They are identical bikes. The difference is ones a bagger and the other is touring. Touring = hard lowers tour pack heated seats grips standard. The bagger is more stripped down

 

I realize there is an official 'Bagger' label, but I also consider the Chieftain or Challenger to be a 'light' touring bike, as compared to the extra storage capacity of a full touring bike. You can still ride longer distances with decent storage capabilities for a 2–4 day trip. Still has a fairing, radio, navigation, etc like a full touring bike.

 

As Baron said the RM is the fully dressed version of the Chieftan and the Pursuit is the fully dressed version of the Challenger. If you take a Challenger and dress it up separately to the same level as a Pursuit it would have cost more than just buying the Pursuit. But you have to ask yourself if you want all those extras on the fully dressed version. Me, I preferred the Pursuit because I liked the lowers as well as the trunk.
Does Harley do it? I am not positive but I believe they have discontinued the RoadGlides with the trunk so you would have to buy the base and then build it up separately. Best to check their website to be sure.

 

As Baron said the RM is the fully dressed version of the Chieftan and the Pursuit is the fully dressed version of the Challenger. If you take a Challenger and dress it up separately to the same level as a Pursuit it would have cost more than just buying the Pursuit. But you have to ask yourself if you want all those extras on the fully dressed version. Me, I preferred the Pursuit because I liked the lowers as well as the trunk.
Does Harley do it? I am not positive but I believe they have discontinued the RoadMaster with the trunk so you would have to buy the base and then build it up separately. Best to check their website to be sure.

Wait, the Roadmasters won't have the trunk anymore?

 

All the heavyweight Air Cooled bike were built on basically the same bones … starting with the chief classic … then the Vintage… a Classic with leather bags … the Springfield … hard bags … Chieftain… hard bags, a fairing and RC… the Roadmaster Add a trunk, lowers, heated seat, grips and RC …

If you had money to burn you could turn a classic into a Roadmaster …

The wiring harness on my ‘14 Vintage … has a trunk connector, hard bag lock connectors, heated seat connector and heated grip connector …

5 different (but similar) bikes on one frame …

 

Think of it like this:

A model for every purpose and lifestyle ! ! !

And you could do with Pontiac if you're not a Bow Tie Guy ! ! !

 

I'm just trying to figure out the difference in "lifestyle" between a Chieftain and a Roadmaster. They both seem like they're built for the same thing, touring, but the Roadmaster just has a lot more stuff. Same with the Challenger/Pursuit.

 

'66 Chevy. Nice
And I'm more of a Ford guy.

 

The real questions are:

1) Do you want a frame mounted fairing or a fork mounted fairing?
2) What can your wallet do?

My standard answer to these questions is "Buy the Roadmaster/Pursuit. If you remove the trunk and lowers, you have a Chieftain/Challenger."

 

Right, that's sort of the core of my question that I'm getting at is why would anyone who wants to tour choose the Chieftain/Challenger? It just seems like the Roadmaster/Pursuit is just objectively better in every way. I don't get it.

I have a Chieftain btw, but I'll admit it was mainly because I didn't do my research and was unaware that the Roadmaster of literally a Chieftain with more stuff.

Also Chieftain/Challenger sounds cool, so I guess there's that.

 

I am on my second Challenger limited model. Prior to that I owned two different Chieftain models. I did this because most all of the extra stuff that comes standard with both the Roadmaster and the Pursuit would just have ended up becoming garage ballast.

 

So you didn't want the trunk, heated seat, and heated grips? Like, you'd rather not have them on the bike at all?

 

Also there’s the gross misconception by some in the gen-x and millennial generations, that if you’re on a full dresser you’ve already got 1 foot in the grave lol. But @ 72 managed to hang with these 2 youngsters for 2300 miles, 4 days last month.
I made a Pursuit out of a ‘21 Challenger Dark Horse a year before the Pursuit existed. I’ve got $2K less invested in the ‘25 Pursuit 112 Dark Horse than the Challenger with the tour pack, audio package etc.. I know lots of guys with pizza boxless Street Glides, Road Kings, Chiefs, Chieftans, Challengers etc… that strap a chicken bar bag on and ride x-country. Chances are though they’re not packing a c-pap machine, BP monitor, pill bag, O2 bottle, cane etc…

 

The latter.

