I went to an official Indian test day Friday and first ride was a Chieftain with 116in upgrade...all rides were 12 mile / interstate, farm road, boulevard and backroad.
Spectacular torque acceleration surprise...Way stronger than my Harley but...with 30+mph SW wind I was disappointed with crosswind noise and instability. Power was awesome.
Next up was a Springfield which became my favorite. Stock 111 inch but about equal performance to my Harley.
The Springfield has a clear windscreen, as opposed to my Electra Glide solid fairing. I enjoyed the clear view. Wind was less of a distraction.
Third ride was on a Challenger. Nice bike. Stable and quiet.
Last ride was a rocket. FTR 1200 S I was looking for an Adventure class bike and this was the closest they had. Foot controls way back and SPECTACULAR power. A real hoot. Wind a major hassle to navigate through but when we went N on the Farm road everything went quiet and the front wheel left earth a couple times. Fun. Scary.
Summary...I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Having been off bikes for 36 years and having only 500+ miles on my Harley it was a wonderful morning. To ride $20K bikes for the first time was eye opening. Neat stuff. Having said that, after much reflection...I like my 2000 Harley Electra Glide more than ever. The new bikes seemed to lack the comfort, the oneness, I find on mine. Performance was about equal to my bike except for the awesome 116 inch Chieftain and, of course, the FTR.
There is a difficult to describe collection of elements about bikes...Soul? Feel? Personality? Whatever. The Indians did not have what I like about my Harley. More maintenance on a Harley for sure. The sterile, perfect, beautiful??? personna of the Indians just missed for me. When it is time for a new bike I will again test a Springfield and Challenger before heading over to the Harley shop for a few sample rides.