2015 Indian Chieftain Review

Boog

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Here is my review of a 2015 Indian Chieftain. My bike was in the shop for some major work and the dealer loaned this Chieftain to me in hopes of making me want one; the turd. BLUF: This is a darn good machine all around!
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For starters, this bike had 11K miles on it telling me the previous owner probably did not like it all that much. However, riding away from the shop told me I was going to like it a lot. I’ve added almost another thousand miles to it in just under three weeks.

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I am not sure what exhaust it has but I am sure my neighbors know that I am leaving out in the morning. It is far louder than the TORs on my Rocket and I do like the rumble.

Let me get into the parts I do not care for now. I consider this a ‘gold-pated’ motorcycle. In my line of work, when we issue a request for proposal to a vendor and they come back with more capabilities than we requested, we call it ‘gold-plating’ and that is not cool. This bike has a radio and the brochure tells me it is awesome. I have not turned it on once in the three weeks I have had the bike. Here in the winter I ride with a full-face helmet so listening to the radio is somewhat moot / mute anyway (see what I did there?). The fog light switch is out of place. One must let go of the grips if you wish to turn it on or off so make sure you are good with that. It is on the upper right side on the fairing. I flash left lane loafers with the fog light during dark riding, as I don’t want to use the brights.

A plus/minus thing is the push button ignition; like the Harley’s, you do not need a key. This worries me about theft in the case the fob is close enough for someone to start the bike and ride away. I know thieves have fob simulators and easily take cars and bikes with push button starts so I am Leary of it. For convenience though, it is nice. As a side note, when I turned the Indian back in last night, the service manager got on the Chieftain to ride it in to the bay and couldn’t figure out how to start it; he left the fob on the counter inside.

The kickstand works well and has a positive feel once pushed full forward. However finding the darn things is troublesome. Even after weeks of riding it, I still have to look down to engage my heel on the barely visible piece that sticks out.

This bike has Dunlop Elite tires on it with plenty of tread left. They are great on dry roads but I would say they are not ready for wet riding as compared to the Bridgestone Exedra Maxes I have on the Rocket III. The rear tire slipped out on me turning left from a traffic light on an icy morning and then again when turning left on wet pavement. Yes, I know any tire will slip on icy roads but it does not seem to happen with the Bridgestones as it did here.

And, that is about all I can complain about.

Some gold plating is good I guess; knowing why my hands are freezing is nice; the thermometer tells me it is 29°F. Oh, the cruise control is awesome, sure wish Triumph would make that standard on the Rocket III Touring!

In comparing it to the Rocket, the fuel gauge works instantly. The Triumph unit takes several minutes to register.

The windscreen is electric and moves up high enough to block all wind in front of my head. Even in the lowest position, I feel zero buffeting at any speed up to and above freeway cruising. The only other fairing bike I have ridden that did not buffet my noggin was the Kawasaki Vaquero. The Yamaha, Victory and Harley all cause me to keep a stiff neck while riding at speed. The Chieftain's cowling does a good job of blocking a lot of the cold wind too.

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This bike has the solo seat with rider backrest and evidently, the dealer measured me when I was not looking and set it perfect for my ergonomics. The seat is comfortable and makes me feel well planted.

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The bike moves easily from lane to lane when cagers try to kill me. The suspension works well over bumps and feels planted when hitting rough spots mid curve. I also admire its parking lot speed maneuverability. The short wheelbase compared to the R3T makes it great for the back yard slow speed races over the rough lawn.

Acceleration is not as quick as the Rocket but quick enough for riding around the National Capitol Region where cagers make sport of trying to kill motorcyclists. I admit (tongue in cheek) that it took me several minutes to get accustomed to having six gears again. The bike pulls well in any of them. Comparing it to the Street Glide of the same year, the Harley is flickable and might be slightly quicker off the line but I think the Indian handles better at any speed. I am not sure how these two compare at top speed, but both are smooth at a respectable 85 mph cruise. The Chieftain has plenty of torque to get one moving and like I said above, its roll on power is great in the DC area traffic.

