Indian Chief Vintage (2026 - ) review

With the best retros it’s all about successfully disguising modern engines and chassis plus thorough attention to detail with lots of nice, correct, heritage touches. So, Kawasaki’s Z900RS, for example, succeeds because, although based on the modern, liquid-cooled Z900, its engine gained fake finning, its new, twin analogue dials are a brilliant blend of 70s style and modern tech and with a new tank, seat, tail piece and side panels, all with correct paintjobs and badging, it looks exactly as it should – as a modern Z1. The new Vintage is just as successful in recreating the 1940s Chief. The ‘dull’, raw-finished version of the modern, air-cooled Thunderstroke V-twin is genius, the lack of chrome in favour of blacked out cycle parts just ‘right’, the wire wheels, deeply valanced fenders, solo seat and beach bars are absolutely essential and the resulting overall look as a result is compelling, authentic, gorgeous and individual all at the same time. The fact it rides and performs OK is almost irrelevant, but that Indian has also done it all for under 20 grand is impressive. No modern retro-inspired cruiser has a more authentic yet distinctive style.

The Chief Vintage is a cruiser that’s all about style and feel, so practical considerations shouldn’t matter that much. But we can’t ignore them totally, either. The lack of screen, pillion seat and any luggage provision limits its abilities as transport. The Vintage is also clearly no sportster or off-roader, it’s fairly basic in terms of spec and is also so precious you’d be mad to ride it through rain or winter. But all of that’s also missing the point. If the style and history appeal and you want a machine for simply occasional, glorious Sunday country rides, the Vintage can also make you feel a million dollars, and very few other bikes can deliver that.

At the Vintage’s heart is a reworked version of Indian’s 1,890cc, air-cooled, Thunderstroke pushrod V-twin with which the revived marque relaunched its big V-twin cruiser family in 2013. Although that family of engines has now been replaced in Indian’s touring and bagger families by the more recent and powerful, liquid-cooled Powerplus unit, it lives on in the Chief family. For this Vintage form it’s been refinished with black cylinders and silver-painted heads and pushrod tubes to more closely resemble the look of the 40s Chief and it really does look the part. Performance is unchanged. Indian doesn’t publish the peak power of the Chief but reckon on a Harley-competitive 80-90 horsepower while peak torque is a thumping 156Nm at a lowly 3,300rpm. There are three switchable riding modes (Standard, Tour and Sport), a six-speed ‘box and final drive is by Harley-style belt, but on the right, not left. It’s all characterful, sufficient for this type of bike and familiar, if not quite as potent as the Harley equivalent. Due to styling demands, braking is taken care of by a single 298mm disc with four-piston caliper supported by a matching two-piston version at the rear, all assisted by ABS. Again, it’s not exactly amazing but for the style of bike the Vintage is, and the sedate riding owners are likely to do, it’s up to the job.

Again, to some degree, the Vintage’s chassis in an exercise of style over substance but, overall, it does a more than adequate job. Its frame is an old-school style tubular steel double cradle (thankfully without a radiator hanging from the front tubes), front suspension is conventional 46mm telescopic forks but covered with metal shrouds for the vintage look, while the rear end employs twin shocks cleverly angled in-line with the rear subframe to give something of the 1940s hardtail look. The wheels, meanwhile, are 16-inch wires front and rear fitted with fat, high profile Metzeler Cruisetec tyres to also help give that classic, 1940s bobber look. It all works competently enough for a cruiser with an adequate ride and sufficiently nimble yet secure steering to have fun gently rolling through some B-road bends – but not a lot more. There’s no suspension adjustment available and it’s also no way a sports bike but, for its role, it’s fine.

Big engined, big price, heavyweight American cruisers are never the cheapest of bikes to run but the Vintage, impressively, should be better than some. For starters it’s actually quite reasonably priced in our book, especially against its closest Harley equivalents like the Heritage Classic. On top of that, although 1,890cc, its Thunderstroke powertrain shouldn’t be too demanding on consumables such as tyres and brake pads belt-drive means there’s no worry about replacing chains, either. No, tax and insurance won’t be negligible, but overall running costs of the Vintage shouldn’t be excessive.

Again, although the Indian Chief Vintage is a brand-new model, it’s also one based on a proven powertrain that’s now been around since 2013, is unlikely (as a cruiser) to be ridden hard and is also fairly simple and straightforward so there’s also little that might go wrong. For example, the electronic rider aids are pretty basic, the dash is quite diminutive, and of course there’s only one seat, little bodywork and no luggage so, overall, we have few reliability concerns.

The new Indian Chief Vintage comes with a manufacturer-backed warranty covering all parts and labour covering a period of two years with unlimited mileage from first registration, which is a fairly standard offer. However extended options covering three, four or even five years are available, along with a roadside assistance package at extra cost if certain conditions are fulfilled. Its servicing schedule is fairly standard, too, requiring the usual ‘break-in’ oil and filter change service at 500 miles followed by regular services annually or every 5,000 miles, whichever comes first.

Retro bikes don’t routinely have that much in terms of equipment and the Vintage, which commemorates a bike from the 1940s when even rear suspension was rare, is even less likely. That said, the Chief Vintage has a smart, multi-function TFT dash which, at least at a distance, is in keeping with the bike’s overall style. This is clear and easy to read, has a touch-screen capability, two custom screens, displays all the info you actually need and is also Bluetooth compatible so that, via app, can delivers tunes, nav functions and more. There are also three switchable riding modes. That, however, is your lot. There are no touring goodies, cycle parts are pretty basic (but don’t need to be otherwise) and not even a pillion seat. I didn’t think it was lacking anything, but the TFT dash, although OK, jarred a little in spirit.

This is really quite simple. If you like the look (which is everything) you’ll love the Vintage – but be aware it’s only really a fun, short-distance, limited-practicality machine. When it comes to retros, the choice and standard of bikes available continues to improve. If you want a British, 1960s style roadster, Triumph’s T100 and T120 Bonnevilles are by far the best. If you instead fancy a Japanese, 1970s version, it has to be Kawasaki’s Z900RS. And if you want a German, 1980s adventure style retro, BMW’s recent R 12 G/S is a no-brainer. The Vintage is every bit as authentic, good and enjoyable as those bikes to become the new best ‘retro 1940s style cruiser’. Who knew that would ever be a thing. But now it's here it's a wonder it hadn't happened before!