With Victory-inspired lines, and a potent PowerPlus V-Twin heart, Indian's latest Challenger stays true to the American-style performance bagger

Indian Motorcycle buffed up its base-model Challenger heavy-duty touring platform with the trinity of improvements: performance, safety, and comfort. It retains all the standard features associated with earlier models to keep this sled competitive within its bracket.

The powerful PowerPlus V-Twin engine with ample horsepower, torque, and modern electronics make for a lively ride, keeping true to the classic American-style performance bagger. Race-spec Brembo brakes offer excellent stopping power with standard-equipped ABS top off the available safety features.

Touring features on the Indian Challenger include a premium infotainment system with 100-Watt speakers with a dynamic equalizer that delivers crystal-clear audio, Selectable Ride Modes, cruise control, and a push-button-adjustable windscreen. Passenger amenities and lockable panniers make traveling with a friend an enjoyable journey.

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Indian Motorcycle can build a pretty engine – the Thunder Stroke plant proves that – but the Challenger's PowerPlus liquid-cooled 108 CI engine shows more of an emphasis on performance and stamina. Offering up proper American V-Twin performance, the Challenger produces 122 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque. That's a lot of grunt, even considering the Challenger's 796-pound dry weight. It tops out at a relatively low 3,800 rpm, so you can count on solid bottom-end performance as you blast through the gears.

New for this year is a slipper-type clutch that adds a layer of mechanical safety by limiting the backtorque before it makes it up to the engine. This delivers a lighter pull than you get with a standard clutch, with a broader friction zone to boot. This eases the burden your left hand will feel during a ride.

Power flows through a six-speed transmission, then a belt-and-pulley final drive for a Challenger top speed of 125 mph. As for electronics, the Challenger carries keyless ignition and Indian motorcycle's Selectable Ride Modes that allow for quick changes to the engine's personality, so you can tune it for the prevailing conditions.

Closed-loop Fuel Injection, 52 mm Dual Bore

Split Dual Exhaust With Resonator

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Indian Motorcycle kept faithful to the classic American-style bagger build preferred on our side of the pond while instilling its own historical Easter eggs throughout. It starts with the full-length front fender like the old bikes, but with cut-down sides for a connection to the custom culture. Of course, the Challenger runs that classic war-bonnet fender ornament that has decorated Indian fenders for around a century at this point.

The fixed, frame-mount aggressive fairing design carries the new cyclops LED headlight and recessed turn signals with a pushbutton-adjustable windscreen up top to give you more control with enhanced wind protection. Additionally, the broad fairing comes with adjustable air vents, so you have even more control over the airflow with low head-buffeting turbulence at the top of the pocket. Out back, we find more LED lighting in both the taillight and blinkers for effective visibility with the rest of the world.

Dual analog gauges ride just behind the glass. All the infotainment goodies fall under the control of the seven-inch, 7-inch color touchscreen display. A six-gallon fuel tank gives the Challenger plenty of legs to boost its touring capacity. The seat offers a riding style that is comfortable and confidence-inspiring at only 26.5 inches off the deck. If you spring for the heated seats, or heated and cooled seats, they come with new switches that make it easier to adjust underway, even when wearing gloves.

Passenger amenities come stock, so you can ride two-up right off the showroom floor. The bags provide lockable weatherproof storage for all sorts of uses to make the Challenger a viable commuter and grocery-getter sled.

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The beefy frame rides on inverted, 43 mm blackout forks that turn out a plush 5.1 inches of travel for enhanced comfort, but with no adjustments. Out back, a single Fox rear shock rocks a spring-preload adjuster and 4.5 inches of travel, so at least you can dial in for changes in passenger/cargo weight. The cast-alloy wheels come shot in black. They mount Metzeler Cruisetec hoops in a 130/60-19 and 180/60-16 front and rear respectively offer supreme traction.

