Has any body from this forum purchased a new Polaris Indian yet?

[iconicbikesrider]

Greetings to all
I am wondering if any one from this forum have purchased a new Polaris Indian as yet?
If so, any unbiased opinion? Riding experiences with pros or con?
I have visited an Indian dealer and those bikes look really nice. Price right too.
I do visit an Indian Forum and everyone is too giddy, too excited about the new Indians. Just wondering how unbiased their opinion might be.
I wish Polaris succeed with this new Indian project. H-D will have a valid verifiable and honest competition to the point that H-D itself will have to improve and come up with the latest technology and that will be a major gain to all of us Harley riders.
I will not sell or trade my H-Ds but I will like to add an Indian to my garage.

[sfmichael]

Good post Louis...I wish them success also.

Go jump on one and see what YOU think.   

I'm always leery of the first year or two of any new model, but if they have a good warranty...pull the trigger.   

[Coff 06]

I hope their able to do well also.I rode past a new one on the way home from street vibrations a couple of weeks ago,headed west on I80.It sounded like it was surging,watched the guys throttle hand and it was steady,but it sounded like he kept getting on and off the gas       Coff 06

[ken6217]

I'm not sure how many dealers have bikes yet.

There is a dealer here in NJ that had the Indian Demo truck about 6 weeks go. They had 15 bikes (5 each model) and they took out riders every 30 minutes. Place was packed. I took out the Chieftan I liked the power, handling, and braking. Loved the look of the engine. The only thing that I didn't like was the heat on my leg. I'm used that anyway on my Ultra.

I heard that they took orders on 40+ bikes that day.
Ken

[Hogie34]

I haven't bought one, but do have some experience with them. I was the guy behind the scenes during all of the filming of the new commercials that kept 11 of the new bikes as well as the '47 Chief in operating condition for two weeks.

When I first got the call from Polaris asking if I would be interested in taking part in the process, I was pretty excited to see them in person since I had been following the development of the engine pretty close. I still had my doubts about what they were going to come up with since technically they are a Japanese company taking on something as American as apple pie.

Anyway, enough about me and onto the bikes.

When I went to the secret squirrel storage unit to see the bikes before transport, I was pretty impressed with the craftsmanship and lines of the bikes. However, I thought at first sight, holy crap these things are HUGE! I mean long, not wide. They have to handle like crap right? Wrong I was. They really did their engineering homework on the bikes. Finding out what positions people like to travel in on a bike. Not too long on the legs and not too short. They were pretty much how I wished Harley would have done their forwards. Kind of a happy medium.

The bagger (Chieftan) will be my next purchase when I buy a bagger. The balance of the bike is excellent. I was able to throw it around like my Dyna...no BS. It's a big bike but doesn't feel as big as it is when you ride it.

Power, Oh my lord... that 111 goes. When I grabbed a hand full of throttle and twisted, it was an immediate smile. That engine is a powerhorse. I have yet to feel a Harley big inch stock bike that has the throttle response and torque that I felt on all of the Indian models. It takes big money to make a Harley accellerate like the Indians do out of the box.

Paint was very well done. No orange peel and the chrome was a quality job as well. Super smooth and looked "deep" if that makes sense.

Exhaust note was sweet and the pipes are stock, what Harley sells as an add on with the SE pipes. You get better pipes , tuned for the motors powerband stock .

It just seemed to me that Indian is giving you a lot more bang for your buck and you don't have to finance an additional 5k on top of the sale price to make it run good like you do with Harley. 

Ok enough of the good, there has to be some bad. We had a lot of problems with the little things. Headlight nacells that came loose alot, bar end covers that kept falling off, dash trim that would fall off and clutches on the earlier prototypes burning up. The clutch thing has been addressed as far as I know and we had two newer models that had no problems with them. All the little accessory pieces that kept falling off have been redesigned for the released models . Most of the little chrome pieces you see on the bikes in the commercials were held on by tape or glue LOL.

The rocker covers looked cheap to me. Although a cool idea to keep with the flathead look, I think they could have gone with smooth chrome instead of the casting texture between the cooling fins. Just my opinion , but I'm not the only one who expressed that.

