Doff Your Hat to This Chieftain

Hot on the heels of their King of the Bagger racing success, Indian Motorcycle produce the stunning Chieftain, using the big 112 PowerPlus motor. Here is our first impression following a ride in Nevada

- Story: Adam Child 'Chad'

WE EXPECT BMW TO DEPLOY World Superbike technology in their road bikes and we expect MotoGP-inspired aerodynamics to appear on Ducati's street legal Panigales. But when it comes to the bagger and cruiser market, we certainly do not associate racing with such laid-back road bikes. Until now, that is.

Things changed when the King of the Bagger series was introduced in the United States of America in 2020. Racing big and heavy V-twins designed and equipped for a two-up cruise into the country was a crazy, counter-intuitive idea, but the wild spectacle the racing provided proved a massive hit with the American public—and viewing figures skyrocketed.

Indian Motorcycle have been at the forefront, taking three championships in 2020, 2022, and 2024, and, despite the company's focus on cruisers, tourers, and baggers, we should not really be surprised. Indian have recently dominated flat-track racing in the USA with the FTR, while the history books are filled both with racing success and land speed records, most notably Burt Munro's 184 mph (296 km/h), set in 1967 on a 1920 Indian Scout Streamliner.

The engine that has taken Indian to recent success in bagger racing is the water-cooled PowerPlus 112, a single overhead cam V-twin with a capacity of 112 cubic inches (or 1,843 cubic centimetres) that churns out 126 hp and a gargantuan 181.4 Nm of torque. The 112 can now be found in the all-new Chieftain PowerPlus, which we have on test, and its larger sibling, the Roadmaster PowerPlus, which is essentially a Chieftain but fully dressed, with a top box and back-rest.