2019 Indian Chieftain Ltd - The Video That Changed My Mind 

Beautiful bike! Great looks and easy to tell it's a winner. Enjoyed the narrative, great job. I felt like I was on board for the ride.

This is an awesome looking bike. Love the new look and upgrades done to it . Love it

love your video, as someone who has family in middleboro and once lived in Abington and was once a service manager of a dealership in Rhode Island i know a bunch of the roads your on (i know live Seacoast NH) and your camera is VERY good, nice and clear and detailed.

The new design looks far more like the Street Glide than the previous version but for me that's a good thing. I've always loved the look of a Street Glides. Test rode the 2019 Street Glide Special and 2019 Chieftain Limited a couple weeks ago and went with Chieftain Dark Horse in Bronze Smoke. Both were great bikes and both had pros and cons but in the end preferred the new Chieftain. Looks great sitting in my garage, stupid rain.

BEAUTIFUL BIKE !! and GREAT Professional look to the Video Well Done

Awesome review, entertaining as well as good insight. Helped me make my decision on recent purchase of 2019 Chieftain. Thanks and keep the reviews coming!

Thanks for the quality and honest review, well done Sir.

I think this is my second time watching your review. I enjoy the way you describe your experience with this wonderful bike. I have the dark horse 2019 and I absolutely love it.

Beautiful! Best looking cruiser out there!

I think the stock pipes sound really good. Love the candy red color. Whole bike is beautiful... Wish I could afford one.

Thank you for this really interesting and also very entertaining video! Most of all I thank you for this FANTASTIC Intro of the Chieftain Ltd.!! Just GREAT and I love it!! As a rider of the "classic" 2016 Chieftain, the "new" design still has to grow on me. Your shooting brought me closer to the new design than any of Indians own PR-effords...! Interesting no? Anyway... they should hire you..!! :-) Thanks for your great videos. Greetings from Switzerland (...yep!... the small one in the middle of Europe.. ;-))

Well… I have a street glide but I Gotta say this bike looks awesome

Cool Video! And your comments: same as a ride on the Chieftain. I kept smiling all time.👍👍👍

Yes I agree with others the beginning of this video is one of the best I have seen. Great video great music and it just makes you want to go out and get one.

What a beautiful bike and I agree about the Mazda red color, it pops! Really like the ride modes, electric windshield, and style, dashboard not so much. Thanks for a great review.

Good job on this road test. Very informative and the kind of info I want.

Good Morning from Southwestern Pa...Another great Vlog ...ride safe !!

Nice job. Now I'm thinking about Indian. Several good bikes on the market.

You have the best listening voice I have heard on a V-Log.

Beautiful! Love those Indians! They just bet better and better!

Even more stunning in person

Very nice review, excellent camera work.. very very excellent. As for the fairing.... I don’t like it. I thought I wasn’t crazy about the previous classic looking fairing, but with this I immediately think Street Glide. The scoop screams street glide too, no one else uses that, but them(HD). Not sure what made them want to incorporate that into the design. I do like the dark gauges you pointed out. Very nice. Thank you for bringing us the coverage... a pleasure to watch sir. Ride Safe.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the new design but it’s really growing on me.

I've never seen any bike as sublimely beautiful as a Harley but , WOW !! that is a real nice looking bike

i just by me a brand new Indian Chieftain 111ci wallnut, great review! greatings from belgium!

Dayum! That’s a work of art!

Great review Nightcruiser . To me it looks like Indian took more queues from the Victory Cross Country vs the Harley Street glide, in terms of the fairing design. Now the bags and seat....yeah that's definitely a Harley trait. But like you said, it still feels like an Indian. I'm debating whether to trade my Victory Vision in for one.

Great review brother!!!!!

Thanks for the review just a beautiful bike.

That's my 2 month old Indian, same color and everything. So far I'm very happy, but we'll see how things go come spring, but so far I'm extremely happy.

This bike is sooo much nicer than the hd! This will be my next bike forsure!