My personal opinion now, after talking to the people in charge of the project, if anyone can make Indian stay alive, Polaris can do it. They don't want the Indians in the same dealerships as the Victory bikes. They want it to be completely separate from Victory and don't want them thought of as the same company. The guys running the show at Indian are very passionate about the bikes and making Indian work. They're selling a motorcycle and not a "life style". I liked the passion they had for the bike and they were very receptive to criticism and actually made changes to the bikes based on that.

I am still a Harley die hard but will buy a Chieftan for a bagger/touring bike for the wife and I. It just seemed to me to be more bike for the money. I would love to get my hands on one of the motors and build a bike around it....but that's for another day.

[easyricer]

Hogie, that's pretty cool!
   Harley has been needing a kick in the pants for at least 13 years now and this might be it. We had one stop in at the shop today and that was all it took for my partner to call an Indian dealer a few hundred miles away and order one.
We've been both watching the new Indian really closely since they first bought the company. We even had thoughts of selling them. One of our friends is on his way to Arkansas to pick up my partners new Indian Vintage right now. He should deliver it some time tomorrow afternoon. We're both fairly excited about it.
EASY

[Hossamania]

Easy, looking forward to your review.
Hogie, thanks for that info.

[Hogie34]

Hogie, that's pretty cool!
   Harley has been needing a kick in the pants for at least 13 years now and this might be it. We had one stop in at the shop today and that was all it took for my partner to call an Indian dealer a few hundred miles away and order one.
We've been both watching the new Indian really closely since they first bought the company. We even had thoughts of selling them. One of our friends is on his way to Arkansas to pick up my partners new Indian Vintage right now. He should deliver it some time tomorrow afternoon. We're both fairly excited about it.
EASY

I agree and I believe Harley will be forced to put the 120" in most if not all its bikes for 2015 to keep up with the power that the Indians put to the ground.

[Hossamania]

Does anyone know if a comparison has been done yet between Harley and Indian in a 1/4 mile drag race, or 0 to 60 times?
Something like a full magazine review including braking distances.

[iconicbikesrider]

The purpose of this thread was to find out from new owners, true riders, real time experience with the new Indians. I am looking to buy one but I have to be cautious with any new model year in a car or motorcycle.
I have read some riding reports among bike journalist, new owners of Polaris new Indians and others.
The several bike mags reports might be bias since Polaris is expending tons of $$ in advertizing in the same mags doing the "riding tests"...however, you may read in between lines some reports of vibrations at certain RPMs, in particular at the floor board, throttle lagging, excessive heat, Chieftain windshield rattling, kick-stand hard to find and other minor things.

I do believe Polaris is going to correct every problem that is arisen from the called pre-productions bikes. The bikes do look amazingly nice. They are full of chrome, very nice leather jobs and the one I like, even the color is right.
Some new owners already reporting that the throttle lagging does not exist anymore.
I have a SG '13 and after Stage one, the heat in my bike had diminished and I am wondering if Indians may have same results after a stage one re-tuning.
But, how about vibrations? The previous Indians, King Mountain, had a serious issue with vibrations above 60 or 70 MPH. This was definitely a deal breaker to me. Just wondering if the Polaris Indian have or have not the same issue.
Hogie34, how many post have you had in this forum? What kind of bike do you own?

[FXDBI]

Hogie34, how many post have you had in this forum? What kind of bike do you own?

3 posts  member number: 20915  registered Oct 1,2013  Maybe he works for  Polaris       internet forum division   
Bob

[Mailman]

I haven't bought one, but do have some experience with them. I was the guy behind the scenes during all of the filming of the new commercials that kept 11 of the new bikes as well as the '47 Chief in operating condition for two weeks.

When I first got the call from Polaris asking if I would be interested in taking part in the process, I was pretty excited to see them in person since I had been following the development of the engine pretty close. I still had my doubts about what they were going to come up with since technically they are a Japaneseaneseaneseanese company taking on something as American as apple pie.

Anyway, enough about me and onto the bikes.

When I went to the secret squirrel storage unit to see the bikes before transport, I was pretty impressed with the craftsmanship and lines of the bikes. However, I thought at first sight, holy crap these things are HUGE! I mean long, not wide. They have to handle like crap right? Wrong I was. They really did their engineering homework on the bikes. Finding out what positions people like to travel in on a bike. Not too long on the legs and not too short. They were pretty much how I wished Harley would have done their forwards. Kind of a happy medium.

