Does the Polaris version make you want to buy it?
Yes, yes it does.
A Polaris owned Indian is a 'when' not an 'if' for me.
A black Vintage is in my future.
I will probably get one in a few years. Just waiting to see if the average engines can get more than 20k on them before they need a rebuild.
Somehow, I'm thinking that it will be hard to find someone who will put 20k on one of these. I would, you would, but the "average" poseur won't......Hard to get that kind of mileage bar hopping. Am I being cynical? Naaahhhh.
Quote from: Troll on April 26, 2014, 08:49:40 AM
Somehow, I'm thinking that it will be hard to find someone who will put 20k on one of these. I would, you would, but the "average" poseur won't......Hard to get that kind of mileage bar hopping. Am I being cynical? Naaahhhh.
So true. There are so many newer bikes being sold on CL with barely any miles. The good news is that it lets other people buy them with someone else having taken the hit on depreciation.
A good example of "bikes being sold with few miles" is the Drifter; almost all the Drifters I see for sale are low mileage; the odd one with 20,000 or more, almost all are under 10,000. Mine had 5500 or so on it. I get the feeling mine had been in an accident before I bought it though; found some repair to the gas tank on it, evidence that it had been repainted... plus one of the pads under the tank was missing, an 'o' ring under the gas cap, and some 'swelling' in the clearcoat, evidence of a mild reaction between the original and new clearcoat or paint. All this being said, I wonder if the original owner wiped out and scared himself into getting rid of it.....his loss, my gain!!
Quote from: DC on April 25, 2014, 19:55:20 PM
Does the Polaris version make you want to buy it?
Nope. I really like the Drifter. Don't get me wrong the new Indian looks great but everyone puts a price on their fun. I can have a hell of a time on a $4500 bike. It may not say Harley or Indian on it but for every $20,000 dollar bike there are a hundred great low millage bikes that someone bought and never rode just like my '99er.
I've got 15000 bar hopping miles on my kings mountain era Indian. no long trips yet mostly due to job and schedule. A couple hour trip to the Ozarks don't count.
more than likely a 2015 Polaris indian is in my future. I'm not buying one till we have a established local indian dealer. learned my lesson the hard way on that.
The drifter isn't going anywhere though.
I don't think I'll be considering a new Indian in the foreseeable future. I can't see, for me, justifying the additional money- maybe in 10 years if they're $4500, who knows.
Can't see one in the immediate future for me either. Might have to move in a couple years......and working on putting together a Rat Rod 23 T. Something has to go, so I think the Custom Softail is not long for my world! Had it for 15 years now, always ran great and still does...(S&S Motor) and a real showstopper/Trophy winner. Love it, but I think it's time to move on to new things. :-\ ???
Bob
If I didn't have so many things going right now, I'd definitely buy the Vintage. No, I would not sell my Drifter. My wife loves the Goldwing and I would not want to modify the Vintage to suit her, so the Goldwing would stay as well. THAT is the problem... that and we have so very many things to do before we retire!!!
That's part of it for me too!, got so many things to do and not enough money for them all.
Have to prioritize, like the old days...........when you drove a POS to maintain your Bike!
When we have the time................we don't have the money............when we're making the money...........we don't have the time. The great Paradox of the American Dream.
Bob
Not me. My Drifter 1500 ('99 model) has over 27,000 miles on it and has never run better. My closest Indian dealer is in Lincoln, NE (I live in MO), over 220 miles away. And I want to see some long-term reliability reports before I drop almost 22 grand on a Vintage. Reliability tests mean nothing until you get a lot of them on the road with some miles on them. Look at the problems Harley has had with the twin cam motors.
I just came from an Indian show at the motorcycle museum in Newburgh , near me . Indian was there with a tractor trailer load of there new models , 30 bikes worth . If you signed up Indian allowed you to test ride the fleet in packs at a time after going over the bikes and such .
