2014 Indian Chieftain - Coolness Factor = 65.4%

[totalmotorcycle]

2014 Indian Chieftain on the Total Motorcycle Cool Wall

For A LOT MORE photos and information click here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... eftain.htm





Total Motorcycle 2014 Indian Chieftain Review

New look. Same soul. The 2014 Indian® Chieftain™ is in touch with its past, but far ahead of its time. It’s the first Indian Motorcycle® ever with a hard fairing, hard saddlebags and unprecedented new comfort and convenience features. It’s like no Indian Motorcycle® ever seen before, yet its style makes clear it has the DNA of a legendary Indian Motorcycle®.

Up front is an aerodynamic fork-mounted fairing with integrated driving lights and LED turn signals. The Chieftain™ houses extensive digital instrumentation – including tire pressure monitoring – and an audio system with high-output speakers. Use the integrated Bluetooth® smart-phone connection to tap into your phone’s music playlists. Raise and lower the power-adjustable
windshield with the push of a button to customize airflow and protection – a first for any fork-mounted fairing.

The spacious hard saddlebags are mounted on quickrelease anchors and feature remote electric locks you control with a console mounted button – or a convenient key fob.

Of course, the Indian Chieftain also features iconic Indian Motorcycle elements such as valanced fenders, a rich genuine leather saddle, and the lit War Bonnet atop the front fender. It also has extensive chrome, keyless ignition, ABS, cruise control, throttle by wire, and an innovative cast aluminum frame with integrated air intake.

Powering the new generation of Indian Motorcycle riders down the open road is the Thunder Stroke™ 111.

This smooth, powerful and efficient new engine combines both style and power, with engine finning inspired by Chiefs of the 1940s.
We made the Indian Chieftain about a comfortable ride and cutting edge technology.

Now make it your own with Genuine Indian Motorcycle Parts & Accessories and you’ll never be without what you need, whether
touring your town or this great country.

The first Indian Motorcycle of its kind, the 2014 Indian Chieftain maintains the legendary Indian Chief styling, while taking this progressive machine to new heights with advanced features and premium comfort. Unlike any Indian Motorcycle ever made, the Chieftain features a fairing with integrated driving lights, and its power windshield is an industry-first for a fork-mounted fairing. Standard features include hard saddlebags featuring remote locks and quick-release anchors, a high-output audio system featuring integrated Bluetooth® smartphone connectivity, and a tire pressure monitoring system.

“When we acquired Indian Motorcycle two and a half years ago we set out to capture the heart, soul and legendary heritage of this iconic American brand and then infuse it with unparalleled design, engineering and state-of-the-art technology,” said Scott Wine, CEO of Indian Motorcycle parent company Polaris Industries Inc. “On Saturday night we revealed three stunning new Indian Chief models that represent the results of our journey and the future of this brand. It was a triumphant day for all of us, and I know motorcycling fans around the world proudly join us in celebrating Indian Motorcycle and the realization that choice in American motorcycles is here to stay.”


2014 Indian Chieftain - Total Motorcycle.com USA Specifications/Technical Details
US MSRP Price: 49 State Pricing - Thunder Black $22,999, Indian Motorcycle® Red $23,499, Springfield Blue $23,499 . California Pricing - Thunder Black $23,249, Indian Motorcycle® Red $23,749, Springfield Blue $23,749.
Canada MSRP Price: Thunder Black $25,599, Indian Motorcycle® Red $26,099, Springfield Blue $26,099.


Engine (Total Motorcycle.com)

Engine Type Thunder Stroke™ 111
Displacement 111 cu in
Bore x Stroke 3.976" x 4.449" (101mm x 113mm)
Compression Ratio 9.5:1
Electronic Fuel Injection Closed loop fuel injection / 54mm bore

Performance (Total Motorcycle.com)

Peak Torque RPM 3000 rpm
Peak Torque (J1349 ft-lbs) 119.2 ft-lbs/ 161.6 N m

Drivechain (Total Motorcycle.com)

Primary Drive Gear Drive Wet Clutch
Clutch Wet, Multi-Plate

Gear Ratio (Overall) (Total Motorcycle.com)

1st 9.403 : 1
2nd 6.411 : 1
3rd 4.763 : 1
4th 3.796 : 1
5th 3.243 : 1
6th 2.789 : 1
Final Drive 2.2 : 1

Chassis (Total Motorcycle.com)

