Performance - The Chieftain Dark Horse draws power from Indian’s 1811cc Thunder Stroke 111 engine that churns out all of 150 Nm of torque at 2900 RPM with the rev limiter kicking in at around 5500 RPM. Even with a narrow power band, the air-cooled motor is thoroughly enjoyable because of its effortless torque delivery. Torque is available from the word go and there is zilch hesitation even when riding in higher gears at low speeds. However, power starts to taper off at the top-end and it is best to adopt a sedate riding style on this motorcycle. The initial gears are fairly tall which allows for a smooth ride at city speeds and reduces the need for frequent gear changes. In fact, you can use the 2nd cog like an automatic transmission and traverse from crawling speeds to a ton with the dual exhaust pipes spitting out the characteristic V-Twin rasp in full glory.
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Cruise control can be enabled from fourth gear onwards
That 378 kgs of kerb weight is nowhere to be felt once you get going on this bike
Refinement levels are of top order for a V-Twin powerplant with not even a hint of vibrations or harshness felt throughout the usable rev band. On the other hand, the hard clutch and iffy gearbox operation is nothing to write home about. The Chieftain manages to hit 160 km/hr with ease if you give it the beans. However, progress thereafter is painfully slow. Even in moving traffic, the bagger heats a lot which becomes a cause of discomfort for the rider when the heat hits the legs. Thanks to its 20.8-litre fuel tank though, the real-world fuel economy of 15 to 20 kms to a litre translates to a respectable range of over 300 kms on a single tank of fuel.
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This bagger isn’t meant for cornering at all
There’s no denying that the Chieftain is a heavyweight motorcycle
Riding Dynamics – The suspension setup is tuned to be on the softer side to provide a compliant ride quality while the sheer mass ensures that crosswinds and undulations don’t unsettle the motorcycle. This results in a dearth of feedback from the front end which makes it unnerving to ride at higher triple-digit speeds. Taking U-turns or maneuvering through crawling traffic is a painful task because of the weight as well as the riding position (allows little control in case you mess up). As you speed up, handling turns out to be good enough for a bagger as the Dark Horse holds its line well through fast sweepers provided it isn’t pushed aggressively. ABS-equipped brakes do a commendable job of bringing this horse to a halt although some amount of nose dive is felt under hard braking.
