[Chieftan1400]

I'll continue to harp on this until it gets some attention: You CANNOT see the MFD during daytime operations, except during precise lighting conditions. The MFD is necessary to track tire pressure, mileage, radio and navigation functions and many other system settings. It is a safety hazard when I'm trying to see the display instead of paying attention to my driving. If I'm wearing sunglasses, I have to lift them off my head and lean into the MFD before I can see any of the information. It might as well not be there. I'd be willing to pay a reasonable price to upgrade to a "transflective" or color screen that can bee seen in sunlight. THIS IS NOT JUST A CONVENIENCE ISSUE...IT'S A SAFETY ISSUE!!!!

Also, you really can't call the Chieftain a "touring" bike without a trunk. I just finished a 4-day to the Laughlin River Run and didn't have enough room in the bags to carry what I needed, and NO PLACE to store the helmets.

Other than these two "beefs," I absolutely LOVE my Chieftain. It rides like a high-end, well tuned sports car.

 

[Volkmeister]

I agree with you. The red MFD would have been apparent during vehicle development and no one said "hey, I can't see the damn thing in daylight"? What's with that?

A trunk option should have been developed along with the bike itself for the reasons you stated. Also, I bought my bike in October of 2013 and ordered all the accessories then. They have been coming in dribs & drabs and I still don't have a luggage rack for the passenger backrest - seven months later! I can't mount my leather bag on the bike unless I leave the wife home and use her seat. I hope Indian got rid of the logistics genius who oversaw all this. Couldn't they anticipate anything beyond a $500 messenger bag (there's plenty of those sitting around in the dealers)?

I still love the bike and think it's great, luggage rack or not.

 

[Dan_Frisbie]

I think that this is going to be a problem with any color or style display used. I have the same problem with my Saturn Sky when the top is down.
The only option (I think) would be to fill the instrument panel with individual gauges which would be awful.

 

[Indy]

I don't have as much trouble with seeing my dash, I know I hit whatever button to brighten it up and it helped. Must have been the mode m button, I did it so long ago I can't remember exactly how I did it.Well I pulled out my maual and on page 47 it instructs you how to do it. On the subjet of topbox my bike had a corbin dealer installed when I bought it, not cheap about 2k not the largest either, I can get a full faced helmet in it with some other stuff, notice I said ONE helmet. If your wearing 3/4 you could porbably get two in it. I like my chieftain, but my girlfriend LOVES it. Nuff said. I hope this helps.

 

[SunRider]

Can't remember if this has been posted already, but Corbin makes one. My area Indian dealer sells them. Price tag is hefty (about $2k). It seemed very well put together. A full-face helmet would take up about 2/3 of the space.




Corbin Motorcycle Seats & Accessories | Indian Chief | 800-538-7035

 

[Birddoggie]

Agree on MFD visual. Difficult to see during daylight hours but OK at night. I don't particularly care for that Corbin trunk. Saw them in Cave Creek at the Arizona Bike Week this past April. Too small. Need one the size of the Electra Glide (My bad...) No bueno for me...

 

[AFChief]

Ditto here...MFD sucks. For a bike of this caliber is is preposterous not to be able to readily read the instruments without having to squint, hold your hand over panel to shade, lift glasses, etc. Also, wouldn't have hurt to put lights in the switches. I know what switch is where but still find myself hunting at night. ...and of course the windshield rattle at low speeds

 

[skistoy]

Week long trip to Laconia with wife. I agree I'm waiting to see when Indian comes out with a truck, but we were able to make this work. Mess with the display adjustment, I only find a few times that I cant see it that good. But see good most of the times. As far a helmets, they usually just sit on the bike to keep the sun off the seat while out riding. Otherwise we bring them back into the hotel if done riding for the day

 

[scparmy]

You hit on something. When going through the dashboard options while riding, I noticed a screen for tire pressure. I was cruising down the road and noted no tire pressure. Anyone know why there would be no tire pressure readings? Also, hate to sound like an ID10T, but what is MFD? multi-functional display? That is an Army swag..

 

[kirkbrews]

You need to have thedealer reactivate the tire pressure monitoring system.

 

[danos]

Yes that is what MFD stands for. The tire pressure screen is supposed to display the tire pressures from a signal sent by the sensor in each tire. The tire needs to be turning for a little time before it can register. If it never displays, either it needs to be calibrated by the dealer, or the batteries on the sender in the tire are needing replacement. There is a setup menu you can access, but a word of advice is to leave it alone or it will definitely need to go back to the dealer for calibration.)