What I really think about the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 11 พ.ค. 2021
- While I was hanging at John Maxwells shop I was lucky enough to get my hands on an Indian Challenger courtesy of John Price for the week. I wanted to film a video and talk about how I feel about the Chieftain Dark Horse and the current state of baggers offered by Indian and Harley-Davidson.
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I don’t get the knock on Polaris. It’s an American company employing Americans. I for one am happy they bought the Indian brand. It finally has a chance to compete with Harley-Davidson again. This will drive innovation on both sides, as you can already see.
Iv talked to a lot of die hard harley riders who like the Indian better
Your spot on dude. We all see that pan America with 150 hp from harley, they are being pushed by Indian. Their fhr flat tracker smokes the sportster. They built the pan am knowing that it would have the next sportster motor too. The Challenger has inverted forks, 1 inch more of suspension travel, brembo brakes and a water cooled motor with 25+ more hp. For the same 30 grand of a road glide you just get a better bike. Plus the adjustable windshield. This forces harley to ditch their complacency and innovate and get better. We all win. Go ahead Indian, keep kicking ass. Besides, those of us old farts remember when HD was owned by AMF.
@@stevenwright6573 Where are you getting your stock HP data? I just rode the Indian Chieftain and I learned it has around 90 HP. Harley Street Glide 114 is the same. 🤔 I will say the Indian rode much easier for maneuvering and is better engineered. The HD definitely felt heavier, but I felt like a bad a*s on it and the sound can't be matched. The Indian felt like I was riding a scooter and it looked kinda cheap by being too plasticky, BUT I bet it's a better all around performance when comparing stock. The HD felt real tough, looked tough, and sounded tough. Sticker price for the Chieftain was $28k+. HD was sticker at $31k. I eventually paid $23,308 for a brand Street Glide Special w/RDS.
@@206-HoneyBadger not the chieftain, the Challenger. It has a 108 cubic inch motor, water cooled, with 122 hp at the crank. This motor is on the Challenger or the pursuit only.
@@stevenwright6573 ah, thanks!
I absolutely love my Indian Roadmaster. Over 20,000 miles so far 0 issues.
Love my 19 Chieftain! I have had most brands including 3 HD and must say I loved those as well but the Indian is by far superior all the way around! I don’t get the fit and finish story people put out there because both Indians I have owned were top notch. I will sayHD paint options are much better but when it comes to engineering, handling, ride and technology for around the same price you get way more bike for your money. I don’t understand the love fest with the HD brand and think they are in trouble partly because of it and don’t understand why people hand over their money for antiquated bikes that you have to spend thousands more just to get it close to an Indian.A lot of people evidently have decided not to anymore! But I always say ride what you like and love every minute of it! Great job on the video!
Long time Harley owner and recently purchased my first Indian. Really impressed with my Chieftain Dark Horse and happy to know that Polaris is made in the USA.
Just picked up a new Chieftain 2 weeks ago. If you think the red is nice.. you need to see it in the blue slate metallic dark horse. 😀
Man I had street glide, Rod glide and now I have 2021 indian challenger, I'm in loving!!!!! Your review is spot on! 👍👏👏👏👏
We took in nearly 80 Harleys over bike week. (I work at Indian)
I just rode 150 miles on my 2021 Roadmaster Limited yesterday. I absolutely love it!
I am considering the 2021 roadmaster limited, how bad is the heat off the engine, exhaust? I live in fla. How comfortable is that new seat? For the passenger? I'm coming off an HD Ultra limited .
@@harryhowell5644 Hello, I now have 1800 miles ridden. We rode about 120 miles Sunday in 95 degree temps. I always wear blue jeans. The bike did not feel any hotter than my 02 Ultra Classic. A couple things to note, I did a cat delete pipe, and Indian has the rear cylinder deactivation feature. I think both help. The seat is very comfortable. Not that you asked, but I also did stage 1 air and RUSH Warhorse mufflers with 2.5” baffles. I had the dealership dyno tune it. Sounds great and runs great.