Suspension: Front - Type/Travel Telescopic Fork/4.7 in (119 mm)
Suspension: Rear - Type/Travel Single Shock w/Air adjust / 4.49 in
Brakes/Front Dual / Floating Rotor / 4 Piston Caliper
Brakes/Rear Single / Floating Rotor / 2 Piston Caliper
Tires/Front Dunlop® Elite 3 130/90B16 73H
Tires/Rear Dunlop® Elite 3 180/60R16 80H
Wheels Cast 16" x 3.5" Front and 16" x 5" Rear
Exhaust System Split dual exhaust w/ cross-over

Dimensions (Total Motorcycle.com)

Length 101.2 in
Width (US) 40.2 in
Width (Intl) 39.8 in
Height 60.2 in
Seat Height 26.0 in
Wheelbase 65.7 in
Ground Clearance
Rake 25°
Trail 5.9 in
Fuel Capacity 5.5 gallons
Weight (empty tank / full of fuel) 815 lbs / 848 lbs
GVWR 1385 lbs

Colors (Total Motorcycle.com)

Available Colors Thunder Black, Indian Motorcycle® Red, Springfield Blue

Standard (Total Motorcycle.com)

Standard Equipment ABS; Cast Aluminum Frame with Integrated Air-Box; Cruise Control; Driving Lights; Highway Bar; Keyless Start; Power Windshield; Premium Leather Seats; Remote Locking Hard Saddle Bags; Tire Pressure Monitoring; 100 Watt Stereo with AM/FM Bluetooth and Smartphone Compatible Input

For A LOT MORE photos and information click here: http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/motorcyc ... eftain.htm

[totalmotorcycle]

I know, I know. ANOTHER touring bike and yes, the sport bike, standard/naked bike riders are not gonna be happy with me. But Indian just released their 2014 line up and it would be a shame not to highlight one of their new bikes.

Mike

[JackoftheGreen]

Okay... someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Polaris also own Victory?

Yep, okay, just had to double-check.

So, this ride's got more bells and whistles than that doohickey the Cat in the Hat used to clean up the house in Seuss' book, huh? I guess there are people who consider that cool, but I start reading about 'remote keyless entry' into the hardbags and GPS and Bluetooth and it all sounds like $$$ to the dealer's service department when it breaks. And if you end up in enough cloudbursts, that stuff's gonna get fried. I mean, if anyone knows anything about waterproofing it should be Polaris, right? But I just don't have that kind of confidence in fragile electronics. All that is besides the fact that I'm just too young to appreciate these rolling couches in general. So I'm going with UnCool.

But, onto the larger picture for a moment? This 'Choice in American Motorcycles' advertising campaign that Polaris, wearing their Indian hat of course, is launching seems like a snub to all the engineers and designers over at Victory. We've had other options for American motorcycles for a while now, but they've never really made that a big deal in their Victory advertising, at least, not that I've seen. So it's more a choice in 'Legacy American Motorcycles' they're going for at base, and that's just silly. I'll be the first to admit I don't know the paticulars of the history between Hdavidson and Indian, but I know that in America profit never dies. So Indian already had their slug-out with Hdavidson and lost. For better or for worse, Hdavidson will always be 'the American motorcycle', and I'll wager Hyosung could buy Hdavidson and there would still be a significant percentage of fanboys that would go on buying the bikes and calling them American. Or, at least, 'MERICAN!!

So, if Polaris wants this 'American motorcycle' fight, they should do it through their Victory line. Resurrecting an iconic also-ran just isn't going to play out the way they want it to -- I mean, you don't see the boys at Chevy throwing the Nova into this latest wave of retro muscle, do you?

[totalmotorcycle]

Okay... someone correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Polaris also own Victory?

Yes, Polaris owns both brands now.

Mike

[BRUMBEAR]

LOVE THE MOTOR it's a fail after that just looks like an Arlen Ness Bling Couch. I gave it an uncool and I really wanted to vote cool on that but IMO they didn't do enough with THE BIKE the MOTOR is ART though.

[madjak30]

I usually don't vote when it's a bike I'm not interested in, but this bike is particularily UGLY to me...that is the worst faring I've seen...the exhaust was done nicely though (Y pipe)...the rest is trying too hard to be retro...

Vote: TOTAL FAIL...

Later.

[Gummiente]

I vote "cool". Back when Polaris announced they had bought the rights to the name and they would resurrect the brand, I was sceptical. Like Norton, the Indian legacy has had so many false starts and promising comeback attempts that fizzled out that I just couldn't get my hopes up one more time. But, having seen the success of Victory, there was a small glimmer of hope flickering away in the back of the ash pile that maybe - just maybe - Polaris could pull it off. My concern was that whatever they came out with would be a hideous Arlen Ness mass of swoopy, angular plastic that would trigger my gag reflex. I do not like the AN influence on Victory's lineup at all, but they seem to be selling well so what do I know.

