Indian motorcycle reviews posted to another group:
________________________________________________________________
One little, two little, three little Indians...
So, the plan Saturday was to ride to Suches, enjoy the great roads, and grab lunch at TWO as they close at the end of the month and I'll be on another ride elsewhere next weekend. I rolled the GS out into the driveway, hit the starter and chuclickityclickty. Hit the starter one more time and zip, nada. I suppose I could have taken the Wing, but I was up for a more sporting ride and I'll be doing a weekend trip on the wing next weekend anyway.
I rolled the Wing out into the driveway and gave it a good wash n wax, the first wash since I bought it in July. While I was washing, my neighbor across the alley, who owns a Tiger, said the Indian factory demo truck was at the local dealer, would I like to go along with him and ride some bikes? Sure, why not. Finished the Wing, pulled the dead GS battery, tossed it in the Wing side bag, and off we go.
I should have taken a picture of the setup, but didn't, as it was an impressive sight. A really nice full size 18 wheeler rig with ~25 demo bikes lined up. A quick registration, and I was ready to ride.
First up, the Challenger.
https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/challenger/ This is the bike Kate told me to check out when I was looking at touring bikes, and on paper it's an interesting ride. Obviously a bagger/cruiser type, but it uses an 1800cc liquid cooled 122hp/128ft lb v-twin as a stressed member in the chassis, upside down forks, and Brembo brakes. The rep told me to keep it above 3500rpm as this one likes to spin. I asked him about the route, and he said free ride, go where you like. Luckily, there's a half decent bike/car test drive loop I use that was in the neighborhood. This bike has plenty of power, and is damned fast. On low speed corners, it handles fantastically and has far more ground clearance that one would expect of this bike type. The brakes were also fantastic. The ride was a bit rough, and the ride motions over bumps were a bit quick and choppy, but overall pretty damned good. The floorboards are mounted high and way forward for better clearance, and the controls are WAY forward on the boards. On entry to the first corner or two I went to brake and downshift and my feet found nothing but air. A bit disconcerting, to say the least. The only fly in the ointment was a bit of wobble on bumpy high speed corners, situations where the Wing stays steady. Net: This is a highly entertaining bike with great sound and feel, and a good rider on a back road is going to be able to absolutely rip on this thing. It's one of those bikes that just encourages you to flog it hard.
Next up, the FTR, their flat track inspired bike:
https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/ftr1200/ This one features a 1200cc liquid cooled v-twin with 120hp and 87ft lbs of torque. The first thing I noticed on this bike was peg position again, but this time instead of way forward, these are rear sets and high. It felt like my feet were behind my butt, and the view ahead was stunning. All you see is a small little round instrument, and that's it. No fairing, no windshield, you don't even see the front wheel. It's like flying. As one would expect, this one was very fast as well, with overall good handling. It was a little flighty over bumpy corners, but that may not be the bike's fault. Due to the extreme riding position and not being able to support my lower body with my feet, I very well could have been bump steering the bike. My only complaint on this one (other than peg position) is the brakes seem to lack feel and power, these brakes are way to soft for a bike this fast. When I pulled back in the rep asked me how I liked it, and I told him 20 years ago it might have been interesting, but my old bones would last about 45min on this one. This is a ripper for the young guys.
Lastly I wanted to try the full boat tourer, and this is the Roadmaster:
https://www.indianmotorcycle.com/en-us/roadmaster/ Nine hundred and nine (909!) pounds of love powered by a 1900cc with 126ft lbs of torque at 2900rpm. Power isn't even listed, but it's not really important anyway. Here's your thump! Almost endless bags of low end torque make this a fun bike to ride, and the vibes and sound is perfect. This bike sounds really happy and moves well. This bike also had the best suspension in my opinion, unflappable over bumpy corners, slow or fast. It also had a very nice ride, not harsh at all. Again, floorboards mounted higher than most cruisers allows a good deal of lean, and you can use it all easily, I hope the factory doesn't mind the scraped floorboards lol. The downside to this one was the riding position made my lower back hurt, almost immediately. I moved around on the seat tried a few things, but nope, this one hurts. And that's too bad, this is a fine traditional tourer.
Overall impressions; It is quite evident Polaris is putting significant engineering into these classically styled bikes, and IMHO it raises the bar significantly in this market segment. Although there are of course Harley faithful, that will never change, but if you objectively ride these bikes, I think the Indians are superior. I really liked the Challenger, if I had mo money, I could see having one of these, they're' quite fun to ride.
As I leave the dealer on the Wing to get a new GS battery, it hits me how much magic Honda has conjured on this 6th gen bike. The combination of smooth yet controlled ride is fantastic, allowing great handling along with a nice ride. Also, the pegs aren't far forward, nor to the rear, but just right under the rider. And although I enjoyed the vibes and sounds of the v-twins, I find I'm quite liking my flat 6 burble and the Porsche like sound when you get on it. So, I still feel I made the right decision, but I certainly could park a Challenger next to the Wing if money was of no concern.