First of all, great pictures! What a stunning motorcycle after all conceivable standards. This new one, has, along with some of the other models from Indian Motorcycle, a more sort of "up to date" design. I love it! I love the classic ones, and I love this new one. The "other" face of indian are coming I think from bikes like the Scout Bobber, the new Springfield Dark Horse, and now the new Chieftain. Streamlined! and a fresh sleaze of aggressive styling and technology enhances riding experience to an all new level. The restyled fairings and saddlebags and Ride-enhancing technology like ride modes, rear cylinder de-activation, and improvement in the audio system, performance, comfort, and quality. Then to the Harley Street Glide talk. Obviously two bikes in the same class, but the differences are also obvious. Street Glide is the world's best-selling in its class. Now, Indian has a bike that appeals to the same audience, (and then some) -but looks better and guaranteed is better than the Harley. Thats just how things are. I for one, would spot the Indian motorcycle miles away in a sea of Harleys. Anyway, things evolve fast, and Indian motorcycle are exactly where they should be whit the new Chieftain. Great styling meets proven performance and modern technology. Quality review of the redesigned 2019 Indian Chieftain.

I went to Westfield Indian earlier today and test rode the same bike as this. It was smooth shifting and really nice. I test rode the 18 and 19. The 19 is lower and sounds better I believe when you crack the throttle. Mom's is having Indian Demo Rides soon if anyone is interested. I really like the bike and the weight distribution is more center balanced than Harley counterpart. I told Lonnie from Indian Demo he might see you there. Thanks for the video.

For those that may be interested, I just put the high rise handlebars on my roadmaster and I just love it. I also put the long reach seat on since I'm a bit of a big guy. If you feel cramped on your Indian, I recommend both of those options.

Brother just picked his up yesterday, had a bunch of options added at dealer plus the 116 kit. It's the Elite edition.

I May have to consider trading in the road glide next spring. So far the reviews are the real deal. For me it will be all about handle bar position and comfort.

Glorious bike😍!

Great bike and video. Need to do a comparison of the new vs last year's version...The styling is definitely benefited from input from Street Glide owners. I think the last year's version is more true to Indian style and a better value overall. For example, seat is not leather on new version...last year's version has leather seat...quick releases on the bags on new version is an extra cost...last year's version they were included...the lights on the front fairing...you now only have one...last year's version you have more lights included in the price. Indian styling and paint are doing well...I think they are trying to give dealers more to upsell buyers.

I have a 2016 Chieftain and one of the things I really like are how the signals are set in the fairing! To me that's the coolest part of the bike and what distinguishes it from other bikes in it's class. I was a bit taken back that they went with a different look the first time I saw it. It's still an Indian regardless and whatever the rationale for them changing I guess makes sense for business. The fact that you can still get the classic look it a good thing. As far as the seats, I would be curious to know if it's better than the old version. I changed my OEM Chieftain seat to the Roadmaster because that thing was killing my upper thighs! The Roadmaster seat is better but still not even close to the OEM Nomad seat I had on my previous bike. I use the Airhawk and it works great!!

A Beautiful bike!

I hope Indian never gets away from chrome and high gloss paint I’ve notice that the dark horse seems to be getting more popular but not in my eyes ! I’m old school this bike is gorgeous but I still like the two tone paints and the flared front fenders! Indian has hit the ball out of the park it will be my next bike!

Hate to say it but it looks like Harley has a contender. This is one sharp bike

Just bought a 2020 chieftain from mom's revere,,great bike!!!

I’ve been coveting the Chieftain since it was introduced.

I'm about to pull the trigger on a 2018 chieftain ltd in blue. I was moderately excited, but now I'm SUPER excited. Great video!!

Great video. Hey NightCruiser, where are you? Haven't seen a current video for a while. Hey, lets get 'em coming again. Miss ya bro. All the best.

Nice ride and you are a gentleman.

I would be nearly scared to death to roll this Gorgeous Machine out of my garage . Much less to drive it on today's Maniac Driver Filled highways . Excellent Video on this Fantastic Bike Bro !

I like everything except the whine. Sounds too much like a Victory. Are there square-cut gears somewhere, like the primary, or maybe just first gear? Thanks for the thorough review!

When you said “you know who doesn’t have great clutches?” Before you even said Yamaha I immediately thought of my Vstar. The clutch is almost all the way out by the time the bike wants to move. A lot of times I end up revving much higher than I should need to when taking off because there’s such a delicate balance between taking off smoothly and stalling.

That is some beautiful country to ride in. I’ve got to ride a couple hours to get some nice scenery to look at.

I found on my 2016 Roadmaster that if I strap an uncooked whole chicken to the upper inside of each of my legs, I don't need the rear cylinder deactivation feature, and my dinner is automatically cooked when I finally get home.

Thanks great review

Beautiful Bike!

