Apart from Hollywood, what’s more synonymous with the US than anything? The endless highways snaking through a barren landscape? Yes. And on those highways, a big burly v-twin just roaring away. Paints a nice little picture, right? Let me make it even clearer. Imagine yourself exploring Los Angeles and its outskirts on an Indian Chieftain Dark Horse, like the one you see here. Let me tell you, it does not get much better than that. 

Right after I drove the Slingshot around with the odo indicating north of 3,000 kilometres, I wanted to get back in my groove- motorcycles. I have ridden a fair few from the stable of Indian Motorcycle. I had a Chief Vintage and an FTR 1200 in my garage. Other than that, Scouts and Roadmasters in different parts of the world. I have ridden a Chieftain as well. But this one is different. Very different. It is the 2023 model with a Dark Horse suffix. So it isn’t just different, but a very special motorcycle as well. 

I have been out of touch with cruisers and the likes for a while. But jumping in the saddle of the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse was a familiar feeling. More than my muscle memory, it was because of how welcoming and accommodating it was. Not to mention, the particular example I rode looked rather stunning as well. Sagebrush Smoke was the name of the colourway and I have never seen this colour in person. It looked majestic. 

I spent just a day with the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse. I just explored Los Angeles, from where I picked it up. I rode it up to Joshua Tree National Park and came back. In that one day though, I fell in love with it. Harleys hog all the limelight when it comes to cruisers and it’s mostly because of the cult following it made for itself. But trust me when I say this, the cruisers from Indian Motorcycle are just more poised, more elite, and have their own niche. 

Also, since I did not have to go around 3,000 km, I had time on hand. So I went to visit a little museum called the Petersen Automotive Museum. If you couldn’t guess, the ‘little’ there was sarcastic. It is one of the world’s largest automotive museums and if you’re a motorhead, you better carry some tissues… for drooling, of course. I’ll give you more details on that in a separate box somewhere in this piece. Now, back to the Chieftain Dark Horse. 

I have seen a fair few baggers in all my years of riding. But I have rarely seen a bagger look like this. Many might differ and they may be right, but the Chieftain Dark Horse looks just… different. The elegant sweeping lines look just right. With the Dark Horse edition, chrome is minimal and has been used very tastefully. It is filled to the brim with modern technology but it stays true to its lineage and heritage. Overall, the Chieftain Dark Horse is just a very handsome motorcycle, made even better by this unique colourway that stands out in the crowd. 

It is a heavy motorcycle, as it should be with all that it has got. But it does not feel that way. Swing a leg over it and you know that all the weight is well-placed, as low as possible. Because of that, it does not feel heavy or wobbly even on a standstill. The seat is nice and low and you get a lot of support from your well-planted feet. Since it gets a fob, there’s no need for a key. You just keep it on your person and ride away. There’s a storage box to keep it as well but if you leave it there, someone else might ride away to enjoy all that this beautiful bagger has to offer. 

The riding position is as you’d expect it to be on a bagger; commanding, yet relaxed. If you have been riding sportbikes for long, the front controls can take some getting used to. As soon as you hit the starter, you notice something unfamiliar. The Thunderstroke 116 engine displaces 1,890cc and yet, it feels so much more refined than most things in its class. It makes its presence felt but using only your aural receptors. 

On that note, the exhaust note is simply intoxicating. It is loud and bassy but not in a crass manner. Moreover, as soon as you engage the first gear, there’s that classic clunk. It gets moving without a fuss thanks to the massive torque that the engine delivers to the rear wheel through the 6-speed transmission. We are talking about a smidge over 170 Nm and the peak torque arrives at just 3,000 rpm. So yeah, you get going even without the throttle. 

This new Thunderstroke 116 unit was a revelation throughout the ride. It is so elegantly powerful that you sometimes forget that the two cylinders arranged in a V under you are displacing around 945cc… each! To make a motor this large this refined is a feat of engineering. The clutch was fairly light as well and the gearbox too is quite good. But with the amount of torque you have and the revs it needs to get there, you do not need to use either the clutch or the transmission that much. 

Just twist the throttle and it goes. No knocking at all anywhere unless you are trying to induce some intentionally. Also, the fueling is spot on and it is a wonderful motorcycle to ride even in the city. All 370 kg of its kerb weight is moved around deftly by the engine. But when you do not have the support of the engine, like when you have to reverse, it takes a fair bit of effort. Not something that’ll make you soil your expensive riding gear, but still, expect to sweat a little even if it’s cold. If you have to do it over an incline and in searing heat, just ask for help. 

