2024 Indian Springfield, Springfield Dark Horse Buyer’s Guide

Indian’s Springfield bagger takes nearly an entire chapter from the brand’s past, giving it the full light-duty classic touring treatment. The retro cues include valanced fenders (complete with signature headdress fender light), whitewall tires, studded leather saddle, removable windshield, and floorboards, all dripping in copious amounts of chrome. If you squint hard, you might even see traces of the dear, departed Chief Vintage of yore. The Springfield continues the nostalgic ride with covered fork tubes and highway bars, but like its other baggers, there are some concessions to modernity, with three ride modes, cruise control, keyless ignition, and remote locking hard saddlebags.

On the base-model Springfield, motivation comes courtesy of the very familiar air-cooled 49-degree Thunderstroke 111 V-twin, good for a supposed 119 lb.-ft. of torque, with the bagger rolling on 17/16 cast wheels and a giant LED headlight upfront. The darker, slicker Springfield Dark Horse may as well be a separate model; it ditches the windshield completely and swaps in taller handlebars, a slimmer seat, and a lovely contrast-cut 19-inch front wheel, exposed for all to see thanks to the cut-down fender. You also get slammed saddlebags as well as an engine bay featuring the brawnier Thunderstroke 116 engine (doused in dark finishes), which, according to Indian, is rated for 126 lb.-ft of peak torque.

MSRP for the standard Springfield is a quoted $22,999—almost the same as Harley’s Heritage Classic—and it’s available in Black Metallic/Titanium Metallic or Bronze Pearl/Silver Quartz. The more custom-looking Dark Horse gets the same ABS, cruise control, ride modes, keyless ignition, and rear cylinder deactivation features as the base model, and starts at $24,999 in Black Smoke, with the Sagebrush Smoke option adding another $500. In other words, the same neighborhood as the Road King.