@@jameszee7585 they didn't void the warranty? What were the dyno numbers if you don't mind me asking. My previous HD Ultra limited ran hot until I changed the header out. You have to change your headpipe? Who makes the cat delete? Who's your dealership?
@@harryhowell5644 I asked before they did it. They said it did not void the warranty. I did purchase an extended warranty. 93 hp and 126 ft lbs Torque. Well, 92.67 to be exact on hp.
@@harryhowell5644 Indian Motorcycle of Metro Milwaukee is the dealer. Not sure of the make of the Pipe.
I love both Indian & Harley. I can’t afford neither right now . I owned a 2015 Harley Electraglide standard and a 2005 Indian Chief (Gilroy) and loved them both.
I gave up my Harley for a Roadmaster. Very happy with my choice. Competition makes both companies better.
I would consider purchasing all motorcycles if I had the money.
I have a 2019 springfield darkhorse in white smoke. Absolutely love the bike. Going to try to keep it forever lol
Love the video. I just got a 2016 Victory Cross Country a couple months ago. Unfortunately it will probably be the last victory that I own. When the day comes that I get rid of it and get something new I’ll definitely be looking into getting either the chieftain or challenger dark horse.
Always enjoyed ur perspective with the Indian brand..myself owned both Indian n Harley..appreciate both for different reasons..most important to me they are American owned..win-win..😀
Stunning 2019 Indian Springfield in gray and burgundy here. My dream bike at last. I'm good to go. I love all the Indians, they have something for everybody now.
I think you are certainly right. Both companies are at home in the USA and employing our citizens. Competition is great and Harley certainly needs that. Harley will make improvements because of it, albeit slowly, and maybe survive. Thanks and ride safe!
That made in America stamp scared the absolute shit out of me 😂🇦🇺👍🍻🍻
45,000 miles on my 16 Springfield. Love the bike
That red is also my favorite on the chieftain. I like it so much if I find a deal on one, I’m pulling the trigger. Great bike all around.
@Vbeast I attended the IMS event here in socal and i gotta say, I really loved the Chieftain. Better than than the Challenger and i rode the HD Street glide and Road Glide, better han them too. I want to get your thoughts on the comparison to the CC
@@dvsmike The chieftain rides pretty much the same as my CC with the stock setup. The only problem with both the CC and the chieftain is the lack of aftermarket shocks. Regardless of how good a stock shock is, an aftermarket will ride even better. I’ve also had the opportunity to ride the road glide and street glide. I have ridden them with bad adjustments, which was horrible. I have also ridden them with the correct setup for my weight, when properly adjusted the HD rides just as smooth as my CC. The HD shocks actually feel slightly more sporty. By that I mean they have less of a mushy feel and more of a firm feeling.
Thank God for someone who doesn't sound like a 2 year old with the 'what's up' crap. Well reasoned logical discussion of the product. I like the Chieftains, but, I would love to see the 108 Challenger motor in more of the Indian range, plus more realistic prices for their accessories. $4200 Aussie dollars for a tourpack is just plain ridiculous.
I saw one of those white Indians yesterday and it was spectacular.
That adjustable windscreen is a big plus
Totally agree.
That bike rides so nice and smooth. I would like to see the 108 put in a variant of the Chieftian future, shut up and take my money.
I only discovered the Indian Brand very recently. Went out and rode a bunch of them. Wow blown away by how good the product was. I bought a 2022 Goldwing last year. Had I known about this brand I would have bought the Pursuit. Later this year Iam gonna get a Cheiftain Limited hopefully in that same Red. I cannot wait to own an Indian Bike I think they're amazing. Edit: Bought the Chieftain dark horse in sagebrush. Got the rineharts too. Love it.
2 years later and he’s still waiting. This is a good lesson when you find something nice and you want it, buy it. Neither of the things he’s waited for have happened.
I have a 2020 chieftain darkhorse. I'm waiting for indian to come out with a 125 or so kit for the 116. Good review, cheers 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🇳🇿😎
Thanks 👍😊✌️
love my scout Dan...............great product for sure! nice review!
