New bike for an old bloke
Discussion
Just arrived home last night with the new bike. First time I’ve had water cooling, 4-valve heads, upside-down forks, Brembo radial brake callipers, slipper clutch, championship winning motor and chassis. Sounds sporty eh?
Grab a tea or a coffee, maybe a biscuit too, and read on…
The 2014 Indian Chief has been my great road companion for the 11 years I’ve had it from new. Never let me down and a great mile-eater – 700 miles in a day was quite do-able, and it was also surprisingly nimble (for such a big bike) in the twisties. And so I’m certainly keeping that for local runs and (non vintage) daily use.
But age waits for no man, and as I’m now closer to 70 then 65 I wanted something with even more weather protection and comfort. Water cooling was a must as the old air-cooled Chief got really hot and bothered in hotter climes on the euro tours. The tubed tyres on the Chief were also a worry as there’s no real roadside repair option, and getting the wheels off needs a bike lift. But is also had to be a big v-twin again…and low seat, low COG. I’m not a fan of adventure bikes and the like, and my days of sports bikes are long gone.
I’ve ridden Indian Challengers and Pursuits and was much impressed - great handling, comfort, lots of toys…but that big fixed fairing pit me off. Not just the looks, but it places the screen and instruments so far away. But I came oh-so-close to pressing the button on one on a number of occasions. But also, there were rumours of an engine capacity increase from 108cu in to 112 (1835cc) to match the race bikes. If you haven’t seen the King of the Baggers race series it’s worth a watch. The Challengers with the PowerPlus 112 motors are awesome.
But looks-wise, I much preferred the bat-wing fairing of the Roadmaster. It looks a bit Harley-esque…but Harley don’t have a monopoly on that style and it’s not a million miles off the old yellow fairings that the AA guys had on their motorbikes and sidecars.
Then I heard that Indian were going to put the PowerPlus motor in the Roadmaster as an option. Problem solved…kind of. But the ‘current’ Roadmaster has the same frame and running gear as my Chief, so not much of an upgrade there. Hmmmm. What to do?
But then lo and behold the new PowerPlus Roadmaster was revealed not as the ‘current’ Roadmaster with just a motor swap – but it’s actually a Challenger/Pursuit with a change of fairing and other new goodies, and the 112 motor. Wowser. I had to have one, THIS was the bike I was after.
The local Indian dealer in Edinburgh (Saltire) had gone bust, but I bought the Chief from MCO. They were good with that, but declined to order and more heavyweights and suggested I spoke to a Krazy dealer who maybe had a better relationship with Indian. So I called the Krazy folks and they were going to call me back. They didn’t, so I called again, and again, and then gave up. I’d heard good things about Thor in deepest darkest Cornwall, and indeed they were extremely good…albeit 550 miles away from me.
I think I was probably first to bite; there was already a bike in Europe – it was going to be the press bike but I got there first. I therefore gather mine is the first customer PowerPlus Roadmaster in the UK. The deal was done before all the Trump tariff malarky kicked off…but interesting to note that all the Indian Scouts for Europe are actually made in Poland, and have been for some time and there’s maybe talk of moving some of the heavyweight production there too. Yee hah Woyzeck.
I flew down to Newquay on Monday to collect it. The plan was to do 500 miles round sunny Cornwall and Devon on Tuesday and get it’s first service/oil change on Wednesday morning before riding the 550 miles home. Ah, the best load plans an all that. Tuesday it pissed with rain – like a bloody monsoon – and windy as hell too. Still, I managed 450 miles. Then the ride home was a bit better, still wet and very gutsy winds, but at least not a monsoon! I actually arrived home after 550 miles basically dry (without donning waterproofs!) with just splash and dash fuel stops with absolutely no aches and pains…not bad for an old bloke, and precisely what I wanted from the bike.
This is certainly the last new bike I’ll ever buy before my mobility scooter. I’ve had the Chief for 11 years, and if I project that forward I’d be 78 - and there’s no way I’d be able to manhandle and ride a bike of that size at that age, so it’s a matter of time really for how many years I can manage it. Time will tell, but lined up for a trip to Czech in June and the OG trip to the Mediterranean alps later in the year.
So, more about the bike. On paper it’s not making a lot more power than the Chief (130 ft/lb, 125hp) but it’s a LOT faster. On private ground it romps up to 115 when a speed limiter kicks in; to do with the tyres I gather? Not a major issue though, and I think it can be disabled. I see videos of testers popping wee wheelies on these things on power alone in the lower gears – not bad for a 400Kg bike! Handles very well – seems surprisingly light and nimble on the move (and a bloody great dead weight when stopped!). Very very comfortable and great weather protection – screen is electric and goes up and down, and leg shields have vents that open, and also moveable deflector/vents in the fairing. Decent 4-speaker stereo too if you want to annoy people, or CarPlay through Bluetooth if you want to listen in privacy.
