2019 INDIAN CHIEFTAIN DARK HORSE
FIRST IMPRESSION
P82
hint of Victory Cross Country
style about it (which shouldn't be
surprising, considering the same
company made both bikes).
The fairing wraps around the
seven-inch LED headlight, hiding
behind it an adjustable wind-
screen that gives a surprisingly
large amount of wind deflection
for how high it rises.
"The big thing the designers
did to help slim up the fairing
was to pull the driving lights and
turn signals out," says Katt. "It
takes a lot of the mass out of
the fairing, and allowed them to
kind of compact the fairing for a
slimmer look."
The seat unit gets a rework,
with firmer padding and a
sharper look, and the remote
lockable bags have been given
a once-over—stretched and
slammed, as Katt says. They're
the same volume as before, with
one of the Indian staff (who will
remain nameless) saying you
can fit a 24-pack of your favorite
beverage in each unit. "It's a
nice feature," he says.
As for the suspension, the
rear is an inch lower than in 2018
(think stretched and slammed),
and although the engine is es-
sentially the same as before, it
gets two major revisions in the
addition of the three ride modes
of Touring, Standard and Sport,
and rear-cylinder deactivation—
the first time used on an Indian.
The ride modes are something
most modern motorcyclists will
be familiar with, but are a first for
Indian. Touring is the most sedate
of the three and is the same as
Blacked out, the
Dark Horse is a
mean looking bike.