I have a 2018 Chieftain Limited. I like some things about the style of the 2019, and some things, I don’t. Let’s start with what I like: 1. I like the look of the saddle bags. I like that they’re not rounded off as much as the previous version, which also makes the speakers look better in them (if you have this option) because they’re squared off instead of rounded. 2. I like the rear lights. 3. I like the new design of the seat. What I don’t like is: 1. That Indian head they added to the front fender. One of the things that turned a lot of people off about Indian motorcycles was that hideous front fender that covered most of the wheel. Well they finally addressed that, which is why I bought one. Now for 2019, they put an Indian head on the updated fender which ruins it for me as well as other people I’ve spoken to. It looks like a light, but it doesn’t light up. Even if it did, I could do without it. 2. They reduced the size of the fairing and in so doing, eliminated the running lights. I also liked the larger front LED signals in the previous fairing. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great motorcycle and I highly recommend it. My guess is they will offer the 2019 model without the Indian head on the front fender as well. It only makes sense to me. Why lose customers just because of that. I personally believe that they added it because there’s been several comments that the redesign makes it look a lot like HD. That will definitely do the trick to distinguish it.

I keep looking for more and more videos on these bikes. I'm selling my Softail and when it sells I have color and options picked out and ready to go. Was buying a new Road Glide but my local dealers all charge a 6000 dealer markup above manufacturer suggested retail which really bugged me. 100 miles away they don't do that but anyway it was why I looked at Indian. So glad I did. Love this bike

People accuse the 2019, Indian Chieftain of looking a lot like an HD Street Glide, but as you posted here, Looking at both bikes side by side , the 2019, Indian Chieftain and the 2019, HD Street Glide fairings don't look the same. In my opinion, I think this new look will really increase Indian's sales in 2019.

I’m not complaining that was an awesome ride on an awesome ride.

Awesome video. Does it have cruise control? Beautiful Bike and I like the new design of the bags too. Thanks for sharing. Peace!

I love this bike, can’t afford one but they’re nice!

I wish Harley would design their seats like Indian. Indian has a nice leather bib on the gas tank that the seat rest on. Harley just lets their seat ride on the tank and rub the paint off. I can't believe out of all the engineers at Harley they can't do that as well. Love this bike but couldn't stand the heat that fried my legs on the RoadMaster that I test rode.

Hey...great video. I have a question; so I ride a 2016 scout 1134, never really ridden a big bike like this. Seriously considering a chieftain lately though. Not sure if you’ve spent any time on a scout but I would like to hear your take on a comparison of the two...I’m imagining a much smoother stable ride, especially at highway speeds. Any input would be greatly appreciated. It’s not a small upgrade so looking for anything to help me make my decision...that’s not from the dealer lol.

Watching, this I kept thinking about the differences from riding my foot clutch and hand-shift 1948 Indian Chief. Constant stops and starts in traffic are a lot of careful activity on the old ones, how do you stay awake?

I can’t wait till I get that same bike with the stage 3 up grade,

I've had 4 ultra classics and that Indian looks way different than the Harley to me. I would have to say I like the Indian better how about you. Thanks for the great video.

the vic magnums had a great looking windshield. but you should have never been surprised with the mass amount of buffeting. the most common, immediate upgrade was at least a flip shielf for those.

That bike's to pretty to ride. I think I would just park it in my living room and look at it.

I hope you and Jo are doing well over the winter. Will you be back soon?

I prefer the pure Indian look over the diluted Indian look. The little bits of this and that, do remind me of HD. It almost looks like short cuts and easy way out on the HD... and that carries over to this as well. Of course it is all in the eyes of the beholder. Is is however a beautiful bike and the color pops! You put so much effort into your videos. You must have a lot of spare time? BUT THE BIG QUESTION... could the 2018 model line be upgraded via software to get the rear cylinder deactivation?

Tour mode is the old engine calibration. In other words, it is the model year 2018 calibration.

How does the horsepower compare to the Victory bikes?

No comment about the effectiveness of the rear cylinder deactivation. That is one of the major changes.

You can put all the dramatic music you can get behind this video, but you still have a product that can't "Out Harley-Davidson" a Harley-Davidson! I love the Pre-'18 Indian style! You had H-D on their knees, what are you doing?

Just under the screen it looks like there's a compartment. Don't think I'd go for all that complexity - a clear screen up front.

