American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 231 October 2018 | Page 17
Redesigned 2019 Chieftain and
Loudest Indian Audio System
Indian Motorcycle has announced a
redesigned Chieftain line-up. For 2019,
the Indian Chieftain, Chieftain Dark
Horse and Chieftain Limited feature
“more streamlined, aggressive styling
that reflects the bike’s well-established
performance capabilities. For those
loyal to Indian’s classic designs, the
2019 Indian Chieftain Classic will
continue to feature its traditional
fairing and iconic valanced front
fender.
“As we continue to evolve the Indian
Motorcycle brand, we want to expand
our line-up with more aggressive style
options, while still maintaining the
availability of our more classic style
options,” said Reid Wilson, Senior
Director for Indian Motorcycle. “What’s
most important to us is developing
motorcycles that meet a wide variety of
customer style preferences, and
Chieftain’s new look does just that.”
A restyled fairing and saddlebags with
“sharper lines and harder edges” are
designed to give the bike a
“commanding presence and more
streamlined look.” A trimmed and
slimmed fairing, paired with full LED
lighting and new fork guards, “delivers
a streamlined front-end package that’s
indicative of the bike’s impressive
performance capabilities. The
Chieftain’s new, slammed saddlebags
with color-matched fender closeouts
also provide a sleek and custom-
inspired look. While the new Rogue
gunfighter seat gives the bike a sleek,
low-slung stance, Chieftain maintains
its superior handling and comfort with
more than four inches of rear
suspension travel.”
In addition to the styling and design
enhancements, the 2019 Chieftain
line-up features new ride-enhancing
technology, with Indian claiming
increased performance customization
and rider comfort. “For a more
customized ride experience, riders can
now choose between three Ride
Modes – Tour, Standard or Sport. The
throttle map for each Ride Mode was
designed with a specific application in
mind, resulting in one bike with three
distinct personalities. All 2019
Chieftains are also equipped with Rear
Cylinder Deactivation for increased
rider comfort when the bike is
stationary.”
In addition to new paint and finish
options, enhancements have been
made to Indian Motorcycle’s stock
audio system “to significantly improve
sound quality.” The tweeters have been
separated from the mid-range speakers
to optimize sound output and clarity; a
fully customizable dynamic equalizer
adjusts specific frequencies at different
vehicle speeds to provide peak system
performance at all times - as speed
increases, the equalizer automatically
adjusts each frequency to the optimal
level to compensate for road, wind and
engine noise. The result is said to be
crystal clear, 100 watt of “premium
audio” at all speeds.
With PowerBand Audio, riders can
choose from audio configurations that
are up to 50 percent louder than the
stock audio. The system is said to be
engineered with an integrated amp on
the speakers and therefore does not
require additional amps. The premium
audio package is fully integrated with
the Ride Command system, which
automatically recognizes the upgrade
and takes the equalizer from five to
nine bands with additional pre-set
options and volume control. There are
three kit options - PowerBand Audio
(fairing upgrade), PowerBand Audio
Plus (fairing and saddlebag upgrade)
and PowerBand Audio Plus with
accessory trunk (fairing, saddlebag and
accessory trunk upgrade).