Indian status

[bambam0099]

There's a new Indian dealer near me, so I popped over there today.  I talked with the owners about this and that, and the current issues with Indian in general.  They acknowledged the problems and basically said they would wait and see how Polaris wants them to respond.  The one owner said he's already provided the leather refurb kits to a few owners.  He was told by Polaris that the new leathers should not have the issue.  So he's keeping two new demo bikes outside to see if they fade.

I sat on a Chief Vintage, Ivory/Light Green.  The geometry was all off for me.  The foot controls are too far forward.  Many people of shorter stature, such as myself, have reported this.  This is consistent with Polaris/Victory ergo designs/fitment.  Victory bikes are made for people over 6 feet tall.

While at Laconia, I was able to test drive a new Indian Vintage for over an hour (because myself and another guy got lost from the pack!  LOL!).   I'm 5'7" and had no problem.  The bike felt very sturdy, and solid.  It rode beautifully and I felt at ease from the moment we left the raceway (I had the new bike jitters).  I will tell you, this bike had low end torque like I couldn't believe.  I was going up a steep incline, chugging in 4th and when I hit the throttle, I felt like it could of pulled right out of my grip.   The one thing I didn't like was at very slow speeds and stops, I really felt alot of heat from the engine on my legs (never feel that from my Drifter).
All-in-all, gorgeous bike and yes, I really enjoyed it but not enough to sell my girl and have a loan payment!

[Mr. P]

Road the crap out of them at a number of Demo Rides, so many that they are starting to recognize me.  I got to say that they are very nice machines.  But they are very heavy.  Not that this is an issue once underway and I am a big guy so I can hold them up.  But ride one and jump on the Drifter and you realize that the Kawasaki is one well designed. 

[Troll]

  I felt the same way about the ergos..and I really HATE the headlight treatment....So may good styling cues, and so many designed by committee

[DC]

There's a new Indian dealer near me, so I popped over there today.  I talked with the owners about this and that, and the current issues with Indian in general.  They acknowledged the problems and basically said they would wait and see how Polaris wants them to respond.  The one owner said he's already provided the leather refurb kits to a few owners.  He was told by Polaris that the new leathers should not have the issue.  So he's keeping two new demo bikes outside to see if they fade.

I sat on a Chief Vintage, Ivory/Light Green.  The geometry was all off for me.  The foot controls are too far forward.  Many people of shorter stature, such as myself, have reported this.  This is consistent with Polaris/Victory ergo designs/fitment.  Victory bikes are made for people over 6 feet tall.

[49Reo]

Too many electronic gadgets in use today.....it's bound to have issues somewhere along the line. The simpler the better......

[Troll]

  Never cared for drive by wire...I'll take a good old honest throttle cable every time...

[DC]

Now that the new Indians have been out for quite a while, there are a few issues about them that are surfacing.  For the most part,  the people that bought them like them.  However, there are some recurring problems.

- Leather fade.  There is a known issue with the leather fading from being in the sun.  The seats and the bags don't fade at the same rate.  The fade is very extreme in some cases, and Polaris has acknowledged it.  From what I've read, they came out with a leather refurbishing kit and process.  It takes quite a while to do, and is not permanent.  People have been asking for replacement leather items, but that is not happening.  Some people have gone to leather shops and had the leather professionally dyed and treated so that all the leather gear matches and will stay pretty close in color, as they fade naturally.

- Shift issue.  Some bikes have difficulty shifting in the 2nd and 3rd range when cold.  It's a source of irritation.  I'm not sure what Polaris's position is on this.

- Chrome peeling.  Some starter bezels have the chrome peeling away.  From what I've read, the factory is replacing the bezels.  This is probably a sourcing issue that should easily be corrected for future builds.

- Valve train noise.  Some owners have complained about excessive valve train noise that sounds like the engine is being damaged.  The customers that have this problem are very concerned about engine life at this point.  Polaris is not acknowledging this as a problem.

- Soft paint.  Some owners have reported that paint doesn't seem to be fully cured.

- Flat throttle response.  The fly by wire throttle has a tendency to flat out, meaning you keep twisting it, but nothing correspodingly happens for a while.  I don't know Polaris's position on this.

From what I've read, most owners are pretty satisfied with their bikes, but not the high cost of options and accessories.  There also seems to be a lot of variability in how dealers are willing to support problems and warranty claims.