Today's ride included the Indian Dark Horse

The Indian demo truck arrived today at Southwest Motorrad and inside it were ten 2010 Indian Chief bikes of various styles. Each model has the identical PowerPlus 105 (1720cc) V-Twin engine. They also have identical handlebars and tank display so choosing one to ride is really a matter of visual appeal.

I chose the dark water smoke coloured Dark Horse for my first ride. It has a solo leather seat, multi-coloured headdress design on the tank, 6-speed transmission, with rear shifter and floor boards and black wall tires. Seat height is 27.25″ with a 68.4″ wheelbase. Once again, this makes it somewhat challenging for the smaller rider. I was told that Indian is currently looking at designing a smaller wheelbase bike to address this. Hand position makes for a wide open upright ride which I found tested my endurance at highway speed. We were riding up to 90 mph (no km on this bike).  I struggled a bit with the wind so the second ride, I rode with a windshield and phew! Much easier.

In my opinion, the Indian Chief is meant to be ‘handled’ and not ‘babied’. The bike is definitely not a putz around town type of bike. I found the bike handled beautifully at higher speed, in and out of corners and bends, and once you get accustomed to that type of ride, you just want to keep riding.

One downfall is the signal lights do not auto cancel. Not only that, you can’t see if they are on as they don’t appear very distinctly in your tank display. With the entire demo fleet on the road – there was always at least one person who didn’t cancel their signal lights.

Indian demo ride continues tomorrow at Southwest Motorrad.

My second ride - the large windshield made for an easier highway ride