in dealerships in September, Indian Motorcycle is poised to leapfrog its own sister company and immediately compete with the Motor Company for the hearts and minds and dollars of American V-Twin cruiser doubletree hotel orlando riders the world over.
I was joined at the reveal by Editor in Chief, Kevin Duke, and his recent report outlined the development of the new Indians and the technical details that went into reinventing the brand. For my part, I’ll focus on the ride experience these new cruisers provide.
The comparatively unadorned Classic is the lightest bike in the line, and while its fender skirts might be polarizing, there’s no denying they’re a trademark doubletree hotel orlando of the Indian brand, and it’s great to see them resurrected.
doubletree hotel orlando There’s no need to carry on extensively about the differences between the Classic and the Vintage; both are Indian Chiefs, and are distinguished only by design flourishes. The Vintage features a tan leather seat, matching leather saddlebags and a windshield, while the Classic is subtler, with a fringeless (although studded) black leather seat and trademark fender skirts. There are other differences as well, such as the tank badging: the Classic has the Indian script logo painted on, while the Vintage doubletree hotel orlando features the logo on a metal badge.
Both have a nostalgic, tank-mounted speedometer with a retro sepia face to augment the copious chrome and a small scrollable LCD display that provides vital info, including a gear-position indicator and digital tach a nice modern juxtaposition to the throwback appearance. The Vintage, meanwhile, gets snooty chrome fender tips and enough tassels to dry-mop an airplane hangar. Otherwise, the Classic and Vintage share components, ergonomics and architecture.
The Vintage’s saddlebags utilize plastic tongue clip-latches hidden behind large, functional buckles. Those tongue clips might be the only plastic bits to be found anywhere on any of these bikes, but even they are (comically) plasti-chromed. Best of all, the supple leather matches that of the fringed, super-comfy doubletree hotel orlando saddle; it looks like butter, and feels like it, too. Like the windscreen, the bags are also of the quick-detach variety.The differences between the Classic and Vintage lie in the protection the Vintage’s tall windscreen provides (I’m 5’11”, and it terminated well above my line of sight) and the cargo capacity delivered by its soft leather saddlebags. The windscreen pops off in seconds, without tools, so if you’re in the mood to feel the wind in your face it’s a quickly achievable sensation.
doubletree hotel orlando And here’s a tidbit of tantalizing info: Indian reps assured us that the hard molded bags found on the Chieftain, which are slightly deeper because they rest rubber-mounted on the pipes, could surely be deployed on a Vintage, with only minor modifications.
The Chieftain, Indian’s new hard-bagger, features a bar-mounted fairing with a pointed chrome nose that recalls the streamliner trains of the 1950s. Two analog gauges track speed and rpm, while a central doubletree hotel orlando LCD readout provides all the info a touring rider could want, including a tire pressure monitor (standard). Also encased in the dash is a 100-watt doubletree hotel orlando audio system that provides surprisingly crisp sound, and a nook for your iPod, iPhone or whatever you want to pair the audio system to using Bluetooth.
Make no mistake: the Chieftain’s fairing is distinctive, and probably not for everyone. doubletree hotel orlando Kudos to Indian for taking a risk on what’s likely to be a polarizing feature on an otherwise undeniably excellent motorcycle. For load-carrying reasons, the Chieftain trades its brothers’ spoke wheels and whitewall tires for cast hoops and blackwalls.
It was interesting to learn that in its rich history Indian had never built a faired motorcycle, and in our opinion, Polaris/Indian designers could have found far worse inspiration for the Chieftain’s fairing.
All three Chiefs utilize the same Thunder Stroke 111 V-Twin and promise 119 ft-lb of torque at the crankshaft. All make use of spring-mounted floating floorboards; and all feature the trademark Indian war bonnet running light on the front fender.
But wait, there’s more! All three Indians use dual four-piston floating 300mm disc front brakes paired with another 300mm disc out back. And they all feature internally wired handlebars, keyless ignition, ride-by-wire throttle, cruise control and ABS as standard equipment.