The bagger (Chieftan) will be my next purchase when I buy a bagger. The balance of the bike is excellent. I was able to throw it around like my Dyna...no BS. It's a big bike but doesn't feel as big as it is when you ride it.

Power, Oh my lord... that 111 goes. When I grabbed a hand full of throttle and twisted, it was an immediate smile. That engine is a powerhorse. I have yet to feel a Harley big inch stock bike that has the throttle response and torque that I felt on all of the Indian models. It takes big money to make a Harley accellerate like the Indians do out of the box.

Paint was very well done. No orange peel and the chrome was a quality job as well. Super smooth and looked "deep" if that makes sense.

Exhaust note was sweet and the pipes are stock, what Harley sells as an add on with the SE pipes. You get better pipes , tuned for the motors powerband stock .

It just seemed to me that Indian is giving you a lot more bang for your buck and you don't have to finance an additional 5k on top of the sale price to make it run good like you do with Harley. 

Ok enough of the good, there has to be some bad. We had a lot of problems with the little things. Headlight nacells that came loose alot, bar end covers that kept falling off, dash trim that would fall off and clutches on the earlier prototypes burning up. The clutch thing has been addressed as far as I know and we had two newer models that had no problems with them. All the little accessory pieces that kept falling off have been redesigned for the released models . Most of the little chrome pieces you see on the bikes in the commercials were held on by tape or glue LOL.

The rocker covers looked cheap to me. Although a cool idea to keep with the flathead look, I think they could have gone with smooth chrome instead of the casting texture between the cooling fins. Just my opinion , but I'm not the only one who expressed that.

My personal opinion now, after talking to the people in charge of the project, if anyone can make Indian stay alive, Polaris can do it. They don't want the Indians in the same dealerships as the Victory bikes. They want it to be completely separate from Victory and don't want them thought of as the same company. The guys running the show at Indian are very passionate about the bikes and making Indian work. They're selling a motorcycle and not a "life style". I liked the passion they had for the bike and they were very receptive to criticism and actually made changes to the bikes based on that.

I am still a Harley die hard but will buy a Chieftan for a bagger/touring bike for the wife and I. It just seemed to me to be more bike for the money. I would love to get my hands on one of the motors and build a bike around it....but that's for another day.

  Why do you think Polaris is a Japaneseanese company ? (Strange, try to spell J-a-p-a-n-e-s-e, and for some reason, it comes out as shown)

[Hogie34]

What kind of bike do I ride? I own a few. 2000 FXD ,1998 Wide glide anniversary and then I've got Helga, my tempermental shovel. I'm sorry I have only a couple posts. Considering a question was asked about the Indians and I spent two weeks straight, riding them 12-18hrs a day, I figured I might be able to give some useful info on them. Guess not. Didn't know post count was a requirement. This is exactly why I don't join and participate on the forums. I figured after looking for some info, finding it here, that maybe my 20+ years working for and on Harleys might be helpful to one or two people down the line. Guess not.

[Hossamania]

Hogie, don't take it personally. Your review of your experience with the bikes was very helpful and informative. One question, did you notice an issue with vibration at certain rpm's?

Also, everybody on here gets a little grief once in a while for something. It is usually meant with good humor and tongue-in-cheek. Any real nasty or personal attacks are squelched pretty quickly.
Please continue to participate here, I think you will find it to be informative and pretty friendly in general. I think your insight will be appreciated.

[FSG]

Didn't know post count was a requirement.

It's not, please ignore the snide remarks/insulations, that's not what this forum is about.

I figured after looking for some info, finding it here, that maybe my 20+ years working for and on Harleys might be helpful to one or two people down the line. Guess not.

It is, I have a preference for quality over quantity any day.

[iconicbikesrider]

Hogie34,
Would you comment about my comments? I will appreciated very much.

"I have read some riding reports among bike journalist, new owners of Polaris new Indians and others.
The several bike mags reports might be bias since Polaris is expending tons of $$ in advertizing in the same mags doing the "riding tests"...however, you may read in between lines some reports of vibrations at certain RPMs, in particular at the floor board, throttle lagging, excessive heat, Chieftain windshield rattling, kick-stand hard to find and other minor things."