In comparing the Chieftain to the Vaquero, the Kawasaki’s first gear is much taller. One must twist the go handle more initially, but all is great once moving. I considered the Vaquero to be the smoothest V-Twin around, I’m happy that the Chieftain feels as smooth. The Chieftain at idle is rumbly but not a problem. This particular bike though causes the headlight to flicker from normal to bright at the engine RPM rate. I let the dealer know that as I am sure that is not by design.

About those lights, they are all three bright white LED types (two fogs and one main head light). They hurt to look into them and illuminate the ground right in front of the bike quite well. However, the three halogen lights on my R3T provide far more usable light at night. I am sure there is some adjustment one could make to raise the light’s throw some on the Indian, I just did not see.

The side bags are big enough for my lunch box and much more. I did not look up the interior space but think they are bigger than my R3T’s. They electrically lock too and have keys holes; I just did not get the keys with the loaner.

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The brakes work pretty well even on black ice. I mentioned hitting some above when talking about the tires when turning left from a traffic light one morning. I was expecting it somewhere along my path but did not see it in time to avoid it (head light issue mentioned above). The rear tire stepped out but a slight amount of rear brake kept me upright. I have not needed to try the ABS thankfully but have made several hard stops and the bike stays well balanced even when dodging the stopped car in front of me on the freeway.

The previous owner added engine guard chaps and they do a good job of fending off cold wind and rain. The covered area is larger than the R3T and my shins did not get wet. These are made by Indian and add a nice look to the bike I think.

I picked the Rocket up last night and when getting back on it realized it is not as tall as the Indian is. Not a problem of course, just the two bikes handle differently and I enjoy them both. While I can easily see myself riding the Chieftain across America, I still love my R3T. Now to convince Pretty Pillion that I NEED to be a multi-bike guy again…
 
That’s a great write-up Boog - it sure does sound like a nice bike! I really enjoyed learning about it!

Coincidentally, just the other day, one of the many bike blogs to which I subscribe had a video entitled “Why we don’t buy Indians (anymore)” or something like that.


It is written from the standpoint of a bike shop owner who got burned on a deal involving what initially appeared to be a beautiful late model Indian in perfect shape. His issues were mainly from the standpoint of buying and owning an Indian bike as opposed to riding one. Anyhow - every brand has its ups and downs.

Cheers,

Pete
 
Plastic dude head on front fender screams cheap to me, and fenders 1/4 steel...style the most important...very direct competition with harley...now if i had one of their new flat trackers .... i would be surrounded by umbrella gals...not moab dogs...i like those indian flatties alot!!!
 
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@MaxPete I had not seen any of the Bikes and Beard videos before, they have a lot. That one shows they have a run of bad luck but one can always learn from stuff like that.
 
I took a demo ride on a 2018 Roadmaster back in September, while this was a nice comfotable bike with pleanty of paower and "gold-plateing" than i knew what to with, half way through the 20 mile or so ride my wife leaned up and said even if they offered us an even up trade for my 01 Vulcan 1500 Classic she would'nt take the deal, I agreed my Vulcan has more room, is smoother, handles better and has more power than the Indian. Of course regarding power to be fair my Vulcan has had major engine upgrades.
 
Great write up Boog and just about what I would expect to hear. My question is , does the Chief keep your right leg as warm and toasty as your Triumph? :D Just kidding.
Honestly, I’ve had the opportunity to ride all the major brands heavy touring bikes ( the International Bike Shows come to Phoenix a lot ) and every time I get off, I go phew! That’s too darn heavy for me! I’m a skinny old man, and I’ve come to realize that my comfort zone is 650 sized bikes, all brands, all good.
I will say though, I rode the Indian Scout and I really did like that bike. It’s much lighter and carries its weight down low, and very easy to handle.
 
It’s much lighter and carries its weight down low, and very easy to handle.
My Vulcan weighs in at 715lb as its setup, although not a light bike it handles like its much lighter machine. The weight is low and very balanced, seat height is low also. I can maneuver / walk the Vulcan around while sitting on it better than the XS Special. I found the Indian to be taller and with the shorter arm space steering at low speed was somewhat cumbersome.
 
@Boog Nice write up. I got to demo the scout (the one that has 100hp, don't remember the model name). It was fun to zip around town on. It would get up to 70mph in second pretty quick(if the speedo was accurate...). I didn't get to put one through its paces like you did. I haven't tried the chief yet though. A friend of my really loves his Rocket III as well.

