TECH
WORDS: JORDAN MASTAGNI PHOTOS: JEFF ALLEN
NEW BARS FOR THE INDIAN CHIEFTAIN TORCH INDUSTRIES DELIVERS THE GOODS FOR OUR INDIAN BAGGER PROJECT
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eeing as I’ll be blacking out a lot of the components (still in the process) on my long-term Indian Chieftain project and I was also leaning toward a new set of handlebars for this overall build, why not kill two birds with one stone with a black set of handlebars from Torch Industries? The factory handlebars are perfectly fine and plenty comfortable from an ergonomics perspective. But I needed black bars, man, and Torch’s new bars for Chieftain and Roadmaster models ($379 to $429) scratched my proverbial itch. They’re a tad taller, and they come in black (shown) but you can also get them in chrome or raw if that’s your thing. Measuring 4 inches
90 / HOTBIKE.COM
over stock, the unique thing about installing new handlebars on ’18 Chieftains versus ’17-and-earlier Chieftains is that the switch housings were slimmed up and the electronic throttle control (ETC) is now housed inside the end of the new notched bar as opposed to being housed inside the switch cube, so 2018-andlater bars were only going to work in this case. Not to worry, Torch carries bars for both styles. And seeing how I already loved the classy styling of the factory grips, I decided to keep those in place. I was able to reuse the factory throttle-by-wire grip, but I needed to buy a new left-side grip since I damaged my stocker when removing it (contact your local dealer for pricing). Doh!