I'm sure Indian makes a great solid bike...when we were ready to buy in 2020...we looked at the Indian...2 things... it just doesn't look as good as a Harley to us...and closest dealer is 3.5 hrs away...I have 3 harley shops within 4 hrs of me...my local dealer is just over an hour away!!...great video....stay safe...ride safe!!😎👍🤙👍🤙🇨🇦
I’m biased; I have an Indian challenger and love love love all the bikes on the line. Good stuff man
Agreed. Indian suspension and handling are much better. I still say the best riding Motorcycle stock right off the sales room floor was my 2018 Indian Springfield Darkhorse. I really do miss it.
I'm currently upgrading my 2020 Road King Special to Legend suspension. Remarkable improvement over stock. Expensive upgrade. Harley should have better suspension stock. We as consumers keep purchasing and they continue to offer subpar suspension.
I do think Harley will introduce a new frame and suspension in the not to distant future.
Absolutely love Indian, however Harley is hard to pass up. Take Care.
Good thing for me I own a bmw and don’t have to wait for American motorcycle companies to catch up though I am pretty sure they never will at least not with the inline 6 k1600.
I'm torn between the chieftain and Challenger. I think if they put the power plus in the Chieftain I'd go that way all day. Then it be the burnt Orange since they don't have the white in the Dark Horse.
120 yr anniversary year in 1.5, perfect time to introduce a new touring frame & motor….. Ride hard or stay home 😎
The stock of parts for customization in Harley is infinite, Indian must improve on that. They are both great motorcycles.
For me, if anything, the matte colors are a turn off. I'd prefer HD paint, the gloss finishes. It's the one thing Indian falls flat on and considering what they cost, they should have more color choices. I would agree on the sport tourer from HD. I just hope they do it right. IMO, The RT is the target with that bike.
100% agree. I despise matte paint and to me I believe Indian using all these Matte paints is an open acknowledgement that they can't compete with Harley paint. Rather they throw ugly matte paint on it and upsell it calling it a "dark horse".
I love my cheiften trade in a 2019 roadglide for it . To me the 111 is a great motor I had 22000 mile on the the road glide it was a good bike but didn't have the feel of
Yeah I got an 18 chieftain I enjoy it more than the Harleys because of the
Captain_OP yeah I’ve got the chieftain dark horse, I’d recommend it to anyone, it’s really awesome because of
Captain_OP 😂😂🤣
Yeah man it was difficult to choose between an Indian and a Harley, I ended up with a Harley. Harley-Davidson just seemed to be built better and handled better, but that's just my opinion. Great review.
Hahahaha
My next bike
From a company that built the victory line I felt a lot of handling similarities between my victory cross country tour and the Indian baggers. But I agree that the fit and finish of a Harley is better.
That being said. Putting the power plus in a chieftain and a revolution max in a SG/RG would be a match up I would love to see.
I really like my Vintage,I tell the Harley guys that give me a hard time about Indians and my comment to them is they are bad mouthing the Americans that built it.
I am one of those people that call this a Polaris. I do believe that it is a great motorcycle. Especially with it's Victory roots and and a company like Polaris backing it up. What I do have a problem with is Polaris buying the Indian logo, slapping it on it's motorcycles and pretending it has a lineage back to the pre '54 Indian motorcycles. Great bike, I would buy one, but not an Indian...
I can understand that but in all fairness the Indian name DOES have lineage back to 1916 and Polaris buying that name is now just part of that lineage. It is certainly all relevant and Indian has had more corporate struggles than Harley but in my opinion, if you aren’t willing to say Harley has only been around since 1981 when Willie G bought it back from AMF, you really can’t complain about Indian not claiming it’s only a new company since 2011. Just seems fair. After all, every penny Polaris spent on the Indian name was FOR that lineage, its what had any value to begin with. Same reason Willie G spent $80 million on Harley back in 1981 was for that name and its heritage that had perceived value.
@@GearsGadgets When I think lineage, I think continuous production not ownership. I think of Triumph, Royal Enfield, Harley Davidson, BMW. I can draw a line from my current Harley to the first 3 built in 1903. It does not say anything about quality of the bikes produced today. The nostalgia may not be logical but it is important to me. Ergo, the current Indian is revolutionary not evolutionary. My opinion only...
