I just went down to the Indian dealership a few miles down the road and lo and behold they had the Elite there. If memory serves me only 300 of these bikes will be produced. And I got to admit that the bike is awesome! The fit and finish is second to none along with all the gizmos like the GPS/rider info/sound system/fairing/brakes/wheels and the custom paint job which is candy red metallic with graphic. The saddlebags even have power to them! At $31,000+ I hesitate when any bike is that expensive but this bike comes pretty darn close to being worth it. You actually need to wear sunglasses while looking at it. Imagine riding through a farm area with a lot of bugs and you are looking at several hours of cleaning as there is so much chrome. So, being a guy with not much money I hopped back on my Drifter and had a happy ride into the sunset...
The fairings they are putting on the Indians are even fuglier than the ones on H-Ds, and nearly as fugly as the Victories....No matter what you do with them, a bar fairing looks like an afterthought, and throwing chrome crap on them makes it even worse....If you're going to have a fairing, it MUST be frame mounted, so it's actually PART of the bike...
Interesting the differences we have. The Indian (or who ever makes it) does absolutely nothing for me. Hats off to Kawasaki, they sure made one of the most stunning bikes in my eyes! $31,000, I would be on Craig's List going, I'll have that one and that one and......ooo that one....
The new Indian Chieftain Elite looks like a desperate attempt to build something more upscale and appealing. Without the full front fender, it certainly looses something.
Quote from: Old Drifter on April 10, 2017, 08:40:24 AM
Without the full front fender, it certainly looses something.
I do agree at 100%. It looks very similar to a H-D, and it's even more expensive!
It does look like a Harley. I am not a fan of those batwing fairings because they make bikes all look the same. A matter of fact I don't even like windshields. Most of the guys I talked to at the dealership were former Harley owners. But the funny thing is that the Drifter actually looks more like an original Indian! Next to the Chieftain Elite is a 1940 4 cylinder Indian. Now that is a bike that I would give my left...for. Those old Indians are lighter and quite a bit smaller than any of your modern cruiser bikes. I like that idea!
Polaris must have a BUNCH of Victory parts to get rid of...starting with the front fenders!
Quote from: Troll on April 10, 2017, 17:52:33 PM
Polaris must have a BUNCH of Victory parts to get rid of...starting with the front fenders!
Oh gosh! As long as they don't have too many extra Bozo Fairings
(https://www.vulcandrifterriders.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi1370.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fag259%2FEBeybuzzard%2FMiscellaneous%2FIMG_0830_zps2vp6bduk.jpeg&hash=987db7133e9cf8e2be1f707f9fc8efd3a5919c46)
Saw one of these not too long ago at the tax office. Nice bike, but doesnt look like an Indian.