What is the 2023 Indian Sport Chief
In short, the 2023 Indian Sport Chief is Indian motorcycles' attempt to push American V-twin cruisers to the next level.
To begin with, the Sport Chief is fitted with a quarter fairing with a flyscreen that makes it look like a sweet old-school racer. The bike gets a the same drag handlebar which now sits on six-inch risers and by the looks of things, will have you seated in a pretty upright riding posture with the mid-mounted foot controls. Moving on to the heart of this iron horse, the motorcycle also gets a bigger engine of the two engines in the Indian Chief range â€" the Thunderstroke 116 motor that (1,890cc) churns out 153Nm of torque (the same motor that powers the Roadmaster and Darkhorse models). And this one comes with some splashes of attitude in the form of a blacked-out air-cooled motor.
To emphasise more on performance, in addition to the powerful engine, Indian has also slapped on 43mm KYB inverted fork. But it's not adjustable, but its 28-degree rake and 111mm trail are much sharper than the rest of the Chief lineup. At the rear, the Sport Chief uses twin shocks from Fox which allow four inches of travel. What's more, the 311kg bike also gets upgraded Brembo brakes (dual 320mm floating rotors/ 4-piston calipers up front and a single 300mm semi-floating rotor/ 2-piston caliper at the rear) and 19/16-inch wheels that come dressed in Pirelli Night Dragon tyres.
Those who purchase the Sport Chief right now will get a complimentary 1-year trial of Ride Command+ (after which, fees apply) which includes features like live weather/traffic and intuitive destination search. In general, the touchscreen display includes real-time clock; ambient air temperature; heading; audio information display; map/navigation; Bluetooth status for phone and headset; vehicle status (voltage, engine hours, oil change); vehicle info (speed, fuel range, RPM, gear position); current ride data (distance, moving time, stop time, altitude, altitude change); trip meters; ride mode selection; screen brightness; and vehicle trouble code readout.
The Sport Chief ($18,999) sits between the Chief Dark Horse ($17,999) and the Chief Bobber Dark Horse ($19,499) in Indian's line-up in the USA. Seeing as the Indian Chief Dark Horse is currently priced at around Rs 22 lakh out here in India, we expect the Sport Chief to command about a lakh more when it gets here.