2017 Indian Chieftain & Roadmaster First Ride Review Video 

Problem with Harley as they have had no competition for many years and they have become lazy, they have zero design skills, they build 1 motorcycle, paint it black and give it 10 different names but its the same bike. I would say that Harley will be feeling some pain until they learn how to design a bike that looks good and makes people want to get on it.

A

Till now!

this bike runs very hot put it next to the new 114 or even the 107 and your magnitude is non existent, and sorry but this bike is BUTT UGLY ...

Your opinion, and it is based on WHAT exactly? "NEW" 114's and 107's do run TOO hot and that ain't just in heavy, slow traffic. My friends who own them and actually use oil thermometers and check 'em frequently tell me they do run hot. One threw his thermometer away! Said it skeered him. My Springfield does NOT run hot and that's the plain, simple truth. I rode, overhauled, dragraced Harley for over 40 yrs. NEVER did any of the damn thangs handle or ride nearly as well as this Indian.

It's based on the fact that I have a 107 Ultra and my next door neighbor has a Chieftain. We ride together almost every weekend and swap bikes 1/2 the time.

So, you have noticed that the Indian is unequivocally superior. Or are you coming from some alternate reality where Harley actually builds a decent motorcycle?

+EpicWin1812 after doing some research on the new Milwaukee 8 motor. I think Harley fixed some stupid mistakes. I'm skeptical of the oil cooled head on the 107 motor. The same oil that lubricates the bottom end will cool the exhaust port on the rear cylinder. The new 114 CVO motor will have water cooling. I'm not a fan of my oil taking the stress and I think it's another mistake on Harley's part. They should have just went water cooled. Maybe an after market company will have the goods to change the 107 to a water cooled bike? Other than that they put a keyway back on the cranks keeping the bottom counterweights from working them selves out of phase and trashing the lower bearings. And they abandoned the twin cam in favor of a single cam. Less bearings, less machining, less parts and no chain tensioner failings.

HaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHaHa!

actually he is right, any touring Harley with much smaller 103 engine is faster up to the 65MPH, has better front suspension and can make circles around Indian tourers in twisties. The Indians new infotainment system is great improvement and its tieing up with Harley but its implementation is plain ugly, like form a indy workshop who just started to work with resin. Hand controls sux like before, buttons out of reach... And after the 2017 Harley line up is presented, Indian will be even more slow when compared to Harley.

pegg696 all Indian guys say same as you do. Problem is when they meet a Harley rider and get beaten on drag race. I mean on paper the 111 looks good, the S&S engine is great platform, but in reality its pretty anemic. I have test ridden the Roadmaster and it was very lame to get into decent speed, when in speed it was great, the engine has plenty of torque, but no dynamic in lower speeds. Maybe some different gearing or valve timing would help. And in curves the Harley touring simply beats the shit out of Roadmater, and thats a fact. Truth is that most riders never see a difference, since majority of cruiser riders dont ride at limits...

The new Indian motor is not an S&S motor. It's an all new design from the ground up.

The fact of the matter is Harley is in bad shape. They're producing more bikes than they are selling. Go to any Harley dealership and you'll see row after row after row of shiny new bikes just sitting there looking awesome. You might even see a 2015 model still looking for a home. Harley floods their dealer network to stave off investor worries. It may have worked in the past, but it's not working right now. They do make a great product, but with other companies like Indian and Victory, everyone wins since the bar has moved up a bit. At the end of the day, its your money. Spend it on what rocks your boat! Ride safe!

I agree. There are definite trade offs of what a buyer will want and sacrifice for the bike of their dreams. HD can do things better than other brands and fail against them in others. The less discriminate buyer most often buys with his or her first gut instinct. So many upsides to go with HD. Dealer network, brother/sisterhood, community, sound, chrome, accessories and apparel, customer loyalty to die for, etc. Can't go wrong there, however, the true down sides of owning an HD are the overall cost of ownership, maintenance requirements, and design flaws that if not watched carefully and or maintained, would set the rider back some serious coin. Just keep riding! Wind therapy is the answer to many things that creep up on us in life. Ride safe and often.

pegg696 yea I agree , I saw one in person .. looks better than on camera ..