Dual, 320 mm front discs and four-bore calipers do most of the work, while the 298 mm rear disc and its twin-pot anchor are there mainly to keep your rear end behind you. ABS comes with the stock equipment package for an extra layer of protection. Rake and trail measure 25 degrees and 5.4 inches long over a 65.7-inch wheelbase. This makes for a touring motorcycle that has a nice balance between stability and agility and helps it track on the superslab.

43 mm Inverted Telescopic Cartridge Fork/ 5.1 in

Fox Single Shock w/Hyd Adjust/ 4.5 in

Dual 320 mm Semi-Floating Rotor, 4-Piston Radial Caliper

298 mm Floating Rotor, 2-Piston Caliper

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The 2023 Indian Challenger costs $24,299. That's for the Black Metallic finish. If you fancy the slightly off-black Titanium Smoke, you can expect to shell out another $950.

7-Inch TFT Display, LED Lighting, 100-Watt Audio System

Thunder Black, Titanium Metallic Smoke

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As predictable as it may be, there is simply no company in more direct competition with Indian than its longtime foe, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, and its Road Glide. Like the Challenger, the 2023 Harley-Davidson Road Glide pushes a fixed streamlined fairing but boosts forward lighting with a second Daymaker LED Headlight feature.

The Road Glide has the potential to be significantly more tech-advanced than its counterpart, even though ABS is a $950 option. For $1,100 bucks you can add the entire Reflex Defensive Rider System that brings all the top-shelf goodies to the table. Remember this when you consider the $21,999 starting price on the Road Glide.

Torque is fairly close with H-D's Milwaukee-Eight 107 pulling up the rear with its 111 pounds o' grunt. The rest of the build is pretty even, right down to the infotainment fandanglery, and is certainly one of the best American motorcycles to buy in 2023.

“H-D takes the top slot, but honorable mention goes to the Honda Gold Wing for its performance, handling, and price. That said, the Challenger and its PowerPlus engine is an interesting model as the factory had been content until recently to use its Thunder Stroke engine in all its 'big' bikes.”

“The engine is also a name from history. The Hendee Manufacturing Company used it for a model between 1916 and 1924. There's your trivia for the day.”

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “ This new look suggests that the Victory designers didn't all go to the unemployment line. When Polaris – Indian and Victory's parent company – closed down the Victory line, that design influence is showing up in the new styling of Indian motorcycles.”

“The swoop of the top line and the stretched bags on the Challenger put me in mind of the old Victory Hard Ball, but with a shark-nose fairing. The frame-mounted fairing makes it more stable in the wind, and the impressive performance of the PowerPlus engine promises a fun ride.”

The hard bags and lack of top case unite the Chieftain and Challenger under the Bagger banner, but other than that, they are different bikes. A classic, batwing-esque fairing is mounted to the Chieftain front end, so it turns with the forks. The Challenger's fairing is frame mounted. The Challenger touches on the custom culture with generous blackout treatment as opposed to ample chrome bling on the Chieftain. Probably the most important difference is in the engine. The Challenger runs a 1,768 cc liquid-cooled PowerPlus engine that claims 122 horsepower with 128 pound-feet of torque. The Chieftain's 1,811 cc air-cooled Thunder Stroke engine produces 74 ponies and 108 pounds of torque to cede the performance advantage to the Challenger.

The 1,811 cc PowerPlus engine in the Indian Challenger produces 122 horsepower and 128 pound-feet of torque.

Top speed of the Indian Challenger is governed at 125 MPH. Zero-to-60 time is 4.1 seconds with a 12.7-second quarter mile.

In 2022, MSRP for the Indian Challenger is $23,999 for the Black Metallic model. For Titanium Smoke, the price bumps up to $24,749.

TJ got an early start from his father and other family members who owned and rode motorcycles, and by helping with various mechanical repairs throughout childhood. That planted a seed that grew into a well-rounded appreciation of all things mechanical, and eventually, into a formal education of same. Though primarily a Harley rider, he has an appreciation for all sorts of bikes and doesn’t discriminate against any particular brand or region of origin. He currently holds an Associate’s degree in applied mechanical science from his time at the M.M.I.