I've only ever had my wrist to change from standard, to tour to sport. I feel it's more "stuff". I'll ride one, but MOM's in Manchester will only let you go one city block, which is not a test. I found the same on the Yamaha. The throttle was aggravating

Again i know that vent (stylized to look suspiciously like a hood scoop) is supposed to be for air management or some other excuse. But here is a little insight into manufacturing. without the turn signals and passing lights in the fairing it lost rigidity. in order to bring back some rigidity the common want to do that is add a crease and or a louver. this helps with the rigidity of the fairing. it also has the added effect of cost savings. That inner plastic insert in the center cost maybe forty cents to produce. But even if you alleviate all that cost savings and making the fairing rigid enough to keep the moving windshield from rattling as all bean counter stuff then it goes to styling. How do you make a motorcycle look hotter and faster? we the public are accustomed that hood scoop means more power or faster, whether its true or not is irrelevant. Hood scoops work on a car. But for a bike and especially cruisers the "vent" substitutes that look found on muscle cars. add that to slanted saddle bags to give the appearance of speed and Indian openly admits it is more aggressive styling. lets face it you are on an open air vehicle that by all reports handles the wind great (so why would you need wind "management") I find the "excuse" rather incredulous. All I am saying is i have no doubt there is some effect (since the vent to exit wind on the drivers side is non existent) its incidental at best. I stand by my assessment its a fake hood scoop, its designed to look like one to give it that aggressive styling. otherwise PI could have simply vented off the windshield. I would guess in a couple years when the 116 becomes a standard in the chieftain if PI puts 116 chrome numbers on either side of the "vent" when they try to market the super chieftain. A;so to also address the no n light war bonnet. Why? why make the face glass? its smaller just make the whole thing solid metal. You are never going to get rid of the galvanic corrosion occurring between the screws, fender, and the metal of the headdress. as long as you have dissimilar metal, liquid and electric charge (static from wind) you are going to get corrosion. That's why sealing with a good sealant breaks the cycle of the corrosion triangle. the wiring harness was not the issue with the corrosion under the headdress its the screw the holes they pass through and rain and wind. unless the new one is held on with double back tape which will have the issue of loosing adhesion to the paint a couple of years down the road.

Grist for John Shope's mill?

BEAUTIFUL ! what is the name of the song that is playing? Is that a Hans Zimmer piece?

I’m really liking this new 19. It really is a copy of the H-D but for a H-D guy like me the Street Glide just hasn’t been brought into the new modern day. The price continues to rise with no new worthy features. I really thought Indian would make HD step up their game but this offers a lot more modern technology for the rider in a smaller price tag. In stock form this bike beats HD Street glide all day long. I might be coming home with one this weekend

does anybody know about leg heat on this bike?

That 116 needs to be a selling point, not an option.

It doesn't matter to me how beautiful it is when it's brand new, what matters is how dependable and how quality is once you've got five years and 50,000 miles on the bike. Is it falling apart? Is it making all kinds of weird noises? Has the electrical gone to crap?

Did the rear cylinder deactivation make any difference while you where in town? Thanks for the great reviews!

I have the same bike you are riding with full Reinhardt exhauste the bike is awesome also 585 cams

That red has some depth to it

I believe I maybe the owner of that bike. I bought last year (2020) with 1200 miles on it from Mom's. I went for a Dark Horse and Left with a limited.

Will it fit a tall rider 6’6”? I know not much will but maybe I won’t be scrunched up.

Love that color

I have an Victory XC. Does it have adjustable forward controls?

Beautiful

Is it a bone shaking machine like a Harley? That really puts me off. I love the look of the Cheiftan, and many Harleys but I cannot take being shook to death by a V twin.

Is that a fixed fairing or like the street glide fairing?

We didnt get to see how well you reach and lifted the sidestand.. I couldnt reach it on a 2018 while it was down, and I dont think you are long legged person, did you skip that intentionally..lol..New switch gear for 2018? Are you reviewing a 2019?? I still hate that brake reservoir how, its height is appalling the way it blocks the right speaker too.

how about Indian suspension is it better than poor harley suspension, i had 5 harley and always the problem.

Do you have to switch off signals?

Nice bike

I didn’t hear you mention the rear cylinder deactivation feature. You were sitting in traffic. I’d like to know more about it and what it sounds like.

What kind of warranty is Indian offering with the 2019 models?

Thank you for this very informative video! As soon the fricking dealer open (Corona virus) I buy a NOS 2019 steel gray Chieftain for $24,850 Canadian Looney before Taxes!

Why didn't you explain what you did to the back stock?