Indian Chief Dark Horse officially unveiled

After images of the bike were leaked on the internet prior to its launch, Indian Motorcycles have officially unveiled the new Chief Dark Horse. The new motorcycle is the first motorcycle to be launched by Indian for 2016 and is the cheapest offering in the Chief range of motorcycles. The Indian Chief Dark Horse has been priced at Rs 10.56 lakh in the US market and is the sixth new offering from the iconic bikemaker after being purchased by Polaris in 2011. The new Indian Chief Dark horse as the name suggests sports a matte-black finish on the V-twin motor, headlamp, forks and alloy wheels. The stealth treatment continues onto the renowned valenced fenders, handlebars and the saddle. Chrome is present only in the form of trimmings on the fenders, engine covers, levers and the exhaust pipe has a dual-tone, chrome-black finish that looks sinister. Apart from the blackened out theme, other visual difference between the Indian Chief Classic and the Chief Dark Horse are the missing lights on either side of the headlamp and alloy wheels instead of spoke wheels. The whitewall tyres have also been given the boot in favour of the dark theme. The fuel tank features distinctive monochrome Warbonnet graphics as seen on the Indian Chieftain. Mechanically no change will be made to the new Indian Chief Dark Horse.

Powering the bike is the Polaris developed Thunder Stroke 111 powerplant as found on the Indian Chief Classic. The 1,811cc, liquid-cooled, fuel-injected, V-twin engine pushes out 141Nm of peak torque while the Indian-spec motor churns out 139Nm of peak torque. The engine is mated to a six-speed transmission that transmits power to the rear-wheel via belt drive. Despite being the entry-level offering in the Chief portfolio, Indian has been generous on the Chief Dark Horse with respect to features as it is equipped with keyless ignition, ABS and cruise control. Given the fact that every motorcycle from its international portfolio is already on sale in our country, expect the Indian Chief Dark Horse to be launched by mid-2015 in India and should retail for around Rs 25 lakh in our market.