Demo Ride Site 2014 Indian Motorcycle @ Sturgis 2013 #1

Demo Motorcycle Ride Site 2014 Indian Vintage @ Sturgis 2013 #1 Feels like the big bike that it is, very cushy. We road on side roads, 40 to 55 MPH, and on I-90 at 70+ MPH. On the freeway, I slowed leaving some space then kicked it down, twisted and it pulled hard. It probably pulled harder then it felt because there was very little increase in exhaust sound throwing off my "butt" Dyno. These are, of course, stock bikes with stock exhausts and wearing helmets you could hardly hear the motor. There was some vibration in the hand grips and floor boards reminiscent of a Softail. Cracks in the asphalt and RR tracks were hardly felt. The front end feels heavy and slow to turn at low speed. My first turn from the parking lot went wide. I would have liked to of done some slow speed maneuvering in the parking lot to get a better feel for it. The front-end noise dives with little provocation like HD Touring bikes do — a little heavier weight suspension fluid would fix that — but this a personal preference I guess — the next guy probably loves it the way it is. You can't blip the throttle — I assume this is an EPA thing and can be tuned out by messing with the tables on a Stage 1 tune or with the dealers equivalent of Digital Tech without a Stage 1. The grips are a little too far away for me causing me to lean forward. (I'm 5'8") They offer a Reach Seat that sits you closer but hopefully Polaris, or the after market, will offer bars with more pull back. The Indian people were very friendly and well organized. The 1 hour wait passed in no time because there was lot to look at and questions to ask. They encouraged sitting on the bikes and starting them, etc. There is a buyback or trade-in guarantee program, likely in answer to concerns of Indian's previous reemergences — especially the last one because of the new price point. My sense is that these bikes are more advanced in both the physical engineering and electronics then the Motor Company. Indian has HD beat by any measure except for the dealer network and customer loyalty IMHO.