@@luizdejesus6240 fair enough but I can tell you if Harley went under today and stopped producing bikes, I would be thrillled if Ford bought them up and revived the nameplate 10 years later. Just because production stops doesn’t mean the lineage is then worthless and holds no value.
@@GearsGadgets Agreed, but it is nice to see some old brands struggling and fighting to hold on to existence as long as they can...
@@luizdejesus6240 if you own a late model Royal Enfield that lineage line gets as fuzzy as Indian’s. @gears & gadgets Outside of Ford no big automotive maker has continued in a single file line so I laugh when I see riders defending motorcycle lineage and attach patriotism to the conversation while all along there is a Toyota Camry or Kia in the driveway or a Ford Escape with all Mazda parts. Time to move on folks, it’s value and performance, fit and finish for the money, may the strong and willing survive.
Hi
Traded my harley bagger for my Chieftain DH. Love the bike and so do all the harley fanboys as they gather around it outside the bar everytime im there. Thing is quick and handles great. Will have another harley in the future, but for now I have a better bike.
I personally think that Indian missed it by not putting their liquid cooled, powerhouse, engine (I don’t know what they call their engines?) in the new chief? At least in one of the chiefs or something comparable. Harley is definitely putting that revolution max beast in some new cruisers and probably a bagger as well as more adv bikes. Should be very, very, interesting to see what Harley comes up with next. How did I end up on Harley in an Indian video? Oh yeah, it’s Harley and they absolutely own the American cruiser/touring market. Sorry Indian.
You walk into an Indian dealer to buy a Challenger or Chieftain. Which one are you riding out of there?
Challenger. I like the look of the Chieftain more but the engineering behind the Challenger would 100% get me.
Challenger
I hear that the Ride Command is dodgy.
Harleys new touring bike liquid cooled will be its own bike/platform. and road glide & street glide stay the same. 😉
I dont disagree but I do think they should just make it a version of the same SG or RG. Just have a “Performance” version of those bikes no different than they have the CVO version of those same bikes which are basically just the parts catalog version.
@@GearsGadgets That would make sense but they’re going to make a whole new platform with that new motor for a touring bike
I would personally like to see the information on a new touring frame please reference to the material that HD has released
I don’t understand how anyone wouldn’t see it coming between what Indian has put out, the emissions standards, the performance bagger trend, and literally the ONLY argument against it being neanderthalic “Harley must be big, heavy, air cooled, ugga bugga” thought process. If Harley refuses to keep up to appease the old school (who stopped spending money 10 years ago), they may as well lock up shop and give up.
Where’s the information Dan you spoke of and if really feel that way about the MOCO sell yours and buy a Indian before you have to pay them to take your bike just to get rid of it , not every one wants a bike with so few dealerships spread out , sorry but electric gizmos isn’t the soul of a bike , maybe a Japan made bike would be the ride you’re looking for ride safe
@@talkingrock7011 well now you are just crafting a narrative for me. I never said I don’t like my Harley I’m just saying I REALLY like what Indian is doing. It is completely okay to love my current motorcycle, love what Indian is doing, AND want Harley to push innovation in a bagger with a liquid cooled performance bagger. The idea that those ideas can’t coexist in one persons opinion is absurd. Never said I dont like my Harley, or any other Harley, and saying I love Indian does not equal me saying I hate Harley. I am just open minded.
Lol Triggered? STFU
@@kramerdm stop being a child
Awesome bikes but i think there is only one indian in my country. All the country!!!!
Where are the '21 reviews tired of seeing these old reviews when it's time for the '22's to come out.
If you wait for the next best thing in life or in bikes, you're going to miss out on both. And if you want the liquid cooling, buy something other than the Chieftain. Don't make it a knock against my bike because you want a custom ordered dream bike for you. Review and leave it at that. I'm not being harsh on you because you are a fellow biker.
