VOLUME 58 ISSUE 21 MAY 25, 2021 P101
The Chief Bobber
Dark Horse gives you
room to spread out.
I
ndian Motorcycle's bold idea: Develop a
new motorcycle to compete in a disappear-
ing class. Take the lauded Thunderstroke 111
(bumped up to 116 cubic inches on the upgrad-
ed models), design an all-new chassis around
it, and wrap it all in classic styling. Heavyweight
cruisers, that pitstop between small and me-
dium (which might as well be one class) and the
popular baggers and tourers at the top end of
the market–these bikes have basically disap-
peared from every metric cruiser line and are
even dropping from Harley-Davidson's lineup.
But in the interesting position Indian finds itself
in, as a domestic competitor to H-D, their brain
trust thinks the heavyweight is an essential link.
After all, if they woo a customer with a Scout,
they don't want them running off if they want to
move up to something other than a bagger.
The stopgap, up until last year, was the Chief
Dark Horse and the Chief Vintage (now re-
branded as the Indian Vintage, so as not to be
confused with this new model), based on the
touring chassis that underpins big touring rigs,
the Chieftain and Roadmaster. In the words of an
Indian designer, they're "overbuilt" for the task at
hand. Full skirted fenders flirt with Indian heri-
Going Big
THREE INDIANS THAT ARE GREAT FOR
THOSE WHO STILL LIKE TO GO BIG
BY BILLY BARTELS
