October 2018 – This is my 2019 Indian Chieftain Classic retirement present to myself for all my years of working for a living. My dad rode an Indian before I was born so I expect he would have been proud of this black and cream beauty as my selection. Her color scheme reminds me of a police motorcycle so I named her Yona, the Cherokee Indian word for Bear, in honor of our public protectors.
This wind machine has three selectable ride modes; touring, standard and sport. It almost feels like I’m switching between cams! The throttle is fly by wire so the selections are actually electronic switches. Each mode has a different throttle response for engine acceleration and deceleration. I ride in standard mode most of the time but it’s nice to have the sport option for the twisties and touring mode for wet road conditions.
The motorcycle is well balanced and vibration free. The stereo sound system is techy awesome too! I was skeptical about having stereo on a motorcycle but it really works quite well. There’s plenty of clear volume to overcome the wind and engine noise.
One minor issue, the classic sweeping front fender induces a slight wind noise when leaning into the curves. It’s very minor and an easy trade off for the classic Indian styling. Indian offers other models with open front fenders.
Personally, I love the beautiful Indian legacy tailoring combined with the modern performance engineering. I especially like how her saddlebags and front fairing design were inspired by the early 20th century Art Deco styling of the streamlined locomotives.
My grandfather was a railroad engineer until he retired in the mid 1960’s.
A bit unconventional but I mounted my daughters’ Guardian Bells at the top of my highway bar under the upper frame. I know we’re supposed to only have one and it should be mounted lower close to the road so the evil spirits will dispatch sooner.
My first Guardian Bell was from my good Marine friend “Hippie”. Unfortunately I mounted it underneath too far starboard and it was ground down by the pavement from leaning into those right hand curves… I don’t know what the penalty is for defacing a Guardian Bell on the pavement… maybe I don’t want to know!
Rides page 7
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End of Rides (but not the Journey)
