Indian Chieftain - Long-Term Test Update #2

Rain Dance: Who knew our Chieftain could double as a rain gauge?

I can’t sleep. Our new Indian Chieftain long-term test bike is sitting outside in the rain. Yeah, with that gorgeous leather seat. It was an accident. Not that kind, thankfully, but an accident of weather miscalculation. Remember that drought in Northern California? Well, for tonight, it’s on hold. “A chance of rain” has turned into a relentless, soaking downpour, and my hotel has only a California-style lobby overhang .

In addition to listening to the weather, I can’t stop watching the news reports, because you never really know what happens when hard parts fall off your motorcycle on the Interstate. In this case, one beautifully made Infinite Highway Peg (available from Indian for $299.99 a set). It was there one minute, gone the next. Hopefully, it’s glinting somewhere in the median between Los Angeles and San Francisco, and not embedded in someone’s radiator. I wasn’t the mechanic who secured the set, but I will be the one who tightens the replacements, because forward-mounted footpegs are a super nice addition to this bike, which can be a little cramped for my 5-foot-10 frame when I’m sitting though big travel days.

We don’t think it was vibration that caused the peg to fly because the Chieftain’s drivetrain doesn’t shiver in what appears to be a part-shedding sort of way. We suspect human error, and that said, the highway peg vanishing isn’t the worst thing to happen because, in their current position on the bike’s stock crash bars, these footpegs have a tendency to grab your boot edge when you’re putting your feet down at a stop. When I get replacements, I’ll mess around with their angle and height to see if I can harmonize the benefits of stretch-out-and-cool-your-crotch comfort with get-your-foot-on-the-ground goodness.

Eventually I doze off and wake to find the sun punching through heavy clouds. The beautiful Chieftain is covered in shimmering, jewel-like raindrops. Amazingly, the leather seat looks as good as new and isn’t oozing water when I press on the seams. However, a few miles down the road and my bum is moist—not monkey-butt wet, but, you know, just kinda clammy. I know leather is durable, and as with a jacket, weather and wear will only make the Chieftain seat more beautiful, but I still recommend purchasing a seat cover ASAP. Something you can keep in the saddlebag and throw on as needed.

Lower Saddlebag Guards are a pretty, but expensive, $399.99 option.

When I go to pack the saddlebags, I also find small, sad puddles of rainwater have collected in the bottom of both bags. Hmmm. I suspect it’s the Concert Audio Lids ($424.99), which were installed on our long-term Chieftain before we picked it up. They’re color-matched saddlebag lids that directly replace the stock lids to accommodate Indian’s Concert Saddle Bag Audio Kit ($574.99). The added acoustics do make a difference, though mostly around town at low speeds, but man, the speaker units themselves steal storage space, and wow, that’s a steep price to pay for a little more pump.

Peer inside the lids and you’ll see how the exposed speaker casings look fragile and possibly cause problems. Especially if you’re packing for Chieftain-worthy touring, right? Without a trunk, and if you’re toting a passenger, you’re going to need every cubic centimeter of space in these already slim bags just to fit the basics. For now—mostly because the additional speakers sound pretty darn awesome—I’m going to let the Concert Saddle Bag Audio Kit ride. But I’m also going to pack as usual and see what happens. And the leaking? Dang, that really could be a problem because I’m not a blue-sky rider. However, this is a brand-new motorcycle with a brand-new line of aftermarket goodies, so I’m confident that Indian’s accessory techs will be looking into the situation.

I also realize this is a motorcycle that owners are going to want to keep garaged, and when on the road, most will have some kind of palatial bike cover for those rainy nights. But during this portion of the test, I’m living the real life.

Other goodies applied to our Chieftain are riding well. The Rear Highway Bars ($299.99), as well as the attractive Chrome Saddlebag Protector Rails ($399.99), are helping to preserve the lovely Chieftain from any future Elvidge-style adventures, which began this afternoon when I rode the bagger along the American River and was enticed down a particularly wet, slippery dirt road. Didn’t get to test the crash-minded wares, but almost. Very almost. Now my Chieftain is not only wet, it’s muddy. And sitting outside yet another hotel, hunched and cold.

But tonight I think I will be able to sleep. I’ll be dreaming about Chieftain adventures to come. I’ll be imagining the coin wash I’ll find tomorrow, and how I won’t have to worry too much about getting spray on the leather seat (but will avoid the saddlebag lids). I’ll be dreaming of the unique, growly engine note that erupts when I hit that starter switch, about the slick shifts as I throttle the Indian onto the highway, leaving everything else behind.

Indian at the oasis.

Now you see the highway peg.

Now you don?t. We?ll try Loctite next time.

The music sounds great around town, but installation leaves speakers and connections unprotected.

Despite rubber seal, Chieftain bags are not water tight.

After an overnight rain, water pooled in the bottom of the Chieftain?s saddlebags.

Lower Saddlebag Guards are a pretty, but expensive, $399.99 option.

War bonnet lighting the way.

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