Then there’s the new fangled ‘rider aids’. I thought it was all a bit gimmicky at first, but I’ve grown to like them in my first 1000 miles over 2 days. It has blind-spot warning – like many cars these days a light comes on in the mirrors if it detects a vehicle in the blind spot. But this is much smarter than my car as it seems to take speed into account. If something is coming up real fast then it lights-up well before they’re even in the blind spot. I was going to disable it, but now I like it and I’ll keep it on.
It has some sort of tailgate warning where you get a light on the dash if something is coming up too quick and/or too close behind. The book says the following driver will get a warning, but I don’t know what yet. I know in the US it strobes the brake lights, but that’s not legal in the UK and would probably be a recipe for road rage. Dealer thinks maybe it flashes the hazards, but too new to know yet. I’ll have to get a friend to tailgate me and see what it does. For the time being I’ve disabled the driver warning till I know what it does.
It's got hill-hold. Another thing I’ve never really needed – if I wanted both feet down and both hands off the bars (like fumbling for a credit card at a toll or similar) I’d just cut the motor in gear and then re-start. But I’ve used it a few times and it’s actually quite useful.
I’ve never had a bike with a top-box before, and while the Mrs says she’ll have a go on it…maybe even come to Czech with me, that would be a combined age of 130+! The box and rack combined unclips fairly easily, so I think if I was touring solo I’d probably remove it. But in saying that, it seems a handy thing to have to leave helmets and jackets in in wandering about off the bike. …and it has ‘central locking’ for the box and bags. Oh, and I had a tracker fitted and front and rear cameras.
There we have it – the last new bike I’ll be buying before my mobility scooter. I home it’s as much of a road pal as the Chief has been.
I don’t have too many decent pics and the weather was so bloody miserable. But no doubt I’ll span the Picture a Day thread in time.
Inside and clean at the dealers, before the deluge!
Hotel car park after collecting it late on Monday. It might not look it, but it was pissing with rain.
Pee stop on the way home up the M6 yesterday.
Grab a tea or a coffee, maybe a biscuit too, and read on…
The 2014 Indian Chief has been my great road companion for the 11 years I’ve had it from new. Never let me down and a great mile-eater – 700 miles in a day was quite do-able, and it was also surprisingly nimble (for such a big bike) in the twisties. And so I’m certainly keeping that for local runs and (non vintage) daily use.
But age waits for no man, and as I’m now closer to 70 then 65 I wanted something with even more weather protection and comfort. Water cooling was a must as the old air-cooled Chief got really hot and bothered in hotter climes on the euro tours. The tubed tyres on the Chief were also a worry as there’s no real roadside repair option, and getting the wheels off needs a bike lift. But is also had to be a big v-twin again…and low seat, low COG. I’m not a fan of adventure bikes and the like, and my days of sports bikes are long gone.
I’ve ridden Indian Challengers and Pursuits and was much impressed - great handling, comfort, lots of toys…but that big fixed fairing pit me off. Not just the looks, but it places the screen and instruments so far away. But I came oh-so-close to pressing the button on one on a number of occasions. But also, there were rumours of an engine capacity increase from 108cu in to 112 (1835cc) to match the race bikes. If you haven’t seen the King of the Baggers race series it’s worth a watch. The Challengers with the PowerPlus 112 motors are awesome.
But looks-wise, I much preferred the bat-wing fairing of the Roadmaster. It looks a bit Harley-esque…but Harley don’t have a monopoly on that style and it’s not a million miles off the old yellow fairings that the AA guys had on their motorbikes and sidecars.
Then I heard that Indian were going to put the PowerPlus motor in the Roadmaster as an option. Problem solved…kind of. But the ‘current’ Roadmaster has the same frame and running gear as my Chief, so not much of an upgrade there. Hmmmm. What to do?
But then lo and behold the new PowerPlus Roadmaster was revealed not as the ‘current’ Roadmaster with just a motor swap – but it’s actually a Challenger/Pursuit with a change of fairing and other new goodies, and the 112 motor. Wowser. I had to have one, THIS was the bike I was after.