I was able to ride the vintage and the classic was not impressed with either . For starters there only toe shift and my boot couldn't even fit under the dam thing . Now I know , yes this can be adjusted . I stand 6' and couldn't sit flat footed so I asked and yes you can buy a lower seat , but do NOT come stock . These bikes have 5,000 miles on them and the brown leather was already faded from the sun big time . Needless to say the seats were darker then the bags and some vise versa . One gentleman stated some of the seats were so bad from fade they already replaced a few . The turn singles themselves felt cheaply made and the bike in a whole felt cheap . The power was there , but with all the rest of the dislikes and that price tag they can keep that thing I'll enjoy my drifter
Besides there were a bunch of Indian enthusiast amongst the crowd as well as Harley riders with beautiful looking rides . I'm sure they all cost a hell of a lot more then my two drifter put together , but MA-DEUCE received the most attention and plenty of people taking pictures to boot ;D One of the Indian representatives walks over and asked me what year Indian was she , I simply reply , " My Kawasaki Drifter is a 2000 " everyone gave me that deer in the headlights look and I just smiled . Oh boy then all the questions started .
Hehehehehehehehehehehehehe....I had a similar experience the other day with a "biker". Looking over the Drifter, and then asking me why I had a ROK sticker on it....
LOL ... Troll don't you just love the questions and face expressions after you answer them :) Yesterday I met up with a few friends that wanted to ride , now we all have different brands of bikes . One of my fellow riders has a 2012 VROD and needed to get an inspection done . We were eating at Gullys , , on the river front of Newburgh after a trip through Fishkill and such so we planned to go to the Harley dealer called , Moroneys so he could get his inspection done . Now were in there looking around at various things including the eye candy that works there in their skimpy tight shorts :o ... ok back on subject , so I hear the one dealer say to another , "check out the WLA bike outside . " Again people are taking pictures with there phones of my bike . Now I'm at the parts counter looking for one of those inspection plaques dealing with a Burly " Biker " guy that ask . " What bike is it for ? " I reply , "It's for a 99 1500 drifter " and the guy gives me a dirty look and say , COME ON with an attitude . Long story short after waiting on the inspection the same guy is outside when I walk over to MA-DEUCE taking pictures . He says this is yours , nice job and you ride a Kawasaki 1500 . I say yup and this is my drifter 800 ... HAHAHAHA I thought the guy was going to faint .
Here's a few pictures of todays show
"Who here is buying a new Indian?" I guess no one in this area at least no one who bothered to show up yesterday at this year's Road Runner Bike Blessing. Road my '99er and received a few compliments but as you can see from the photo, I was clearly in the minority not just because I road a Drifter but because I road anything other than a HD. I have a feeling that it will be quite some time before I see a new Indian among the brethren.
HD is definitely the king of the cruiser world in your neck of the woods!
The lack of a heel shifter is a common complaint among new Indian owners and prospective customers.
Quote from: DC on May 05, 2014, 12:29:27 PM
The lack of a heel shifter is a common complaint among new Indian owners and prospective customers.
It's probably an option....
I got the opportunity to ride a Chief Vintage (black) last weekend during the Polaris Demo Day at the local dealership. Upon first sitting on the bike, I immediately thought "this feels tiny!" I dont know what it was, but it seemed so much smaller and lightweight than my 99. I felt like I was straddling a 750cc bike. I felt a little cramped on it, so hopefully there are several adjustments that can be made for taller riders.
The bike accelerated well enough, but didn't feel that much more powerful than my Drifter. The stock exhaust was so quiet, I could hardly believe it. I loved having a 6th gear, that was really nice. The bike seemed to handle well, and the shifting was ultra smooth. For whatever reason, the bike felt a little "cheap" to me. I think I have a natural stereotype in my head that "heavy = quality and lightweight = cheap". I know its stupid, but I just couldn't get over how small the bike felt. Maybe it has a much lower center of gravity than the Drifter?
All in all, it was a great bike, I just dont think I could ever justify shelling out that type of cash for a motorcycle unless I was very wealthy.
I just can't get past the headlight/fork crown assy...If you're going to do it that way, it's going to have to be better than H-D's 1949 design, and I don't really think it is. I like the saddlebags on the heritage, or what ever it's called, but that chieftain just turns me off completely.
I missed the demo rides this weekend... wish I coulda ridden one. If it rides as others have indicated that might get it off my radar for a while!
Reveen I can relate with the cheaply made feeling as well . Can't quit describe it , but numerous people in the crowd were saying the same .
Chief with that sweet 1500 of yours , I'll guarantee once you have a chance to ride these NEW Indians , you'll keep that extra cash in your pocket ;) .So many disappointed potential buyers that day , it was heart braking what Polaris did to the Indian name .
Troll I too have to read up on the history lesson . Never realized that was no "R " ... Man I wish I would of known this info before going to the preview . I would of had a field day with questions .