Indian was one hell of a machine back in the day and the rivalry between Indian and Harley owners is legendary. The animosity between the two "tribes" makes the present day Harley vs Japanese skirmishes look like nothing more than a bunch of first graders engaging in a "dog"-slapping match during recess. Which it pretty much is anyway, but that's not important right now. Anyone who dares to resurrect the Indian name must be very aware of the long, proud history of the machine and the unique character that made it what it was. This means to pull it off you have to bring out a machine that has strong, solid links to its own past and bears no resemblance nor pays any homage to anything else but itself. In other words, it has to look like what Indian would have evolved into in the present day had it not gone out of business back in 1953.

Well, in my opinion they have almost managed to do that. Close, SO close, but something is missing and I can't put my finger on it yet. It has the Indian styling cues, solid traditional swoops of beauty that the Kawasaki Drifter couldn't quite perfectly emulate. The motor is all Indian, looks (and sounds, apparently) unlike any other V-Twin out there and is not a tarted up copy of the 45 degree powerplant from that other 'Murrican company. The fairing... well, now, there is no mistaking that for anything else. Even if you don't know an Indian from a Gold Wing, if you see a Chieftan coming at you there will be no confusion as to what it isn't. And it isn't a Harley, or a Victory Cross Country, or a Vulcan Nomad with an aftermarket batwing fairing, that's for sure. Then there's all the gadgets; fly by wire throttle is nothing new, Harley's had it for a few years now. Same with cruise control, ABS, killer stereo, keyless ignition, tire pressure monitoring; nothing that hasn't been seen on Harley's, BMW's, Honda's, etc. But the remote locking saddlebags are a new thing, as is the power adjust fairing.

But something is still missing. I'm just not getting the jaw-dropping, heart stopping, sweaty palmed reaction that I was so hoping to get when I finally laid eyes on it and I don't know why. My Road Glide is still my choice for yet another year.

[snakedoctEr726]

After careful consideration, I voted uncool. It's a brand new and unproven design. Please correct me if i'm wrong, but nobody on this forum has owned, ridden, or worked on a Chieftain. Sure, it has plenty of technology, but how reliable will it be? How much research and development time went into the design of the fairing? How reliable is the engine? From a purely objective standpoint, it falls short from its obvious competitor (Harley-Davidson) in a few major fields, while magnifying the inherent flaws of fork mounted fairings. Choosing a Harley-Davidson FLHTC over a Chieftain will get you an extra half gallon of fuel, more luggage room, infinitely more aftermarket support, more responsive handling due to HD mounting the front forks behind the steering stem, and most importantly, reliable and proven technology. If you were to take the difference in prices between the FLHTC ($19899 USA) and the Chieftain ($22999 USA) and invest it in the form of a Screamin Eagle big bore kit and the requisite tuning, you could build an engine capable of producing considerably more than the Chieftain's quoted 119 Ft-Lbs of torque.

All that said, I'm very interested to see how well the Chieftain sells. Will subjective qualities and unproven technology be enough to resurrect the Indian brand? My vote might change in 5 years, but for now, it's uncool.

[High_Side]

But something is still missing.I'm just not getting the jaw-dropping, heart stopping, sweaty palmed reaction that I was so hoping to get when I finally laid eyes on it and I don't know why. My Road Glide is still my choice for yet another year.

To me, it is the bland paint and cheap looking bodywork. When you drop this much $$$ on a bike the paint needs to be something special. They have also gone too far with trying to re-create the old look with such basic body work. Don't get me wrong, I get the need for the retro Indian looks for this thing to be successful, however modern manufacturing techniques would allow a much more finished / advanced look that could still pay homage to the original. I was intrigued when I first saw the engine, however the rest of the bike does not cut it for me....

My $.02

[totalmotorcycle]

Just looking at the discussion above I do share a lot of the same concerns. Although I do feel more confident in the brand as it's built by Polaris, which is a company with a great reputation, has huge financial backing and this isn't their first foray into recreational vehicles, thus I'd have no issues at all with buying a new Indian under the Polaris name.

As riders have said above the styling of the Chieftain is unique but to me as well it leaves something missing. After looking at it for the past few days (and the other photos of it on it's page here at TMW) I think it's the bubblous look of it, it's not that sleek or slender, and it just looks "weighty and thick". Yes, the paint could be more stellar in it's design, but so could Harley-Davidson's as well and they charge nearly as much. Victory definitely (IMO) leads the custom paint looking (mass-market) scene (or used to) and I think Indian will get some of that inspiration in the future...(hopefully).

Just adding my 1 cent before my 2 cent vote.

Mike