Indian Chief adjusts its approach to celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2022 | REvaholix
2022 Indian Chief Re-engages for 100th Anniversary Celebration
About a year or two ago, I visited Indian's website and found that almost all of the Chief models had disappeared, leaving only the "Chief Vintage," which had been shortened to "Vintage." This made me wonder what Indian would do with this legendary model name that has been around since 1922.
While Indian's bagger or touring motorcycles have performed reasonably well against major competitor Harley-Davidson, the Chief couldn't compete with the Softail in the cruiser segment. Its use of a shared main frame with the touring bikes made it too large and bulky, and it was also difficult to customize – a major weakness for this type of motorcycle. This forced Indian to reconsider the future direction of the Chief.
No need to wait until the end of 2021 or into 2022. Early this year, Indian has already released images and information on six models in the 2022 Chief lineup, marking the 100th anniversary of the Chief name. Today, we'll focus on the standard Chief and the Chief Dark Horse.
The all-new Chief is a complete departure from its predecessor. Starting with the frame, it now uses tubular steel tubing instead of the previous cast aluminum frame. This makes it more compact, lighter, and easier to customize. The rear suspension has also been redesigned with dual shock absorbers angled at an angle reminiscent of classic hardtail frames. The exterior design has also changed; the signature upturned front and rear fenders of the Chief have been replaced with short, bobber-style fenders. The large nazel-like headlight housing has also been adopted. Only the relatively small LED headlights, borrowed from the FTR tracker, remain, giving the overall bike a noticeably more streamlined appearance.
The new Chief's dimensions are 2,286 mm in length, 922 mm in width, and 1,253 mm in height, with a wheelbase of 1,626 mm. The rake angle is 29 degrees, the seat height is 662 mm, and the curb weight, including a full 15.1-liter fuel tank, is 304 kg.
The engine remains the same air-cooled ThunderStroke block. They haven't switched to the new water-cooled Powerplus engine block yet, for reasons of easier tuning. The regular Chief has a 111 cubic inch (1,811 cc) engine with 146 Nm of torque at 3,200 rpm, but the Chief Dark Horse upgrades to a 116 cubic inch (1,890 cc) engine, increasing torque to 162 Nm at 2,900 rpm.
The front brake is a single 300 mm disc with a 4-piston caliper, while the rear has a disc brake of the same size as the front with a 2-piston caliper. The wheels are two-tone alloy wheels. The front wheels are 19 inches with 130/60B19 tires, and the rear wheels are 16 inches with 180/65B16 tires.
The Indian Chief will have a starting price of $14,499 USD (approximately 451,000 THB) for the base model, going up to $17,499 USD (545,000 THB) for the Dark Horse model, which comes in Alumina Jade Smoke Green and Stealth Gray. The chances of it being sold in Thailand are almost 100%, but when and at what price remains to be seen.
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