Guy I know has the Chieftrain Dark Horse with the 116 upgrade. He said the heat off of it is horrible. I prefer the look of the Steet Glide.

 

Thank you for this. There is more useful information in your post than in the original article. There is an Indian dealership across the street from my Harley dealership. I am a bit curious. I honestly have no intentions of buying an Indian, and I'd hate to waste their time asking for a test ride.

 

Most dealerships have a thing where you can sign up for e-mail notifications so you will be notified if/when they have a demo truck coming by, or just stop by and ask them if they have the demo truck coming by, third option see if they have a used Indian there for you to ride. I've done that with dealerships before, just straight up honest with them, "I'm not buying today or even this month, interested in the bike, don't want to put miles on a test ride of one of your brand new bikes, can I take the used one out for a test ride?"

 

Either bike is exciting as a minivan. I'm not old enough yet to appreciate a 900lb+ behemoth... ....

 

My first bike was a cafe racer...a BMW r90s. My second was a BMW r1200c. 480lbs and about 520lbs respectively. I understand how you feel. I used to look at my brother's big HDs and say the same thing. I love how my Street Glide rides and responds.

 

There new bike coming out most likely next month is a pure copy of a road glide. I owned an Indian and the fit and finish is poor. I had the scout next to a Vulcan-S and the Vulcan was far better for half the price.

 

Inverted forks, monoshock suspension, aluminum frame, and a 120 HP liquid cooled engine. It's a dead ringer for a RG. There is much more to a motorcycle than a paint job and a fairing. I haven't seen the finished product but I bet it's going to ride smooth and handle pretty well.

 

Good. I'm glad Indian is doing this because it will ultimately force HD to update its Touring frame and suspension in order to remain competitive. Whether HD will develop a liquid-cooled version of the M8 is anyone's guess, but that time is coming as well.

Competition improves the products.

 

A Twin-Cooled 114 M8 version with liquid-cooled cylinder heads and radiators is already in production, and is used in the Ultra Limited models, the Road Glide Ultra, and Tri-Glide models.

 

I demoed the chieftain at bike week this year and came away unimpressed. I wanted to like it, and honestly I did, but not for the money. It feels like a cheaper copy of the harley, but instead it's a similarly priced copy of the harley.

I did like the infotainment screen and the adjustable windshield was cool but I doubted I would ever actually adjust it once I found the spot I liked. I also think the windshield is just one more thing that can fail, and the aftermarket options can't be as competitive as a standard fit windshield like the harley.

The suspension felt a little firmer and the brakes left much to be desired, power was on par with harley m8. The throttle was very loose, like it had no resistance when turning, which made slow speed maneuvers a little more difficult.

Fit and finish is what made me think a cheaper copy. It just doesn't feel as nice if that makes sense. The switches, mirrors, and other odd and end things just feel cheaper made and I'm not sure how long term they would hold up.

Overall if the bikes was 5k or more under the cost of a comparable street glide, I would consider one. Otherwise I believe the street glide is the nicer looking, feeling, and riding motorcycle.