The local Indian dealer in Edinburgh (Saltire) had gone bust, but I bought the Chief from MCO. They were good with that, but declined to order and more heavyweights and suggested I spoke to a Krazy dealer who maybe had a better relationship with Indian. So I called the Krazy folks and they were going to call me back. They didn’t, so I called again, and again, and then gave up. I’d heard good things about Thor in deepest darkest Cornwall, and indeed they were extremely good…albeit 550 miles away from me.
I think I was probably first to bite; there was already a bike in Europe – it was going to be the press bike but I got there first. I therefore gather mine is the first customer PowerPlus Roadmaster in the UK. The deal was done before all the Trump tariff malarky kicked off…but interesting to note that all the Indian Scouts for Europe are actually made in Poland, and have been for some time and there’s maybe talk of moving some of the heavyweight production there too. Yee hah Woyzeck.
I flew down to Newquay on Monday to collect it. The plan was to do 500 miles round sunny Cornwall and Devon on Tuesday and get it’s first service/oil change on Wednesday morning before riding the 550 miles home. Ah, the best load plans an all that. Tuesday it pissed with rain – like a bloody monsoon – and windy as hell too. Still, I managed 450 miles. Then the ride home was a bit better, still wet and very gutsy winds, but at least not a monsoon! I actually arrived home after 550 miles basically dry (without donning waterproofs!) with just splash and dash fuel stops with absolutely no aches and pains…not bad for an old bloke, and precisely what I wanted from the bike.
This is certainly the last new bike I’ll ever buy before my mobility scooter. I’ve had the Chief for 11 years, and if I project that forward I’d be 78 - and there’s no way I’d be able to manhandle and ride a bike of that size at that age, so it’s a matter of time really for how many years I can manage it. Time will tell, but lined up for a trip to Czech in June and the OG trip to the Mediterranean alps later in the year.
So, more about the bike. On paper it’s not making a lot more power than the Chief (130 ft/lb, 125hp) but it’s a LOT faster. On private ground it romps up to 115 when a speed limiter kicks in; to do with the tyres I gather? Not a major issue though, and I think it can be disabled. I see videos of testers popping wee wheelies on these things on power alone in the lower gears – not bad for a 400Kg bike! Handles very well – seems surprisingly light and nimble on the move (and a bloody great dead weight when stopped!). Very very comfortable and great weather protection – screen is electric and goes up and down, and leg shields have vents that open, and also moveable deflector/vents in the fairing. Decent 4-speaker stereo too if you want to annoy people, or CarPlay through Bluetooth if you want to listen in privacy.
Then there’s the new fangled ‘rider aids’. I thought it was all a bit gimmicky at first, but I’ve grown to like them in my first 1000 miles over 2 days. It has blind-spot warning – like many cars these days a light comes on in the mirrors if it detects a vehicle in the blind spot. But this is much smarter than my car as it seems to take speed into account. If something is coming up real fast then it lights-up well before they’re even in the blind spot. I was going to disable it, but now I like it and I’ll keep it on.
It has some sort of tailgate warning where you get a light on the dash if something is coming up too quick and/or too close behind. The book says the following driver will get a warning, but I don’t know what yet. I know in the US it strobes the brake lights, but that’s not legal in the UK and would probably be a recipe for road rage. Dealer thinks maybe it flashes the hazards, but too new to know yet. I’ll have to get a friend to tailgate me and see what it does. For the time being I’ve disabled the driver warning till I know what it does.
It's got hill-hold. Another thing I’ve never really needed – if I wanted both feet down and both hands off the bars (like fumbling for a credit card at a toll or similar) I’d just cut the motor in gear and then re-start. But I’ve used it a few times and it’s actually quite useful.
I’ve never had a bike with a top-box before, and while the Mrs says she’ll have a go on it…maybe even come to Czech with me, that would be a combined age of 130+! The box and rack combined unclips fairly easily, so I think if I was touring solo I’d probably remove it. But in saying that, it seems a handy thing to have to leave helmets and jackets in in wandering about off the bike. …and it has ‘central locking’ for the box and bags. Oh, and I had a tracker fitted and front and rear cameras.
There we have it – the last new bike I’ll be buying before my mobility scooter. I home it’s as much of a road pal as the Chief has been.
I don’t have too many decent pics and the weather was so bloody miserable. But no doubt I’ll span the Picture a Day thread in time.
Inside and clean at the dealers, before the deluge!
Hotel car park after collecting it late on Monday. It might not look it, but it was pissing with rain.
Pee stop on the way home up the M6 yesterday.
It certainly looks like is should be pretty comfortable for the longer runs. Gassing Station | Biker Banter | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff