I owned a Chieftain and now own the Street Glide so I didn't bother to read the comparison. My Street Glide is more fun to ride and handles as well as the Chieftain. The Street Glide wins for looks and for fit and finish and the Milwaukee 8 is a more spirited engine. I miss some of the features my Chieftain had such as, the locking hard bags and adjustable windshield but I can easily live without them. Suspension was slightly better on the Chieftain but it was an inconvenience to have to keep the proper pressure in the air shock and mine always seemed to lose air. of course the dealer could never find anything wrong with it.
I always thought that I would end up back on an Indian but now I have my doubts and am perfectly content where I am at and I've put far more miles on both models to know what the better bike is and I currently own it. Next summer I'll be trading in my street glide for a Road Glide Ultra.
Looking at the photo's you can definitely see that Indian is go after the Street Glide. Really hard to tell them apart when you see them coming in the opposite direction.
I have never ridden an Indian but I have looked at them a few times and from what I see the fit and finish just isn't up to HD standards. I also think the small stuff could use some work. Things like mirrors, turn signals, switches and controls seem to be cheaply made.
If they were to dial that stuff in I would definitely give them some consideration the next time I bought a bike.
I've ridden both motorcycles. While I preferred the Indian's electrically adjustable windscreen and larger infotainment display, the Harley fit me better, handled better, and has a higher build quality. And the M8 engine has better heat management than the TS111. They are close, though, but the deal-breaker is the small number of Indian dealerships and a nagging belief that if the economy goes south Polaris will can the Indian brand like it did the Victory brand.
In the end, I bought a Harley - an Ultra Limited as I usually ride two-up - and some 21,000 miles later remain very happy with that decision.
I've ridden both motorcycles. While I preferred the Indian's electrically adjustable windscreen and larger infotainment display, the Harley fit me better, handled better, and has a higher build quality. And the M8 engine has better heat management than the TS111. They are close, though, but the deal-breaker is the small number of Indian dealerships and a nagging belief that if the economy goes south Polaris will can the Indian brand like it did the Victory brand.
In the end, I bought a Harley - an Ultra Limited as I usually ride two-up - and some 21,000 miles later remain very happy with that decision.
I have both an Indian Springfield and a Harley Triglide; I like them both. I agree that the small number of Indian dealers is a concern; I use my Indian around town and Harley on long trips
Looking at the photo's you can definitely see that Indian is go after the Street Glide. Really hard to tell them apart when you see them coming in the opposite direction.
Bingo. Its another attempt at a carbon copy to cut into sales. Granted the "old" Indian fairing was butt ugly, but Im not real sure that a near carbon copy of the Harley is the answer either. It all boils down to do you want a cheap imitation, or do you want the original item. For all the bitching that some do about Harleys, if they werent doing something VERY right, nobody would be trying to copy them. If the differing factors between your bike (copy) and the original article are an electrically adjustable windscreen and a different layout of the dash panel, you need to go back to the drawing board
They are both really nice bikes, but, in my opinion, the Street Glide is just nicer, with, as others have said in this thread, more attention to detail and fit and finish. I have never ridden the Indian, but I definitely will not knock it. As I said, it looks to be a nice motorcycle.
What a worthless fluff piece that doesn't give any details or compare the two bikes.
I rode the new Chieftan at dealer demo ride this spring. After 20 minutes on the bike my but and lower back were killing me, I was happy to get back on my Sportster. This was on a bike with their big bore kit, total price of bike and upgrades was $36,000. For $36,000 motorcycle my but better feel like it is sitting on a pillow that is floating on a cloud. Salesman tried to tell me I could buy a different seat. I laughed as I rode off on my Sportster. Don't even get me started on the heat coming off that motor on the Indians.
...just did an Indian demo days near me and rode that Chieftain several times and it rode very nice. A few things I didn't like about it was the single turn signal switch for your left thumb. Not the easiest to reach due to it's location and I could have used a bit longer thumb. The adjustable windshield is a very nice feature and I've done some of these Indian demos over the same years, a few times on the very same bikes. One thing I've noticed is once the bikes get some miles on them, that windshield can become "rattly" as the hinge & pivot points wear.
07-31-2019, 09:03 PM
Comparing Harley-Davidson Street Glide and the Indian Chieftain