Quote from: greenbarn on May 05, 2014, 13:31:56 PM
It's probably an option....
I have never used the heel shifter on my bikes until recently; used to take them off to allow more room on the floorboard for my big feet. :D
I forgot to add that during the demo ride (group of about ten riders) one of the guys dumped the bike at a stop sign. I cringed watching the $18,000 beauty fall to the pavement. I don't think the guy had been riding very long... I'm not even sure how he managed to tip it over as he could easily sit with both feet flat on the pavement.
Quote from: 49Reo on May 06, 2014, 12:58:36 PM
I have never used the heel shifter on my bikes until recently; used to take them off to allow more room on the floorboard for my big feet. :D
That's my criticism - the heal shifter can easily be removed if you don't want it. I would want one.
Coming from the strange land of the past, I didn't own a motorcycle with a foot shift until.....1971. Since i learned to ride with a foot clutch and hand shift, I really like the way the rocker shift works. Reminds me of the first machines I owned, except for my '65 BSA...which had a foot shift on the "wrong side"...but since I didn't know any better, it was the right side for me! I had to adapt to the "normal" foot shift configuration, when I bought my '68 E-Glide...
Quote from: greenbarn on May 06, 2014, 16:34:02 PM
That's my criticism - the heal shifter can easily be removed if you don't want it. I would want one.
I'm thinking of removing my heel shifter and raising the toe shifter so I can actually fit my foot under it without having to force it in there. I think I just like using my toe better . . . for some reason I feel like my shifting is more accurate when just using the toe. I'm assuming it isn't very difficult to adjust . . . I haven't looked at it very closely yet.
You can adjust the toe shifter and still leave the heel shifter in place, use the heel shifter if you want to.
I find more positive shifts going up in gears with heel shifter. But I have been using this setup for along time.
If it is adjusted proper you might feel different about it as well.
this is the second bike with a heel and toe shifter, and I really like this one, because you can adjust each one to were it is to your specific liking......
I guess it depends on what you are used to. I've never warmed up to the heel shifter. All my previous bikes were Brit bikes (including my right hand shift Tiger) Every once and a while I'll try the heel shifter but it seems to take too long shuffling between the two. Being used to riding a lower torque bike, I find that I use my gears upshifting and down shifting more than other v Twin guys I ride with. I know the bike has enough torque to pull stumps but I like to keep the revs up a bit and listen to that engine hit that sweet spot so tickling the shifter up and down with my toe works for me.
Plan to try out an Indian in a couple of weeks.
Quote from: jmbo on May 09, 2014, 09:59:23 AM
Every once and a while I'll try the heel shifter but it seems to take too long shuffling between the two.
That is exactly how I feel. I seem to get more precise shifting if I just use my toe. It seems more "fun" to me for whatever reason too. Maybe that is because its just more what I'm used to.
Is there an Indian demo in your area soon? I'd recommend it. I always do all the HD demos as well, just because I love trying all sorts of different bikes.
Myself, I'm a big fan of the heel part of the heel & toe shifter. I guess I've never noticed it taking any longer as I'm a pretty laid back rider.
I love using the heel for upshifting and toe for downshifting on my Drifter. I guess I'm spoiled, as I can't imagine having a bike without a heel shifter now.
Do I want one? Absolutely! Will I get one? Probably not. I'd rather get another Drifter 800 with lower mileage on it or maybe even a 1500 and save the extra cash.
If I really wanted to put out that kind of money, I'd get a Ducati Diavel instead (please dont slap me) and save my Drifter.
There was one at the Ride this last weekend. It belongs to a local Clubber in the Madison area...
Sorry does nothing for me really.
Personally, the bar fairing looks like crap. I don't care for ANY bar fairings. If you're going to do it, you need a frame mount. Not only do they look better, but they don't screw up handling like all that weight on the fork will. Victory had to design a different frame and fork to help mitigate the effect of the fairing on the new "Indian"...I'm not a big fan of windshields, either, for the same reason, but they have less of a detrimental effect than a fairing.
I was planning to buy the first Polaris Indian Chief to be imported into Spain, a couple of months ago.
But then...when I saw them live I was dissapointed. Not by the bike itself, but by the bike/cost relation.
In Spain the Chieftain costs 27.000eur...that's 37.260USD !!!!!!!!!! That's lots of money.
Therefore I decided to wait a couple of years, and in the meanwhile I bought a used Victory Vision: