An American bagger is built to handle long stretches of road with comfort and style. The machines have gobs of torque, a large padded seat, plentiful storage, and oftentimes a large fairing and windscreen providing gust protection when you are tapping into the power of the Thunder Stroke V-twin, for example. Enter Indian’s 2020 Chieftain. With the base model you can choose between two different sizes of their Thunder Stroke engine, either the tried-and-true 111, or the new, larger 116. As standard on the base model you find tech like a 100-watt audio system, keyless ignition, ride modes, cruise control (remember those long stretches of tarmac mentioned earlier?), ABS, and an electronically adjustable windshield.
Competition for the Indian Chieftain includes Harley’s Street Glide, BMW’s K 1600 B, Honda’s Gold Wing or Kawasaki’s Vulcan 1700 Vaquero.
Redesigned in 2019, the manufacturer did not find the need to have any major updates for this year aside from weather and traffic overlays on its Ride Command system.
The 111ci-engine-equipped Chieftain is available at a starting MSRP of $21,999 in Thunder Black or pay $23,999 for the 116ci-powered machine in Titanium Smoke.