Custom Indian Chief Dark Horse

AFTER commuting to work daily on a 2019 Indian Scout Bobber (cut my commute from one hour to 20 odd minutes) in Melbourne, Indian Motocycle finally released a bike similar to a Harley-Davidson Dyna Sport Glide, in that it was halfway between a Scout and a big dresser-style Chief. I snapped up a primer-grey 2021 Indian Chief Dark Horse — apparently the first in Australia.

There was basically fuck-all aftermarket accessories unless you paid a king’s ransom through the dealership, or got stuff shipped in from the USA. 

First up was a custom twin seat by Corbin and a sissy-bar from Dean Speed. I sourced an eBay slip-on exhaust — straight through after the O2 sensors — and removed the dorky front fender.

I sourced some 14-inch apes from HD Development in Melbourne (Vic) and modified them to accept throttle-by-wire controls. I had the Indian workshop fit some OEM forward controls and extended lines for tall bars.

Everything was going well until after about six months, I got T-boned by a fuckwit in a pickup truck at a roundabout in Kangaroo Ground (Vic). Sadly, the Old Grey Mare ain’t what she used to be — she was written off.

Fast forward a couple years and I wound up getting a new model of the same bike, in shitty green (they had one at the shop so I bought it on the spot). 

I had managed to salvage the custom bits and bobs from the original Chief, and added a bit more stuff: a Klockwerks front fender and tail-tidy from Naked Racer Moto Co in Cheltenham (Vic); another cheap-arse eBay exhaust was fitted which did the trick. I found a Chinese copy of highway crash-bars online and fitted them (at about 1/10 the cost of OEM). The only other additions were Indian OEM heated grips.

I chopped and welded an old Dyna Wide-Glide sissy bar to fit the Chief, and got the backrest trimmed to match the Corbin seat. Trimming was done by Benny in Nowra (NSW). Benny (as always) did an amazing job and was the only guy who was happy to stitch my colours (through 4 mm buffalo hide).

I ended up moving Chief v2.0 on after test riding a new 2024 Harley-Davidson Breakout. The Indian Motocycle Co has some great bikes — very reliable and powerful — but they just don’t have that feel of an outlaw bike. Being back on a Harley-Davidson is a great feeling.

owner of Indian Motorcycle

Cheers, JD. Nom: Veterans MC, South Coast NSW.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button