2019 INDIAN CHIEFTAIN DARK HORSE
FIRST IMPRESSION
P86
your taste in music is, you can
go the Indian accessory cata-
log and jam in the Powerband
Audio setup, giving you up to 50
percent more volume than stock.
In the Powerband setup, each
speaker has its own amp, boost-
ing the equalizer from five to
nine bands with additional preset
options and loudness control.
The Powerband option works
brilliantly, yet I still don't think you
get as good a sound at anything
above 40 mph than you do with
a Bluetooth helmet set where
the speakers are literally pressed
against your ears. Plus, I have
problems making friends as it is,
so having complete strangers
subjected to my horrid taste in
music is not a good social tool.
This didn't stop one journalist in
particular at this launch rolling
into the photo/lunch/fuel stops
or hotel with the Powerband sys-
tem turned to 11 (it goes there,
not just 10). He didn't make any
friends. Nor should he with his
taste in music.
Two days of magnificent rid-
ing from Anacortes to Winthrop
and onto Monroe in Washington
State gave me the chance to
explore almost every section of
the Chieftain Dark Horse's per-
sonality, and like seeing an old
friend, I was glad to see every-
thing I liked about the Chieftain
when I last rode one in 2016
was still there.
The engine has plenty of
torque, but that fact alone is
not all that surprising. This is a
motorcycle designed for big,
comfy miles, and having such
a capable engine beneath you
should be a given. What is a nice
surprise was the three modes
gave genuine performance
differences to the ride. I spent
the majority of my time in Sport,
simply because I liked the im-
mediacy to the power delivery,
but when I got lazy in the second
half of day two, I switched it to
the lowest setting of Touring
and never wanted more. Throttle
response in all three modes is
excellent, offering simple, unob-
trusive delivery of torque.
This is a bike with a claimed dry
weight of 795 pounds. Yet the
Dark Horse is so agile on its feet
it feels far less than that.