The Classic and Vintage sport an elevated, pull-back handlebar that places doubletree hotel orlando its grips higher and closer than what cruiser riders are generally used to, providing a comfortable upright riding position that puts most of the turning torque in the pilot’s upper body. The Chieftain’s handlebar, meanwhile, is rotated down to make room for the fairing.
Which brings us to our first rave. While shoulder-oriented turning could be problematic on most other heavyweight cruisers, these bikes make use of their aluminum-cast frame to dive into corners with nary a bow or flex, despite hefty tank-empty weights (778 pounds for the Classic, 801 for the Vintage, 815 for the Chieftain). The result? Surprisingly – no, astonishingly doubletree hotel orlando – nimble cornering, even when ridden aggressively. And the cornering clearance is immense. Scraping pegs, er, floorboards, took serious effort, way more than what was necessary to throw the bikes around doubletree hotel orlando with aplomb. Add it all up, and you get heavyweight cruisers that relish sporty riding.
All three new Indians doubletree hotel orlando are extraordinarily dexterous in the twisties. Credit the aluminum frame, credit the rangy power band, credit doubletree hotel orlando the high bars credit whatever you’d like, because doubletree hotel orlando there’s plenty to go around. Fact is, each of the 2014 Indians provide solid and competent handling.
The lower, further forward grip position belies the Chieftain’s stated purpose, but its slightly more aggressive riding position combines doubletree hotel orlando with its dimensional specs to provide an even sportier ride than that of its brethren. And it’s not really very close. The larger and heavier Chieftain doubletree hotel orlando feels smaller, lighter and nimbler on the blacktop than either the Classic doubletree hotel orlando or the Vintage, and the reason sits front and center.
The Chieftain employs a 25-degree rake, as opposed to the 29-degree rake of the non-faired Indians. That sharper incline translates to a wheelbase of 65.7 inches, significantly shorter than the Classic and Vintage’s 68.1. Combine that with a pneumatically adjustable doubletree hotel orlando rear mono-shock and you’ve doubletree hotel orlando got a motorcycle that not only looks better than most of the other bikes in its segment, but one that flat outperforms any other heavyweight bagger on the market. Bar none.
Unfortunately, doubletree hotel orlando slow-speed maneuvering doubletree hotel orlando on the Classic and Vintage doubletree hotel orlando holds no such mind-blowing charms. It’s admittedly easy to suffer doubletree hotel orlando a letdown after setting such a high standard in the twisties, but U-turns and parking doubletree hotel orlando lot choreography on these two cruisers proved relatively ponderous, thanks to their considerable weight and what felt like a subpar turning radius.
Perhaps we were just spoiled doubletree hotel orlando after being astounded at their agility on Black Hills two-laners. doubletree hotel orlando True, the 26-inch seat height and easy clutch action make it a breeze doubletree hotel orlando to power-walk all three of these bikes anywhere you need to put them. And it should be noted the Chieftain’s shorter wheelbase made its slow-speed maneuvering comparatively easy. But our advice? If you opt for either the Vintage or Classic, don’t bother ponying up for the accessory beach bars. You’ve pretty much already got them.
Braking is fine, although Duke lamented the lack of feedback. I found them grippy, not grabby; lightly dragging the rear brake enabled shame-free low-speed turns that would make the Motorman proud. During the annual doubletree hotel orlando Legends Ride , I found keeping big Vintage upright via the slow-speed tango of clutch, brake and throttle as effortless as can be expected of a bike this size. The linked ABS isn’t overwhelming when put to the test just a series of gentle nudges to let you know you might be heading for deep crap if not for its input.
In the cockpit, the hand and foot controls on all the Indians are intuitive, effortless. The rubber foot petals are easy to find but don’t get in the way of the capacious floorboards. “The long floorboards allow a variety doubletree hotel orlando of leg positions,” Duke noted, “from stretched-out forward to nearly a standard-bike location.” The cool dogleg hand levers are easy to reach and actuate, and the simple teardrop rear view mirrors provide plenty of backside feedback.