Quick Ride: Indian Chief Dark Horse

Quick Ride: Indian Chief Dark Horse

This is the Indian Chief Dark Horse, one of several variants based on the same basic chassis and engine. It’s a giant, ornate mechanical sculpture that’s more fancy-dress than function, at least at first glance. It weighs in at 357kg, which immediately prints a giant NOPE in the mind of this 61kg author. But this job, such as it is, throws a few googlies once in a while, and we have to make the best of it. The Dark Horse isn’t new, having been announced early in 2015. It’s basically the same bike as the Chief Classic, but comes in this ‘Thunder Black Smoke’ matte finish, with relatively little chrome on show. Newsworthy or not, we couldn’t wait to get our grubby hands on it.

Hands. Big, hairy, gorilla hands are ideal to palm the throttle of this huge cruiser. The beefy handlebar rises slightly and sweeps back from its mount to fall perfectly to gorilla hand. It’s when you twist said throttle that you realise just how refined the experience of the Indian Chief bikes is. Throttle is ride-by-wire, so it’s light and smooth, connecting to a fueling system that’s damn-near perfect for an obscenely large V-twin engine. In this case, Indian’s “Thunder Stroke 111” 1811cc motor, specifically designed for this application. It’s air-cooled, as tradition demands, but barely heats up. The cylinder heads are often just warm to the touch, lightly toasting the rider’s calves at their worst. No testicular inferno here, unlike some other cruisers I could mention.

Also worthy of praise is the way the motor retains composure when caned on the highway. Big twins rarely rev high and when they do, they tend to feel like they’re going to shake themselves free of the chassis. Not so with the Dark Horse, which maintains its dignity close to its limiter. And that’s when you realise that you’re riding a 357kg cruiser — that’s almost as long as your daily hatchback — and hustling it through traffic like the evil Terminator is gaining on you. It’s that easy to ride. The centre of gravity feels like it’s about six feet below the motorcycle, and the overarching feeling is that of balance. Balance between the motor, the wheels, the weight and the rider. This also means that the bike has a tendency to stand up as soon as you stop applying pressure to the bars, so conscious counter-steering is the order of the day. You would also be advised to respect the massive 139Nm of torque on offer, which can easily break traction if you want it to. The fact that our test ride had just one such incident on a wet road is a testament to how sorted the power delivery of the Dark Horse is. The bike slides slightly, you instinctively correct, leaving nothing but dark lines, applause and moist underwear in your wake. In my mind, anyway.

Indian motorcycles has made much of the chassis design of the Chief series of motorcycles. Sure, you see the twin downtubes up front like a traditional cruiser, but the magic is in the thoroughly modern chassis component that makes up the backbone of the bike, and how all the heavy metal bits attach to it. The result is a motorcycle that belies its weight on the move and feels — I must repeat myself here — perfectly balanced. Like a top in the sweet spot of its spin. It rolls with the slightest gradient, and feels almost too responsive to grades on flyovers. Build quality is expectedly high, with only a minor rattle or two on this much-abused press bike. Particularly impressive is the suspension damping, which has very little pogo effect and ensures that the tyres stay firmly in contact with Tarmac at all times — a great confidence-booster.

If we had to nitpick, the front brakes would be target #1. Their stopping power is adequate and coupled with the well-sorted suspension, brake the horse effectively. However, they do feel a bit wooden and you’re never quite sure how much grip you have up front. But then, if you’re riding this bike that hard, perhaps you would be better served on sportier machinery.

The Indian Chief Dark Horse is a thoroughly impressive cruiser that oozes vintage charm, as is the fashion these days with many things. The massive proportions and ornate bodywork make a giant impression on the road. So much so that we didn’t have a single traffic-stop window shopper enquire about the mileage, on-road cost or cubic capacity. They were just too busy staring agape. I’m not a cruiser enthusiast, nor do I have the hair, tattoos or BMI to fit into that crowd. But if I had Rs 22 lac (ex-showroom) burning a hole in my pocket, I now have one more idea how to spend it.

Originally published at thrillofdriving.com on December 28, 2015.