As motojournalists, we often find ourselves wading through massive amounts of information and technical data produced by a manufacturer as it prepares to launch a new motorcycle. But in the case of Indian Motorcycle, there was much more than a new motorcycle to launch. Indeed, an original and iconic American brand was to make a much-publicized comeback. 

 

Of course, Bikernet—along with the rest of the print and web motorcycle press on the planet—has been keeping you apprised of Indian’s return every step of the way, from the first announcement that American manufacturer Polaris (a major name in powersports and the maker of Victory Motorcycles), to the reveal of its mighty V-twin engine during Daytona Bike Week. (You can review here every story published on Bikernet about Indian Motorcycle.) 

This week, Bikernet flew to South Dakota for the official unveilling of not one, but three all-new motorcycles. Here’s a quick look at all three, before we take them out for a spin:

 

 

The Indian Chief Classic features many of the brand’s key heritage design elements, integrated into a cohesive motorcycle that’s much more modern than it looks and that benefited from advanced design, engineering and technology. It features iconic styling like valanced fenders, a leather saddle, classic tank-mounted instrumentation, and sculpted and lighted front fender war bonnet. The 2014 Indian Chief Classic comes standard with a host of premium features  including rivers of chrome, keyless ignition, ABS, cruise control, throttle-by-wire, true dual exhaust, high quality chrome laced spoke wheels, brake caliper covers, cast aluminum frame with integrated air intake, and much more.

 

 

 

The Indian Chief Classic, like all 2014 Indian Chief models, is powered by the Thunder Stroke™ 111 engine. Offering 111 cubic inches and 119 ft-lbs of torque. The engine has essential and defining styling cues from heritage Indian Motorcycle engines, while internals use nothing but modern engineering and advanced technologies. The Thunder Stroke 111 is a 49-degree, air-cooled V-twin with 6-speed overdrive transmission.

 

Click on any of the smaller images to view them full size.

 

A step above the Classic, the Chief Vintage is a soft bagger featuring all-leather quick release soft-sided bags with fringe, chrome fender tips, vintage chrome badging on the front fender and a quick-release windshield. It includes the same premium standard features as the Indian Chief Classic, and sports the same iconic design elements like valanced fenders, laced wheels, whitewall tires, tank-mounted instrument cluster and extensive chrome finishes throughout.

 

 

The ace up Indian Motorcycle’s sleeve is the 2014 Indian Chieftain, a bike that combines the legendary Indian Chief styling, with advanced features and premium comfort. A first for Indian, the Chieftain has a fork-mounted fairing with integrated driving lights and a power windshield. The Chieftain also has hard saddlebags with remote locks and quick-release anchors, a high-output audio system featuring integrated Bluetooth® smartphone connectivity, and a tire pressure monitoring system. 

 

We got to ride all three new Indian models through South Dakota, in a variety of conditions, from city traffic to open highway and curvy mountain roads. All three bikes have a relatively high ride height with generous amounts of useable suspension travel, resulting in the smooth riding qualities we’ve come to expect from bikes in this segment. Steering on the two cruisers is, well, cruiser-like. It’s very stable and the pull back bars give you good leverage for steering. Having long arms though, I would have really liked the bars to sit a good 4 inches closer to the steering head. But if you enjoy a laid-back riding position, you will embrace the Chief Classic and the Chief Vintage.

 

 

Things are a bit different with the Chieftain, a bike that Indian designed to go after Harley-Davidson’s Road Glide. A more nimble performer, it exhibits lighter handling characteristics than its two brothers and is easier to throw into corners, thanks to a steeper steering head with 25 degrees of rake, compared to 29 degrees on the Classic and the Vintage. The Chieftain also uses a set of triple trees that position the fork tubes behind the neck; this help reduce the heavy steering you would otherwise experience from the fully-equipped fairing, and from the unsprung weight of the valanced front fender. 

 

Polaris engineers learned from the Victory playbook and acquired experience to bring to market in only 27 months not one, but three clean-sheet products that usually take anyone else 40 months. Shown here, is the 2014 Indian Chief Vintage in Thunder Black.

 

The Thunder Stroke 111 49-degree V-twin uses multiport injection with throttle-by-wire actuation. Throttle response is excellent, and the engine delivers 119.2 foot-pounds or torque at 3000 rpm in a smooth and linear manner. This is due to the long connecting rods and the use of a hefty crankshaft that keeps the engine’s momentum going. There’s so much available torque from the Thunder Stroke 111 that launching the 800-pound beasts from a dead stop is always a breeze. 

 

It is a well know fact that the expansion of all this energy creates a lot of heat, and this was a concern that the Indian engineers handled in various ways. One of them was to develop a 5-quart, semi dry-sump lubrication system with an oil cooler to help keep the heat out of the engine. Another trick had them apply a ceramic coating on the exhaust headers that, along with the customary heat shields, are doing a great job at keeping your appendages from roasting when you sit in traffic. Further helping with heat issues are dual-layered valve covers.

 

On the road, the Thunder Stroke 111 produces just the right amount of vibration or pulse to let you know that you’re riding a mighty machine, but never feels buzzy, thanks to a gear-driven balancer and the use of rubber-insulated footboards. We’re told that the oversized clutch was designed to offer a large surface of friction in order to handle the V-twins power, and as a bonus, effort at the clutch lever is minimal. We really like how smooth the 6-speed constant mesh transmission shifts. Cruising in 6th gear on the freeway has the engine revving at low rpms and there’s more than enough torque to properly pass slower traffic without having to downshift. With this said though, we really enjoy the mighty kick in the butt and the throaty roar of the Thunder Stroke as it suddenly gasps for air in 5th gear at 70mph. It’s music to the ears!

 

 

That’s right, we can’t talk about the engine without mentioning one of the key elements that make a motorcycle cool: the exhaust sound. The exhaust note of the Thunder Stroke 111 engine with bone-stock pipes is pure bliss. It’s not particularly loud, but it’s very good and rich! Much care has been taken in designing a good sound, as was explained to us during a tech briefing. We were told that the Indian engineering team had focused on reducing unwanted mechanical clatter from the engine’s moving parts in order to concentrate their efforts on tailoring ‘good sound’ by way of working on the intake plenum and of course, on the exhaust. Big kudos to Indian on this make-or-break item.

 

With so much power at your disposal on a heavyweight cruiser, it’s also essential that you have proper brakes, and Indian equipped all three models with heavy duty brakes with floating discs and standard ABS. We played with them for a while, stabbing them with the subtle touch of the Muppet’s drummer and the Indian ABS did the rest for us, bringing the Chiefs and Chieftain to a hasty, but safe stop. 

 

 

 

As expected, we got lots of looks from other riders and motorists alike along the ride and at pit stops. We had to answer a barrage of questions about these striking motorcycles and about the Chief Vintage, one person commented that this was a gentleman’s bike. Visibly, word had gotten around that Indian was making a return and the public is aware, interested and truly smitten with the new bikes. Change has indeed arrived with Indian Motorcycle, a modern manufacturer with deep roots, a strong image, history and heritage. It also has an unblinking eye, now aiming squarely at the competition as Indian sets out to claim an increasing share of the heavyweight cruiser and touring bike market for the coming years. Having delivered a triple threat like the Chief Classic, the Chief Vintage and the Chieftain, there’s little doubt that Indian Motorcycle is headed in the right direction.  — Ben Lamboeuf