Chieftain would be my choice. My local Indian dealer is real easy to get along with, they almost beg you to take one out for a spin.

I wanted old school looks so I went with the Vintage. Besides my wife just loves the color combo. The Springfield came out about a month after we bought ours and it would have made the choice tougher because of the hard bags. But it did not come in these colors. The SF and Chieftain line do handle better. Mine has a 29o rake, Chieftain's have a 25o rake. But for looks, it's the Vintage all the way.......

thebru wrote:
I wanted old school looks so I went with the Vintage. Besides my wife just loves the color combo. The Springfield came out about a month after we bought ours and it would have made the choice tougher because of the hard bags. But it did not come in these colors. The SF and Chieftain line do handle better. Mine has a 29o rake, Chieftain's have a 25o rake. But for looks, it's the Vintage all the way.......
have you rode both? is it worth going for the 25° (FYI hitting alt0176 will make the degree symbol) or does the Vintage handle well enough that it is not really much of an issue? I'm assuming a lot of it will come down to which one I can find a good deal on after my bike sells.
You bike looks AWESOME!!! Are you still getting everyone asking about it whenever you stop somewhere? Is it getting old yet?
I know you told me before that you really like the way the stock exhaust sounded, now that you've had it for a while are you still happy with it?




Smokes: A big part of this is all your fault BTW

I'm a big fan of the looks of the Vintage. I'm just not real sure how I like it with the silver and black. Bru's willow green and white, is gorgeous. If I was in the market, I'd looking at one like it.

LOL....only one I'd have is the Scout! There I go swimming against the tide again......

All three models are nice. I bought a 2014 Chieftain in Indian Red. I like locking hard bags (by remote fob) and a fairing. The telescopic windscreen is fantastic. What you choose really depends on what you like, Hard bags? Leather hard bags? Faring or just a shield.
I enjoy the power and the neutral handling. Buy as new as you can. 2017 would be ideal or 2018 model.
Since I bought mine used and the previous owner bought a first year production bike, rode it in 2014 and then it sat in his garage since then, there were 2 recalls on mine I had done. 1st, a bracket install to hold the fuel lines and 2nd, an ECU re-flash to change the fuelling at cruising speed as the Indians were running too rich.
I have added a few things, but have left the exhaust factory and the air cleaner as I really like the sound it already has. If you like louder exhaust sound then buy one that someone has already upgraded to stage 1 or even stage 2 - save you a pile of $$. Try to get one with virtually everything you want on it.

cike said:
have you rode both? is it worth going for the 25° (FYI hitting alt0176 will make the degree symbol) or does the Vintage handle well enough that it is not really much of an issue? I'm assuming a lot of it will come down to which one I can find a good deal on after my bike sells.
You bike looks AWESOME!!! Are you still getting everyone asking about it whenever you stop somewhere? Is it getting old yet?
I know you told me before that you really like the way the stock exhaust sounded, now that you've had it for a while are you still happy with it?


I've ridden all of them except the Scout. The rake definitely makes a difference. The big Roadmaster really does feel very nimble, and it is a LARGE mc. However the 29° (thanks for the FYI!!) did not sway me at all. Maybe because I came off of 11 years on my R* which I believe has a 32° rake. Most of my riding is mountain roads and I think it does fine.
The more I ride this thing the more I love it. The exhaust is actually getting better. There are times I'm riding an open highway, just cruising, and I'll look down at the bike and just say "WOW".
Certain things took a while to get used to but I really like now. Fuel Injection, Cruise control, no petcock(as an old timer don't like), throttle by wire(which I still don't like), 6 speed.
As far as the attention it gets, IT'S AMAZING!!! People literally seek me out in stores, banks, restaurants, to talk to me about it. I'm 61, and it seems people around my age, men and woman equally, have Indian stories to tell. I get great stories of relatives who owned them. Had a woman start crying telling me about her grandfather's Chief (little awkward but cool). My wife is all into the attention. Thumbs up from drivers or windows down at stop lights to say something. So yeh, I guess I'm still happy with it. Maybe even more so now...
I do still miss my R* though and wish I could have kept it, but I have no regrets.

The middle one with the front fender off the third unit. The last bike with the fairing seems more practical as far as wind protection though. A guy needs enough money to get all three, but life is what it is except for Jay Leno.

The rake of the Road Star explains why it is difficult to turn under 18 feet heh. Thus the Indian Bike's regardless of size would seem easier to control in tight spaces. I enjoy how the Road Star turns as it makes me a better rider.

i rode the indians since they resurfaced at daytona, the first ones were smooth as glass shifting, the most recent clunked when shifting??? why???
i luv the window that goes up and down , infotainment system , was not impressed by ride of dark horse at all, thay all have gobs of power, but will you be able to get parts in 15 years, for an 2014????? if your spending harley money, im buyin a harley, unless your a short termer, look at what happened with Vics, totally bad resale value.
if the american pickers were not indian lovers, would they sell as well?

although i did break the rear loose, and slide sideways from a redlight while test riding, because i had the infotainment turned up too high, could not hear bike, OOOOOOOPS. SORRRRRY. not ///haha wow.
got some get up and go tho!!!!!!!!!!!
i did notice there seemed to be a heat issue, and in FL , thats a big mfin deal.......