 

It all depends on your needs. If you are riding single, short trips, ( weekend overnights ), You need less storage space. If you're riding with a passenger ( Wife ), going on 7 to 15 day trips, you need more space. Cool mornings, ( under 50 degrees ), you and your passenger will appreciate the heated seat and the heated grips makes it more tolerable for the driver. My Wife and I have toured all over the northeast and as far south as North Carolina and Tennessee on Roadmasters. We had to add 2 soft bags strapped to the trunk rack to carry what was needed and still have space to store jackets and rain gear when the weather changed. We packed 3 days worth f clothes and did laundry at the hotels at the end of the riding day. What it all boils down to is, buy the bike that fits your wants, needs and riding requirements.

 

Definitely nothing to regret with that you have now. Personally I love a trunk and don't ever want a bike without it. The utility makes it worth it for me since I'm the weird guy that enjoys commuting on a 900 lb bike. Running the numbers over and over the Roadmaster/Pursuit is worth it just for the trunk and heated grips that I would add anyway. I'm still not sure if I can take lowers off the Pursuit and keep the fog lights though.

Trunk, lowers, rear passenger floorboards, heated seat, heated grips, electronic shock. Any combo of those things wanted would justify the price and even used the price difference isn't much more.

 

I'm still not sure if I can take lowers off the Pursuit and keep the fog lights though.

I'll leave it to the experts, but my guess would be no. I installed the lowers and the fog lights myself, they're actually mounted inside the lowers, so when the lowers come off, the fog lights will go with it. In addition, the wiring harness goes up through the lowers up into the fairing to get to the wiring harness.

Perhaps there's some way you could mount some other fog lights on the highway bars, and somehow wire them into the wiring harness?

 

If you tour two up you will definitely want the trunk. You can always take it off when your not traveling.

 

I may have missed something here, but all the comparisons between the Chieftain, Roadmaster, Challenger and Pursuit seem to deal with accessories, and not the engines! The Powerplus engine in the 2025 Roadmaster (think bat-wing fairing) is the same engine as the Challenger/Pursuit. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but the 2025 Roadmaster with the Powerplus engine is the same chassis/engine as the Challenger/Pursuit! Same bikes! One with a fixed fairing (my favorite...Challenger/Pursuit) the other with the Batwing fairing (Roadmaster Powerplus). Now there is also the Roadmaster with the Thunderstroke 116 engine.....air-cooled, old school, and a completely different chassis/engine than the powerplus series.Throw in the Chieftain, and you've got another Challenger/Pursuit clone, with a different name, and a sort of bat-wing fairing! So....basically 3 different named Indians, all with the same engine/chassis, just different trim and fairings. Brilliant of Indian to my mind....but maybe misunderstood by the public.

 

They introduced the PP engines into the Chieftain/Roadmaster bikes for 2025. Depending on how they sell, and how much more the EPA tightens emissions tolerances, the TS engines' days may be numbered. Judging by the looks of the fuel tank and frame, they swapped the frame mounted fairing to the fork mounted fairing on the Pursuit/Challenger, rather than trying to fit the PP engine into the frame originally designed for the TS.

 

One thing that really impresses me is the lowers on the pursuit. 50s and no chaps. Heated seat helps too. But blows me away the cost to add them. I would really run the numbers between add ons and buying stock when looking at bikes. I am sure the trunk isn't cheap either,

 

I have a 2025 Challenger Dark Horse 112. I ride SOLO so the electronic suspension not a big deal. I set the preload and one and done. If I am going on a long ride with the wife (who rides her own), I have a 58L GIVI trunk that matches the bike pretty close. I am in Texas, so lowers also don't matter to me.
It comes down to personal choice, where you are riding, when you ride, and if you ride solo or two up. I have run demos for Indian and can say my preference is the Challenger with the 112. And I came off a 2022 Street Glide ST.

 

I have a 2025 Challenger Dark Horse 112. I ride SOLO so the electronic suspension not a big deal. I set the preload and one and done. If I am going on a long ride with the wife (who rides her own), I have a 58L GIVI trunk that matches the bike pretty close. I am in Texas, so lowers also don't matter to me.
It comes down to personal choice, where you are riding, when you ride, and if you ride solo or two up. I have run demos for Indian and can say my preference is the Challenger with the 112. And I came off a 2022 Street Glide ST.

Precisely my view. I actually have mindset on number two, which would accommodate two riders. I ride solo with it on number two and it rides quite well. And it works well with the added weight of the low profile trunk. The lowers are actually very handy here in Arizona. It does get cold outside of the valley. And they allow the support of the fog lights, which are really more driving lights than anything.