The Indian Chieftain is certainly one of the most visually stunning baggers in the world, even more so in its blacked-out Dark Horse trim. But not one to rest on their laurels, Indian Motorcycle has just launched two more versions of this gorgeous bike called the Chieftain Limited and the Chieftain Elite. According to Indian, these two machines are “a bold evolution of the Chieftain line” and they certainly look the part.
For the Chieftain Limited, Indian has gone for a larger 19” front wheel which now rests under a chopped up front fender. Gone is the tall traditional Indian Chief fender as well as the light-up ‘war bonnet’ fender ornament. This has really exposed the gorgeous 10-spoke front wheel in all its glory along with the bike’s twin 300mm front disc brakes. The bike still retains all the other signature Chieftain touches such as an electrically adjustable windscreen, remote lockable panniers, touchscreen infotainment system and even its 100-watt audio system built into the fairing. But to help differentiate it a little more, the bike gets colour-matched headlight bezels and a metal stud-free leather seat.
The Elite, on the other hand, represents the top-of-the-line model in the Chieftain range. It has the same 19” front wheel, cut front fender and missing ‘war bonnet’ like the Limited, but it comes in an incredibly stunning Fireglow Candy Red with Marble Accents paint scheme. This is painstakingly hand painted, with each bike taking over 25 hours of work, at the company’s custom paint shop in South Dakota. Indian claims, because of this, no two Chieftain Elites look identical. On top of that, the bike also gets an enhanced 200-watt audio system, along with LED headlight and driving lights, as well as billet aluminium rider and passenger floor boards.
Speaking about the Chieftain Elite, Reid Wilson, director of marketing at Indian Motorcycle said, “We wanted to design the most premium, feature-packed Chieftain we could possibly imagine. In the end, I think the bike exceeded even our own expectations. It's an absolute show-stopper." No wonder only 350 units of the Elite will be built ever.
As of now, there is no word on whether either the Chieftain Elite or the Chieftain Limited will be coming to India.