Coming Soon | 2026 Indian Chief Vintage

Nobody’s going to begrudge Indian indulging itself a little nostalgia in this its 125th year, this celebration starting in two-wheeled form with this new Chief Vintage. Built on the modern-day Chief but inspired by its 40s forebears, the Vintage features distinctive faired-in mudguards and a knowing attention to detail in its traditional fixtures and finish. Neat touches include spoked 16-inch wheels, a ‘non-machined’ look to the cylinders set against contrasting silver heads and pushrod tubes and a stylish, single-seat bobber configuration.
For all the trad vibes the engine and tech powering the Chief Vintage is bang up to date, the 1,890cc Thunderstroke 116 air-cooled twin very much the visual and emotional heart of the bike while modern touches like an LED headlight and fully connected TFT screen with app-powered mapping and more have been subtly integrated.

The combination of trad looks and modern tech is nothing too out of the ordinary of course, the Triumph Bonneville Bobber we were riding just recently putting a British twist on a similar vibe, the BMW R 18 and Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic likewise going all out to pluck the heartstrings. Even in that company the Chief Classic wears its authenticity convincingly, though.

While Indian doesn’t publish horsepower outputs for its bikes the 156Nm of the Thunderstroke engine is on a par with the slightly bigger twin in the much more expensive Harley Heritage Classic, and even with a kerbweight over 300kg the Indian should deliver the goods on the road. If you want to share the fun there’s an optional pillion seat and backrest, along with screens, luggage and more. Pricing looks reasonable all things relative, the standard black version costing a grand more than the Bobber Dark Horse it’s seemingly derived from at £18,955 while the signature red is another £500.