New Indian Chieftain, Roadmaster Variants Coming?

Documents filed with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) this week suggest Indian Motorcycle has several new models coming soon – or, at least, new variations on existing themes.

According to a document processed on 24 January, the Indian lineup will soon expand to 10 models that carry the 1811cc Thunder Stroke 111 V-twin – three more big V-twins than are currently listed on Indian’s website.

The new models are named in the document as: Chieftain Elite, Chieftain Limited, and Roadmaster Classic. Certainly those names give us strong clues of what to expect, but we still don’t have much idea of what the new bikes will actually look like; how will they be different from the standard Chieftain and Roadmaster?

Wandering deep into the Land of Pure Speculation, we’d guess that the Chieftain Elite could be Indian’s take on what Harley-Davidson does with all its CVO models: hitting them hard with a bling hammer and adorning the bike with loads of factory upgrades and accessories. So, for example: a Chieftain that comes equipped with Stage 2 Performance Cams, Stage 1 Exhaust, and a Thunderstroke High Flow Air Cleaner. These are modifications that Indian says will increase horsepower by 13 percent and give 7 percent more torque.

The Chieftain Limited, though, is more of a mystery. The same goes for the idea of a Roadmaster Classic. What could you possibly add to a Roadmaster to make it markedly different? No idea.

The good news is we probably won’t have to wait too long to find out. Once bikes show up in CARB documents it's usually not too much longer until they're revealed to the public.