Exclusive first ride review of Indian Motorcycle’s new 2022 Chief Dark Horse. How does it ride? Is it an ideal platform for high-performance customization? Is it worth the money? All these answered and more! If you have more questions, please check out our full review with specs at cycleworld.com, and if they’re not answered there, feel free to comment down below.
Minimalism is often the sign of a craft perfected; as master modern architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said: “Less is more.” To reduce, subtract, and refine until you are left with only what’s needed. To take away the clutter but not the spirit. In this case, to shave about 120 pounds and 4 inches off of the previous Chief model, refine chassis design, and produce a new motorcycle that can do more with less. The 2022 Chief Dark Horse is part of Indian Motorcycle’s first major update to the heavyweight cruiser lineup in a decade, but redesigning a Big Twin is treading on hallowed ground.
The two men leading design on this project are not only experienced and proven designers, but riders, customizers, and passionate motorcycle people. Ola Stenegärd is Indian’s director of Product Design following a 15-year career at BMW (an interview with Stenegärd will be coming soon here at Cycle World). His hand-built 1972 Shovelhead chopper, Forsaken, is one of my all-time favorite builds. Rich Christoph is the lead industrial designer for this rejuvenation of Indian’s flagship as he was on the Scout, FTR750, FTR1200, and Harley-Davidson’s Nightster. When I called Christoph he was in between restoring some 1920s farm equipment, his 1974 Kawasaki G3SS, and preparing to go ice racing the coming weekend. Both of them speak with the fervency that only comes from living one’s passions. They’re the type of people I want designing my motorcycle.
“When you do a classic American cruiser, one this simple and this clean, honoring the Indian name, I always fall back to Ola’s and my knowledge about the customer, what they’re going to want to do with it, and what makes a motorcycle stand the test of time,” Christoph says. “You have to be a rider. You have to be involved.”
There’s a raw beauty in the air-cooled American V-twin. The rumble of the engine and its space to move in the frame, which you can also see. It’s honest. It has to be. A rider has to look at the bike and see the potential for customization. This simplicity and space had to be maintained. “Everything starts with the frame,” Stenegärd says. “No pressed steel hiding where you can’t see it, nothing ugly appears when you lift the tank. The frame itself needs to be a piece of art.”
Every piece of the frame has some sort of curvature or flow to it. The welds are clean and nicely finished. Small details like recessed engine mounts show the time and attention paid to subtle but impactful features. The gooseneck and window created behind the steering head at the front of the frame is more a reference to V-twin customs with pulled-back gas tanks than it is to anything in Indian’s lineage, but it works. It works very well. The line from gas tank, through the seat, down through the shocks to the rear axle is, as Christoph said, simple and clean. And, as intended, being able to see so much of the tubular steel frame has my mind spinning as I consider custom potential.
Powering the Dark Horse is Indian’s Thunderstroke 116, an engine that I have put about 15,000 delightful miles on since 2019. For 2022, the 1,890cc, two-valve-per-cylinder, pushrod twin has been slightly modified for the entire air-cooled Indian line, adding frame mounts to the front cylinder to increase the chassis’ torsional rigidity, and slimming down the primary cover to make a little more room near the rider’s left foot. New throttle maps, Rain, Sport, and Standard, were also designed for the Chief application, specifically to meet Euro 5 emissions standards and work with the new intake and exhaust setups.
Cruising along at 70 mph, the engine spins an effortless 2,500 rpm. Shifting is smooth and definite. The open-road origins of the Thunderstroke are clear as the Big Twin purrs along down the highway.
The air-cooled 49-degree V-twin pulses in the frame, giving the rider the connected feeling that is so important in the cruiser riding experience. But the ride-by-wire and throttle sensor placement result in a vague throttle feel that leaves something to be desired. The clutch feel is also barely existent, so it took some getting used to before I could achieve hard launches in Standard or Sport modes without spinning the tire.
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