Indian Motorcycle

Indian Plans Liquid-Cooled Roadmaster and Chieftain By Ben Purvis

Documents filed with the NHTSA reveal that Indian is planning liquid-cooled 'PowerPlus' versions of the Chieftain and Roadmaster models for 2025.

Intended for sale alongside the existing air-cooled machines, 1,768 cc (108 ci), Indian's 'PowerPlus' liquid-cooled V-twin engine is presently used exclusively in the Challenger and Pursuit models, but the new document shows that the 2025 liquid-cooled touring range will include the 'Chieftain PowerPlus' and 'Roadmaster PowerPlus' alongside the Challenger and Pursuit. 

Not content with that, the same document also reveals that an additional version of the 'PowerPlus' engine will be added to the range, measuring 1,834 cc (112 ci), with an undisclosed increase in performance.

The information comes from documents intended to allow authorities to decode VINs, explaining that for the 2025 range bikes with an 'F' in the fifth position of the chassis number are Chieftain PowerPlus models and those with a 'G' are Roadmaster PowerPlus machines. Interestingly, the existing air-cooled Chieftain and Roadmaster are also still listed, along with a new version of the air-cooled Thunderstroke engine measuring 122 ci (that's 1,999 cc) that could be fitted to any of the existing Thunderstroke-powered bikes. 

At least one prototype for the 'PowerPlus' version of the Chieftain has been spotted, with a contributor to the Indianmotorcycles.net forum posting low-resolution dashcam stills of a liquid-cooled Indian wearing the Chieftain's bar-mounted batwing fairing, but with the engine and chassis of a Challenger in late 2023. Even further back, in 2020, patent documents from Indian showed the 'PowerPlus' engine in a Chieftain-style machine.