I own an Indian Roadmaster 2016 and I'm 6'1. No real issues to speak of.

That's too bad about cramped ergonomics. You're not the first I've heard say that. At 6'5 I guess that puts me out.

I'm 6'3 and have long legs. When your knees go up over the tank, that's a problem. Not acceptable for a bike I'm gonna drop close to 30K on. My Vision is so much more comfortable it's not even funny. It's a shame, too, because the Road Master is a nice bike. They should have engineered more comfort into the design, not just take a Chief and throw more goodies on it. I realize that is financially expedient, but it's also lazy.

"As you would expect, the Roadmaster is powered by Indian’s fantastic Thunderstroke 111 engine and is otherwise mechanically identical to the Chieftain." Which is mechanically identical to the Chief. But I get it. Again, these are really nice machines. I just don't fit on the thing. Not the first time, won't be the last.

pegg696 Yes, I remember now that it was mentioned to me that the head angle was slightly different on the Roadmaster, which most likely explains why it did feel a bit better to me than the others. Alas, at the end of the day it wasn't quite enough for me. But that is on me. I just found out this morning that the Roadmaster was awarded the 2016 MOTY for best touring bike of the year. I think that is pretty big for Polaris. The ante has been raised for 2017 though! HD has their Milwaukee 8 engines out, Indian has their new Ride Command system, and who knows what else! As riders, you have to love it!

Jerrod Steinbacher hate to say it but I just don't trust Polaris...after what happened with Victory I love my xc but..

You do realize that over 18 years of Victory being produced, Polaris lost $100,000,000 on that division. I think their level of commitment was pretty strong, the only reason they bailed on Victory was for a couple reasons. 1) The division was losing money and CEO Wine has to report to the shareholder, its a publicly traded company. 2) Polaris was at a point where they were going to have to invest more money into Victory in the way of a new engine, the Freedom engine would not pass emissions in the EU, and would not pass in California and several over places in the US. 3) Why own 2 competing motorcycle companies? Indian was selling 15:1, it makes sense to increase the R&D on a division that will give a return in investment. Im sure economics is over your head, but Polaris is a "for Profit" business. Indian is here to stay, Polaris has Indian and they have wanted them since 1998 when they lost their bid to Gilroy, so decided to create Victory. Polaris wants to be in the motorcycle business and they now have what they want. Last thing you should be doing is questioning the commitment of Polaris after losing $100,000,000 over 18 years. Had they not bought Indian, Victory would still be here, but it makes no sense to have both.

Sooooo....do you want to buy my Cross Country or not? You can shove the rest of that drivel up your ass.

Clever. I can see the level of intellect i am dealing with. I had a feeling my points would be several levels over your head. Go get your Street Glide, I plan on picking up my 2017 Indian Chieftain Limited which is a far superior ride, better handling, better design and costs less money. Go gettem tiger, you deserve Harley!

Snake Bite So I guess that's a no?

sahi khel gya laundey

Harley davidson made in CHINAA and mounted in Italy, no thanks. Ps. PLASTICS in place of chomes?!

Ummmmm.....Spirit Lake Iowa genius.

toben42 hate to tell ya, not everyone dreams of a Harley. Goldwings have an enormous following for good reason. Adventure bikes are hugely popular right now. And Triumph got bike of the year. I'd trust a victory over a Harley for a touring bike any day as well. I've ridden Harley's entire lineup and they're nice for sure. But they're not everyone's dream. I'd get an Indian Springfield if I wanted a spectacular cruiser. But I'm likely going to trade my ktm 1290 super adventure off soon for a Yamaha t7.