BTW, your piece was written excellently. Perfect syntax and grammar.

[PoorUB]

What kind of bike do I ride? I own a few. 2000 FXD ,1998 Wide glide anniversary and then I've got Helga, my tempermental shovel. I'm sorry I have only a couple posts. Considering a question was asked about the Indians and I spent two weeks straight, riding them 12-18hrs a day, I figured I might be able to give some useful info on them. Guess not. Didn't know post count was a requirement. This is exactly why I don't join and participate on the forums. I figured after looking for some info, finding it here, that maybe my 20+ years working for and on Harleys might be helpful to one or two people down the line. Guess not.

Don't worry about it. We have members here will well over 5,000, some with over 10,000 posts that get attacked and criticized for not knowing anything, so post count and actual experience has nothing to do with the attacks!

[gonenorth]

I appreciated the information on the Indians posted by Hogie 34.  Looked at the bikes at Sturgis and heard the spiels on them.  They look and sound impressive, but didn't get a chance to ride them.  It was nice to hear from someone who had.  My impression was that they would have a lot of stock torque.  Question for Hogie 34, how hard did they pull in the upper RPMs?

[Hogie34]

Hogie34,
Would you comment about my comments? I will appreciated very much.

"I have read some riding reports among bike journalist, new owners of Polaris new Indians and others.
The several bike mags reports might be bias since Polaris is expending tons of $$ in advertizing in the same mags doing the "riding tests"...however, you may read in between lines some reports of vibrations at certain RPMs, in particular at the floor board, throttle lagging, excessive heat, Chieftain windshield rattling, kick-stand hard to find and other minor things."

BTW, your piece was written excellently. Perfect syntax and grammar.

On the "pre-production" or "pre-release" models as they were called by the brass on site, yes, there was vibration and throttle lag on a couple of them. On the others, none at all. The motor pulled in all gears and even when I tried to lug the motor, it still felt like it had some except when I got stupid with them and shifted into 4th at 20mph etc. When out on Hwy 550, where most of the commercials were shot, I got to really open it up. 120 (according to the speedo) was no problem and it felt like there was more left.

I got to ride the Chieftain the most and noticed absolutely no excessive vibration. Personally, I liked the performance from the bikes but hated and I mean hated the way they looked, except for the black Cheiftain I got to ride. It became known as "my" bike while I was on the project. Like I said about trim pieces and other accessories, they fell off, simple as that. So I can totally see why real writers would say that stuff rattled. The mounting sucked. I expressed my discontent with several items but was assured that by the release date, the bikes would all have their bugs worked out. Just for information , I had to sign a non-disclosure agreement with them. I had to keep my mouth shut about the entire thing until Sturgis.This is the first time I've written or talked about it .

Like I said, since I got to spend more time in two weeks with the bikes than most new owners will have since August, I figured I could answer. Especially since I beat the crap out of them.I apologize to anyone that may have been offended or gotten the wrong idea from my post. Going back to working on bikes and leaving reviews to the pros.

[Hossamania]

Thanks Hogie

[Bigs]

Thanks for the information Hogie34. Now I'll have to try to take a test ride this next week.
   Bigs

[sfmichael]

Easy, looking forward to your review.
Hogie, thanks for that info.

+1   

[hbkeith]

Didn't know post count was a requirement.

It's not, please ignore the snide remarks/insulations, that's not what this forum is about.

I figured after looking for some info, finding it here, that maybe my 20+ years working for and on Harleys might be helpful to one or two people down the line. Guess not.

It is, I have a preference for quality over quantity any day.

  please ignore the out of place comments Hogie34 , "You" had something very valuable to say , welcome and keep on posting , Keith

[iconicbikesrider]

Now, back to basics.

Has any body from this forum PURCHASED a new Polaris Indian yet?
Those comments will be so much appreciated.

[runamuck]

I have looked at them a lot, but almost all my riding on a bagger is trips and touring and I have to have a tourpak for the gear the wife and I need to take. I'm surprised there is not one offered. maybe they are appealing more to the streetglide part of the market.