Didn't you go to John Maxwell to help him make videos for his channel? 1 video for his channel and 4 vídeos for yours? 🤔
I went to go help him anyway I could including staying out of his way when he was mind numbingly busy. We had 2-3 more videos we wanted to film while I was there but never had the opportunity to do it in a way that didn't interfere with him getting bikes back to customers. My week went like this (the best I can remember):
Monday: Arrive at shop around 8pm, John showed up between 9-10, he edited his EngineHawk video till 1am (I stayed out of his hair)
Tuesday: I filmed "Day in the life" from 6:30am - 6pm, eat, Edit 7pm-1am
Wednesday: I edited from 6:30am - 2pm, John was slammed from 2-6, he left to coach soccer, I took my first ride on the Chieftain, we met back up at the shop around 8-9pm. We had our first opportunity to sit and chat and review, upload, and schedule my edit which took till about 1am.
Thursday: I hung out "on call" ready to make a video if an opportunity came up, John started getting slammed with last minute Thunder Beach bike week customers and it got even crazier. I just tried to stick around and be a body willing to help out where I could. I just tried to stay out of the way. That was when I took off and filmed on the Ryker.
Friday: Was more of the same and was also my last full day in town and Gregg (other tech) was off. It was only John in the shop wrenching and was just as hectic as every other day. I was not about to start putting a camera in his face while he was trying to stay focussed on getting work done under absurd timelines. Around 7-8pm shop shut down and John just wanted to get out and ride for the first time this year so that's what we did.
Saturday: I flew out first thing in the morning.
So while it might seem like my goal wasn't met, any content you have seen on my channel was me doing what John needed me to do at the moment which was leave him alone so he could get things done. I would have liked to have gotten a couple more videos done but I was honestly really proud of the "Day in the life" video and think it provided necessary context to Johns followers who have wondered where he has been. It was also a much more ambitious project to film and edit than I had anticipated so all in, I feel the trip was a success. Sorry I wasn't able to get more videos out and I know John is too, we both wanted to.
Not that it matters but as far as American made goes when making the comparison:
Harley 71%
Indian 84%
For 10-15K more… you can buy the same bike with Harley Davidson. They better add more stuff like Indian did and stop making stupid paint schemes and random badging throughout all their models to include cutting out major sellers lie the Breakout or better yet: abandoning Customers like they did Buell … then Harley Davidson has a chance to survive the Future vs Indian.
I own Harleys and that Company is screwing up a wet dream, buying an Indian Darkhorse no matter what trash Harley Davidson puts out. 2022 is their (HD) biggest failure YET! Even the Scout looks better than most Softails… just saying, I know I won’t be disappointed buying an Indian. Even the Scout has touchscreen diaplay…. Not even 1 Softail has the tech or suspension an Indian has. Sad really, HD is a joke, love my old Panhead and 97 Softail and wouldn’t trade them for nothing (because Harley sucks now and don’t make them like they used too).
Don’t let the haters of Indian distract you from the fact that Harley was once briefly owned by a company that specializes in bowling equipment-the Dude abides 👍🏻
Don’t forget how Harley Davidson treated the Buell “Family”… just threw them out in the rain and mud like an unwanted mutt. Took Buell up to 2019 just to get their own production started again. Never forget what POS Harley Davidson really are and they cost 10-15K more than Indian baggers with less standard equipment. How they did Buell takes the cake… way to blow off your customers too who bought only Buell, because Harley Davidson cares so much about you as a Customer.
-Mic Drop #HarleyDavidson
Not everyone wants the powerplus engine. Its ugly and sounds awfull. No slipon sounds good with the powerplus
I have seen all about 1 negative review of any indian bike, period.
I have far more seen an excessive amount of defending and praising left and right for Indians bikes, a little too much praise.
Honestly, it gets rather annoying. Nothings that perfect.
I dont even see good ole honda get that much praise and they make a better bike than indian does for the money hands down.
Im sure they're great but the sheer brown nosing of their bikes rubs off as annoying bias.
Obviously have a HD fan boy making the video. Really sad people can't wake up from the HD comma. HD hasn't made a decent bike in over 40 years. Just cheap Chinese crap. I would rather have any Japanese bikes than any HD and Indian is really just a lot better than any HD.