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I've had my Indian for a couple of days now (new member into here: Getting my Indian on Saturday (11/22) | Indian Motorcycle Forum). Here's some initial impressions and questions:
1) I can't believe how balanced and stable this bike is. I am coming from a Honda Shadow Aero that weighs almost half of this Indian, so I was a little worried about the handling of a bigger bike. No worries anymore. This thing handles like a dream. And so comfortable to ride. I feel like I've gone from a Ford Focus to a Rolls Royce or something.
2) The brakes are fantastic. I can't compare them to a Harley or other big bike, so they may not be as good as I am saying compared to other similar bikes, but coming from the Shadow, it's a huge difference. My Shadow has a single caliper front, and a drum in the rear. It stopped okay, but having the dual calipers in the front and the single caliper in the rear just feels so much smoother and responsive. Not to mention the ABS. I'm impressed.
3) The saddlebags aren't as big as I'd hoped. They are way bigger than the ones on my Shadow, but still not big enough to fit my laptop, so I still have to use another bag on the luggage rack or wear a backpack, which I was hoping to avoid. The Indian messenger bag looks big enough for my laptop, but at $499 there ain't no way I'm getting that thing. I have a Kuryakyn Tombstone bag that I used with my Shadow that slid over and secured to the sissybar seat pad and sat on the luggage rack. However, the sissybar seat pad on the Indian is like twice as big, and the bag attachment won't slide over it. Well, it sits on the luggage rack just fine, but I have to use bungies (bungys?) now to secure it. Plus, it's black, and the Indian is tan leather, so it doesn't match.
Anyone know of any leather (or at least tan) bags that secure to the sissybar seat pad and luggage rack?
4) My Shadow had a tank pouch that I kept my garage door opener in. Indian makes one (Redirecting), but $100 is a little steep for such a small thing. Anyone know of any other brands that might make something like this for way cheaper?
5) Engine (or something) ticking noise. When I did the demo ride at an event in Long Beach, CA, I noticed that the Vintage I was riding was making some pretty bad noise. Ticking? Clacking? Not sure what to call it. My Shadow never made such a sound, so it seemed like a problem to me. The Indian guy there didn't really have an answer, and I've read so many reviews and watched so many videos of these new Indians, and no one else has really mentioned it. But, now that I have one, I can say that I still hear it. It's nowhere near as bad as the demo unit, but it's still there. Does it go away or diminish after the 500 mile break in period and service? It is just a normal TS111 sound and I should just get used to it and not worry about it? Maybe it's not even the engine? Maybe it's the tranny? My Shadow has a shaft drive and the Indian has a belt drive, so maybe it's just a new sound I'm not used to hearing? I only hear it around 10 - 40 MPH. It's not there at idle, and it's not there at higher speeds.
6) 91 octane fuel? Was reading the manual last night (I needed to figure out how to set the clock) and I noticed it said I need to put in 91 octane fuel. Is that just a suggestion, or is that a requirement? Gas prices have come down significantly, but I'd still rather put in 87 or 89 or whatever if it isn't going to hurt anything.
7) No locking fuel cap? Really? This really surprised me. I mean, I know there are very few jerks in this world that are going to siphon your gas, or put water in it or something, but how hard would it have been to just put a lock on the cap? My Shadow even has that. Anyone know of any after market ones?
8) No lock on the bags? Really? I know the hard bags are lockable, but they really should have put something on the soft bags. I'm not even so worried about the lid itself (though that would have been nice), but there isn't even a way to lock on the inside removal mechanism. So, someone can just walk up and remove the bags and walk away. Again, I know there aren't many people in this world that are going to do that, but it would have been nice for there to be a way to secure these things since they are so expensive.
That's it for now I guess.
1) I can't believe how balanced and stable this bike is. I am coming from a Honda Shadow Aero that weighs almost half of this Indian, so I was a little worried about the handling of a bigger bike. No worries anymore. This thing handles like a dream. And so comfortable to ride. I feel like I've gone from a Ford Focus to a Rolls Royce or something.
2) The brakes are fantastic. I can't compare them to a Harley or other big bike, so they may not be as good as I am saying compared to other similar bikes, but coming from the Shadow, it's a huge difference. My Shadow has a single caliper front, and a drum in the rear. It stopped okay, but having the dual calipers in the front and the single caliper in the rear just feels so much smoother and responsive. Not to mention the ABS. I'm impressed.
3) The saddlebags aren't as big as I'd hoped. They are way bigger than the ones on my Shadow, but still not big enough to fit my laptop, so I still have to use another bag on the luggage rack or wear a backpack, which I was hoping to avoid. The Indian messenger bag looks big enough for my laptop, but at $499 there ain't no way I'm getting that thing. I have a Kuryakyn Tombstone bag that I used with my Shadow that slid over and secured to the sissybar seat pad and sat on the luggage rack. However, the sissybar seat pad on the Indian is like twice as big, and the bag attachment won't slide over it. Well, it sits on the luggage rack just fine, but I have to use bungies (bungys?) now to secure it. Plus, it's black, and the Indian is tan leather, so it doesn't match.
4) My Shadow had a tank pouch that I kept my garage door opener in. Indian makes one (Redirecting), but $100 is a little steep for such a small thing. Anyone know of any other brands that might make something like this for way cheaper?
5) Engine (or something) ticking noise. When I did the demo ride at an event in Long Beach, CA, I noticed that the Vintage I was riding was making some pretty bad noise. Ticking? Clacking? Not sure what to call it. My Shadow never made such a sound, so it seemed like a problem to me. The Indian guy there didn't really have an answer, and I've read so many reviews and watched so many videos of these new Indians, and no one else has really mentioned it. But, now that I have one, I can say that I still hear it. It's nowhere near as bad as the demo unit, but it's still there. Does it go away or diminish after the 500 mile break in period and service? It is just a normal TS111 sound and I should just get used to it and not worry about it? Maybe it's not even the engine? Maybe it's the tranny? My Shadow has a shaft drive and the Indian has a belt drive, so maybe it's just a new sound I'm not used to hearing? I only hear it around 10 - 40 MPH. It's not there at idle, and it's not there at higher speeds.
6) 91 octane fuel? Was reading the manual last night (I needed to figure out how to set the clock) and I noticed it said I need to put in 91 octane fuel. Is that just a suggestion, or is that a requirement? Gas prices have come down significantly, but I'd still rather put in 87 or 89 or whatever if it isn't going to hurt anything.
7) No locking fuel cap? Really? This really surprised me. I mean, I know there are very few jerks in this world that are going to siphon your gas, or put water in it or something, but how hard would it have been to just put a lock on the cap? My Shadow even has that. Anyone know of any after market ones?
8) No lock on the bags? Really? I know the hard bags are lockable, but they really should have put something on the soft bags. I'm not even so worried about the lid itself (though that would have been nice), but there isn't even a way to lock on the inside removal mechanism. So, someone can just walk up and remove the bags and walk away. Again, I know there aren't many people in this world that are going to do that, but it would have been nice for there to be a way to secure these things since they are so expensive.
That's it for now I guess.