Polaris is trying to market there new bike line as if Indian had never went out of business.
A victory a Indian a Polaris. Just 2 different bikes from one company, Polaris.

 

I too dislike how they, (Polaris) imply Indian 1901- uninterrupted on.
When I first read the comparison linked in the Indian mega thread, I wondered why it wasn't the Road King vs. the Vintage.

When they mentioned the dragging floorboards, I thought of the floorboard extenders that move the floorboards up and further forward people have bought on this forum.

I like the full fenders. They look like the old Chiefs from the 50s.
If I get an Indian, it would be the Vintage. The bags hide most of the ugly body area rear of the seat.

I'm waiting for them to increase the fuel tank to 6 gallons to cover some of the barren landscape the out of proportion small tank leaves in front of the tank and steering neck.

A side view to me has the 5 gallon stock tank looking anemic with the mass of the body panels and full valance fenders.

 

Probably because they felt the Heritage and the Vintage looked most similar with the leather saddlebags. A comparison with the Road King would have just resulted in an even greater disparity between the engine power since the RK weighs about the same as the Vintage. The braking would have been similar though. The 90 pound weight advantage of the Heritage, which is what makes it nimbler, would have been gone.

 

Thanks for the history lesson. Interesting.

 

"So much so, that Walter Davidson (himself) GAVE my
grandfather a BRAND NEW motorcycle. Not sure of the details, but whatever
was similar to the police issue was at the time. I am not sure of the timeframe. I think it might have been a 61 cubic inch Panhead."

So is that bike still in your family somewhere?

 

I like the look of the Vintage, but as stated above....let's see where they are at in 5-10 yrs.

For now, I still want a Heritage.

 

Nope. My dad had it for a short time, but he was a long line truck driver, so no time.
One story he had was the bike was blue. My grandfather had it painted black & white so he'd still look like a cop.

This picture of my grandfather was taken in the mid-40's.
K'nucks were the bike of that era.
I'm sure this one had a Sifton Cam.
He and Tom Sifton were very close friends.

 

I rode one yesterday (a Vintage) and did my comparison on the Mega Indian thread.

 

Good article. I like the Indian Vintage. Only thing holding Indian back is a limited dealer base.

 

HD has done little to change the basic profile of their bikes for years with the exception of the V-Rod and Buells. I guess you could argue the addition of the radiators on the 2014 touring line. You can generally look at the shape of a MC from a distance and tell it's a Harley. Indian has used the iconic skirted fenders to differentiate their bike from the others with similar lines. It's like the throwback Mustang, Challenger and Camaros. You see the profiles and know what car it is based on the shape. Eliminating the fender skirts would make it look like just another bike. Some guys hate em, some think their beautiful.

As far as the comparison - The Road King uses a traditional swing arm and a shock on each side. The Indian suspension is a single shock, more like the Softail than the RK, they are more apples to apples than apples to oranges (RK). Seems to me the Hertiage is the more appropriate bike to compare with the Indian.

Spec sheet says the tank it 5.5 gallons - a 6 gallon would look better? Really ? How would you be able to tell the difference if it was .5 gallon larger ?

The dyno numbers were not in the same league. The thunderstroke thumped the 103. sure it's a little bigger but not enough for the difference to be 20 foot pounds @ 2000 rpm

Who really read the article or look at the specs of either of the bikes ?