Oh, and I like the colors of that lunch box
 
I have had my fair share of too big bikes,
no more...
Oooooh that one is pretty and cheap.

tenor.gif


Crap did it again.
Haven't pulled the trigger on this one
00s0s_4kx7tFUIjXj_600x450.jpg

but it's in my "interested" folder, "Street fighter Busa" When too much is just enough. :wink2:
 
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Don’t you love the term “ Street Fighter” ? It makes it sound like you were going for that look.
It sounds better than , “ I wrecked my bike and can’t afford all that plastic bodywork and paint.” :D
 
Don’t you love the term “ Street Fighter” ? It makes it sound like you were going for that look.
It sounds better than , “ I wrecked my bike and can’t afford all that plastic bodywork and paint.” :D
Guy claims this was not a wreck has much of the body work, engine tuned and dynoed at a local speed shop "but not raced on a track". Old guy toy, hmm I resemble that remark
 
The Indian is a pretty nice bike. But having two Victory KingPins and Polaris shutting down Victory (which resulted in a major drop in value) i would be hesitant to gamble with the Indian. The cruiser market is in decline and I think Indian will have a hard time selling the style in years to come unless they start developing something that the younger guys want. The new FTR1200 is a good start but they need a great adventure bike in the line up
 
Yes, I agree with Cra-z1 on that point. Indians aren’t as common here-about but there are TONS of used H-Ds around and the folks you see on them are often even older than most of us. These guys are dropping out of riding and the younger people coming along:
  1. Don’t want a relatively slow 900 lb cruiser that costs a mint to insure;
  2. Don’t have $20-35K for a motorcycle.
Similarly for the wild-@ssed sports bikes - they’re a little too much for most people to handle safely and the insurance market has confirmed that with either outrageously expensive coverage or none being available at all (my provider didn’t even want to insure my relatively tame Suzuki SV650). Also, the ergonomics of some of these things just don’t work for most people over the age of...say, 35-40 and so the only people who can ride them are those who cannot afford them.

I think that the future of the bike market is in smaller / mid-sized bikes like the 500-650 class machines and adventure bikes.

The problem for firms like Harley and Indian is that they currently have little or nothing to offer in those segments and no meaningful experience on which to draw. Products like the new 1200 from Indian aside, all they seem to be able to do is recycle their old stuff with either more, or less, chrome and then market them with new and innovative nameplates accompanied by new lines of clothing and leather belts and bandanas.
 
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I think that the future of the bike market is in smaller / mid-sized bikes like the 500-650 class machines and adventure bikes.
I think your right about the smaller bikes. A modern 650 is plenty of power for the average person who wants to cruise around town and some short trips. The power and performance is way beyond what our 650's were from the 70's. My girlfriends 650 Ninja was blast to ride an
 
Yup, I have a 2017 Suzuki SV650 for commuting. It has triple disc ABS brakes and that thing puts out about 75 HP - so, waaay more stop and waaay more go than an XS650.

Nonetheless, my XS650C is still a much more comfortable and relaxing bike to ride than the SV650 plus, she has plenty enough power to get me in trouble.
 
[QUOTE="MaxPete, post:
Nonetheless, my XS650C is still a much more comfortable and relaxing bike to ride than the SV650 plus, she has plenty enough power to get me in trouble.[/QUOTE]

And that last bit is one I preach to many new riders, any bike can be stupid fast if the rider is not being careful and pay attention.
My thoughts go back to te Chevelle I drive in high school. I took it to the 1/4 mile and broke into the high 13s. Otherkids wantwdto racrace me I town and I wouldn't because I knew I could win, didn't need to prove it. Years later, the back tire of my VMAX seemed to last around 3K miles longer than my buddies who ride VMAXes. I just didn't spin the thing all the time like they do. Nothing needs to be proven...
 
I have had my fair share of too big bikes,
no more...
Oooooh that one is pretty and cheap.

tenor.gif


Crap did it again.
Haven't pulled the trigger on this one
View attachment 131627
but it's in my "interested" folder, "Street fighter Busa" When too much is just enough. :wink2:
Streetfighter = I dropped/laid it down and ruined the fairings. Love Craigslist speak.
 
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