Indian Motorcycle has announced a redesigned Chieftain line-up. For 2019, the Indian Chieftain, Chieftain Dark Horse and Chieftain Limited feature “more streamlined, aggressive styling that reflects the bike’s well-established performance capabilities. For those loyal to Indian’s classic designs, the 2019 Indian Chieftain Classic will continue to feature its traditional fairing and iconic valanced front fender.
“As we continue to evolve the Indian Motorcycle brand, we want to expand our line-up with more aggressive style options, while still maintaining the availability of our more classic style options,” said Reid Wilson, Senior Director for Indian Motorcycle. “What’s most important to us is developing motorcycles that meet a wide variety of customer style preferences, and Chieftain’s new look does just that.”
A restyled fairing and saddlebags with “sharper lines and harder edges” are designed to give the bike a “commanding presence and more streamlined look.” A trimmed and slimmed fairing, paired with full LED lighting and new fork guards, “delivers a streamlined front-end package that’s indicative of the bike’s impressive performance capabilities. The Chieftain’s new, slammed saddlebags with color-matched fender closeouts also provide a sleek and custom-inspired look. While the new Rogue gunfighter seat gives the bike a sleek, low-slung stance, Chieftain maintains its superior handling and comfort with more than four inches of rear suspension travel.”
In addition to the styling and design enhancements, the 2019 Chieftain line-up features new ride-enhancing technology, with Indian claiming increased performance customization and rider comfort. “For a more customized ride experience, riders can now choose between three Ride Modes – Tour, Standard or Sport. The throttle map for each Ride Mode was designed with a specific application in mind, resulting in one bike with three distinct personalities. All 2019 Chieftains are also equipped with Rear Cylinder Deactivation for increased rider comfort when the bike is stationary.”
In addition to new paint and finish options, enhancements have been made to Indian Motorcycle’s stock audio system “to significantly improve sound quality.” The tweeters have been separated from the mid-range speakers to optimize sound output and clarity; a fully customizable dynamic equalizer adjusts specific frequencies at different vehicle speeds to provide peak system performance at all times - as speed increases, the equalizer automatically adjusts each frequency to the optimal level to compensate for road, wind and engine noise. The result is said to be crystal clear, 100 watt of “premium audio” at all speeds.
With PowerBand Audio, riders can choose from audio configurations that are up to 50 percent louder than the stock audio. The system is said to be engineered with an integrated amp on the speakers and therefore does not require additional amps. The premium audio package is fully integrated with the Ride Command system, which automatically recognizes the upgrade and takes the equalizer from five to nine bands with additional pre-set options and volume control. There are three kit options - PowerBand Audio (fairing upgrade), PowerBand Audio Plus (fairing and saddlebag upgrade) and PowerBand Audio Plus with accessory trunk (fairing, saddlebag and accessory trunk upgrade).