#Challenger

Fresh off of winning the 2022 MotoAmerica King of the Baggers championship, Indian has gone and done it – Indian is offering a super-exclusive opportunity to actually buy yourself a Challenger RR. This is an exact replica of the bike Tyler O’hara used to win the KotB championship. Yes, an exact replica. Meaning if you had the skill that Tyler has, you could go and win bagger races with it. This is a full-on, non street legal, racing machine that just happens to look like an Indian Challenger (well, loosely…).

Indian Motorcycle is preparing to give the Pursuit the Elite treatment, adding a new limited edition version of the PowerPlus-engined tourer for 2023. The Indian Pursuit Elite will join the Challenger Elite and the Chieftain Elite in getting custom paint schemes and finishes and select upgrades.

You know who you are: You love the Indian Challenger, but it just quite isn’t enough for you. You want something super exclusive. Well, Indian’s got good news for you. Today, Indian unveiled the 2023 Challenger Elite. The name alone should tell you it’s something special, but as usual, it’s all in the details.

Indian announced new colors and other updates to the cruiser, bagger and touring models returning for 2022.

Indian Motorcycle is preparing to launch a new touring model for 2022 powered by the same liquid-cooled PowerPlus engine introduced on the Challenger. The new model will be called the Pursuit and will be offered in Limited and Dark Horse variants, with an optional Premium Package.

There was a lot of racket in the cruiser/bagger world this year, and this thing could’ve gone several ways. But we like a little performance with our cruisers, and it was Triumph’s audacious Rocket 3 that blasted off to the win. The previous version was a hoot to ride, but the new one’s less like the world’s biggest-engined production motorcycle, and more like the world’s biggest Speed Triple. It likes to party. From the 2294 cubic centimeters of the original Rocket 3, to 2458 cc, now there are three 4.3-inch pistons producing a claimed 163 ft-lbs of torque and 167 horses at 6000 rpm. More to the point is the additional lightness; Triumph says the new Rocket’s 88 pounds lighter than the outgoing model, at just 642 pounds (claimed dry weight). It definitely looks way more svelte than the old bike; the new seamless gas tank doesn’t hurt in the looks department. Neither do the brushed alloy intake and hydroformed exhaust header balancing the left and right sides of that big engine, totally reminiscent of a Supermarine Spitfire.

Indian announced it initial batch of 2021 models including its touring, bagger and Scout models. Along with new color options for several motorcycles, the 2021 model year includes a new Roadmaster Limited, a new Vintage Dark Horse and a restyled Roadmaster Dark Horse. Not included in the announcement were the FTR 1200 and the Chief cruiser, but we expect further news from Indian in the weeks ahead.

When we think of baggers, we think V-Twin engines. Yes, there are some exceptions, the BMW K1600B and the Moto Guzzi MGX-21 (with its unusual transverse V-Twin) come to mind, but aside from those outliers, baggers from all manufacturers are solidly in V-Twin land. However, with the chassis, a couple of choices exist. Do you want a fork-mounted or frame-mounted fairing? In the frame-mounted category, there is one, big-daddy model that dominates the class, the Harley-Davidson Road Glide. For 2020, the grizzled veteran has been called out by a young gun that wants to prove its mettle. The Indian Challenger clearly has its sights on the Road Glide. In a classic battle reminiscent of the Old West, these two gunslingers have stepped onto the street, and the outcome will be determined on Route 66.

What exactly the hell is the meaning of this, letting a 30-year old kid be the Powertrain Project Engineer for an all-new bagger? What could a callow youth who roadraces a 15-year old GSX-R600 and rides a Tuono on the street, possibly know about the bagger mentality? When they’re not tearing around on sportbikes (and Indians!) because the snow’s too deep up in Minnesota, that 30-year old engineer (who only spoke to us on condition of anonymity) and Product Director Josh Katt are plotting mostly legal routes to get to work on Polaris snowmobiles. If that’s not heretical enough, Indian put a Swedish guy who designed BMW motorcycles for 15 years in charge of design – Ola Stenegard.

A video teasing a new 2020 Indian Challenger and its liquid-cooled engine has leaked out of this past weekend’s Indian dealer meeting. The 42-second video was uploaded to Facebook by a dealer (which will likely receive a panicked call from Polaris any minute now) and offers look at the engine and how it sounds.

(UPDATE: After we published this article, we discovered evidence that further verifies our reporting and provides additional information about Indian’s upcoming new models).

Indian Motorcycle has been on a bit of a trademarking spree of late, registering a number of potential new model names since December. The latest trademark, filed last week with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the European Union Intellectual Property Office, is for the name “Indian Challenger.”