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Posted by Mr. P
- December 01, 2016, 20:22:42 PMGreenbarn stated in an early post of mine that he want to see pics of
my new Indian. But let's start at the beginning. I am a swoop fender sort of guy, Girls in skirts or skirted fenders, always catch my eye. It was the original reason I brought my Drifter. And the fact that it dared not to look like a Harley. For the last 16 years and 68,000 miles I rode her. Then in 2014 Indian rolled out the Chieftain.
I wanted to be able to cover more miles more comfortably and it does that in spades. Even after a deer collision @65mph, 6 weeks of re-coop and another 3 months in the shop for a electrical issue, i have 7,500 miles on her and counting.
This thing is very heavy. You must strattle it to move it around other wise you will drop it. At 825 lbs. you don't want it falling on you. But once underway that all but disappears from the bars. I can go to the steering locks and not fall over. With the wide radial tire out back i can almost come to a complete stop and not put my feet down.
Out on the road the fairing does an excellent job of cutting through the breeze. Cross winds and truck blasts are easily controlled. The engine sounds wonderful and has a lot more torque than the old Drifter. Barely strains to climb a hill and the fueling is spot on. I've been getting around 40 mpg but the cold weather knocks a few mile per gallon off.
Heated hand grips are worth the price and a heated seat is in the future; no more cold nuts!
All in all an impressive American machine. It smokes the Harley Twin Cams but they have a new 107 4 valve engine that may just keep up. On that note, the Thunderchuff 111 only has 2 valves per cylinder. In that department the Drifter has it beat.