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had the opportunity to have a long-term loaner of an Indian Roadmaster for the 2018 riding season. It was truly a pleasure to ride, and when the time came, I didn’t want to give it up. When I found out that Indian was doing their 2019 model launch outside Seattle a light bulb went off; I could deliver the Roadmaster that I was riding and check out the new Chieftains. The ride was nothing short of epic, and you can read about it in a future issue of Cycle Source. We had already seen the press release, which included specs on what was new, so when I arrived in Anacortes, WA I was excited to see the new bikes up close, but it wasn’t like seeing a bike being unveiled. I saw a row of the new Chieftains lined up outside the hotel and quickly started to take in the aesthetic; it still looked like an Indian, but only slightly. The rumor was that when they launched the Elite and Limited last year, both of which came with traditional non-skirted front fenders, they accounted for 50% of all sales. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that the majority of the market was looking for a bike that was more mainstream and perhaps didn’t have the
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December ‘18 - CYCLE SOURCE MAGAZINE
full-skirted front fender that has been associated with the brand for years. What a lot of people don’t know is that historically, there were several models that did not have full-skirted fenders and yet still remained Indians. While the fender was not new (although new to being standard on all the Chieftains except the classic), the fairing was the real departure for Indian. Indian took constant feedback from the riding public that while the Chieftain “Locomotive” fairing was art deco and appealed to a certain audience, it did not appeal to the masses. Indian knew that deviating was controversial, but they have never shied away from that before. It would leave critics the obvious option of saying they looked like a Harley. When you put the new Chieftain fairing next to the Classic Chieftain fairing, you will see that they share similar lines, but the new one will have a wider appeal. When Indian departed from the art deco fairing, they also decided to make the saddlebags more “aggressive looking” (their words). They have become less round but have maintained much of what makes them great including automatic locking mechanisms, beefy hinges, and class-leading storage. The traditional seat on the Indian Chieftain has been replaced