On the highways, the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse is a joy. The windshield can be adjusted with the push of a button and in its highest position, it offers very good wind protection. Even at triple-digit speeds, which the engine has you doing without breaking a sweat, the windblast is mitigated almost 100%. In terms of ride quality, the Chieftain Dark Horse scores majorly. Even on not-so-good pieces of tarmac, it remains extremely composed and you do not feel a thing. That is how pliant the suspension is. We used to call these motorcycles rolling sofas back home and I am glad that they remain that way. 

If you are a motorhead and a connoisseur of anything automotive, the Petersen Automotive Museum deserves a visit. It was founded in 1994 and it is one of the world’s largest automotive museums. It was overhauled in 2015 and now, it is a work of art even from the outside. Inside, you get to feast your eyes on some of the finest examples of automobiles ever made along with some of the most iconic vehicles seen on the big screen. Let me give you a few examples; Elvis Presley’s De Tomaso Pantera, the DeLorean from Back to the Future, the Batmobile from Batman Returns, Steve McQueen’s Jaguar XKSS, and more. And yeah, a Ford GT40 MkIII. As I said earlier, if you’re around and if you like this stuff, JUST GO.

That said, the suspension is also up for some spirited jaunts. Find yourself some winding roads and the Chieftain Dark Horse feels surprisingly agile and nimble. Do not ride it like a sportbike because physics might have a say in that. Regardless, before you hit the dynamic limits of the motorcycle, you’ll find that you have messed with the beautiful paint job. Scratched floorboards and exhausts are frowned upon rather gravely, especially when you don’t own the motorcycle. 

Regardless of the low ground clearance and cornering clearance, the Chieftain Dark Horse is a lot of fun on winding roads. While some of it is down to the suspension, a fair bit is done by the steering geometry. It feels more precise than it should for a motorcycle of its size and heft. It is very predictable and can easily hold the line at decent speeds. The Metzeler Cruisetec tyres also help the matters and so do the twin 300mm discs at the front. It may seem like a horrifying prospect but you CAN use the brakes to tighten the line if you overcook a corner while enjoying the Chieftain Dark Horse a little too much. In simpler terms, it does a great job of instilling a lot of confidence in the rider. 

The Indian Chieftain Dark Horse is not meant to be raced. But with its persona, it does not back down from one either. You just have to have the necessary skill, tons of confidence, lots of faith in the motorcycle, and some money too in case you scrape the nice and low bits of the motorcycle. I have ridden a fair few ‘big bikes’ but very few have made me feel that good about mass, speed, and inertia. Combined with the road presence that it has and the respect it commands, being an alpha on the roads is a fairly easy task. 

Now, I am old-school and all I want in a motorcycle is that it should just go, talk, and listen. But technology is inescapable and there are a fair few things in that department that I did not know I needed. Electronic or analogue rant aside, the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse is a loaded motorcycle. 

It has LED lighting all around. It has a 7” touchscreen powered by the proprietary RIDE COMMAND tech. It can be operated with gloves on and I love it. There’s Apple CarPlay integration, tyre-pressure monitoring system, remote locking hard saddlebags, multiple ride modes, rear-cylinder deactivation, ABS, Cruise Control, Bluetooth, USB, Smartphone compatible input, a 12V charging port and a 100 Watt audio system with AM/FM. 

Phew. Breathe in; it also gets a real-time clock, ambient air temperature readout, Bluetooth status for phone and headset, voltage readout, engine hours, oil change, speed, fuel range, RPM, gear position, distance, moving time, stop time, altitude, altitude change, trip meters, screen brightness adjustment, and vehicle trouble code readout. 

Hopefully, that is all you need to know and you could have checked out the spec sheet on Indian Motorcycle’s website but I thought I’d just list those things out anyway. Regardless, the rear-cylinder deactivation is a cool feature. It not only helps the engine remain cooler when you’re cruising at not-so-high speeds, but it also quiets things down when you need some peace.

I did not think much about all the readouts but they are good to have as they keep one apprised about the motorcycle and its surroundings. Another thing you can use to drown the noise out is the music system. With virtually non-existent windblast, the thing sounds amazing. Being able to blast your favourite music on endless highways is a godsend. There are multiple ways of attaining Zen and this definitely makes the list for people like me. 

I had it just for a day and if I had it for longer and on a longer ride, I am sure that all the tech it comes loaded with would have come in handy. It was already a winner in my books from the moment I laid eyes on it but it surpassed that when I was finally handing it back. A gem of a motorcycle and I would love to have a bit more of it. I want to say that it could have had more power, it could have been lighter, it could have this, and it could have that. But trust me, the Indian Chieftain Dark Horse transcends all of that stuff once it is on the move. I adore motorcycles that go, talk, and listen. But motorcycles that really move me… I love them to death and back.