2026 Indian Chief Vintage Motorcycle Review

To celebrate its 125th anniversary, revived historic US brand Indian has created this: a brand-new cruiser designed to celebrate the company’s past – and it’s probably its most striking and tempting bike so far.

Called the Chief Vintage, it’s inspired by the US brand’s most iconic bike, the 1940s Chief, and is based on the existing, proven, modern, air-cooled Chief but with a completely convincing 1940s re-style.

The result is the spitting image of the post-war legend yet with the peace of mind, quality, refinement and latest features only a modern bike brings – and all for a reasonable price.

We took a day’s ride on the new bike around Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, to see how it measures up…

It’s a new, retro-inspired V-twin cruiser based on Indian’s current, modern Chief model but with styling inspired by the classic 1940s version.

As such, it has the same air-cooled 1890cc ‘Thunderstroke’ V-twin and much of the same running gear as the modern Chief, but with a ‘dull’, raw-finished version of the engine, new 16-inch wire wheels, distinctive, deeply valanced fenders (including iconic ‘headdress’ light), signature, solo ‘floating’ seat and high ‘beach’ bars.

It’s beautifully done, too. The lack of chrome in favour of blacked-out cycle parts is just ‘right’; the wire wheels, fenders, solo seat and bars are essential, and the resulting overall look is compelling, authentic, gorgeous and individual.

The fact that it rides and performs OK is almost irrelevant, but the fact that Indian has also done it all for around £19K is impressive. No modern retro-inspired cruiser has a more authentic yet distinctive style.

The new Indian Chief Vintage has a starting price of £18,955 (or £19,135 including on-the-road costs), which is actually quite reasonable, especially when you realise its closest Harley rival, the Heritage Classic, is £24,295 (although that bike comes with a screen and panniers). 

As with all current Indians, the Chief Vintage is available now from Indian’s 19 UK-wide dealers. For full information, go to the Indian Motorcycles UK website.

At the Vintage’s heart is a reworked version of Indian’s 1890cc, air-cooled, ‘Thunderstroke’ pushrod V-twin with which the revived marque relaunched its big V-twin cruiser family in 2013.

Although that family of engines has now been replaced in Indian’s touring and bagger families by the more recent and powerful, liquid-cooled ‘Powerplus’ unit, it lives on in the cruiser Chief family. 

For this Vintage form it’s been refinished with ‘non-machined’ black cylinders and silver-painted heads and pushrod tubes to more closely resemble the look of the ‘40s Chief, and it really does look the part. 

Despite the tweaked cosmetics, the V-twin’s performance is unchanged. Indian don’t publish the peak power of the Chief but reckon on a Harley-competitive 80-90hp, while peak torque is a thumping, grunting 156Nm at a lowly 3300rpm. 

There are three switchable riding modes (Standard, Tour and Sport), a six-speed gearbox, and the final drive is by Harley-style belt, but on the right, not left. It’s all characterful, sufficient for this type of bike and familiar, if not quite as potent as the Harley equivalent. 

To some degree, the Vintage’s chassis is an exercise in style over substance, but overall, it does a more than adequate job. Its frame is an old-school tubular steel double cradle; front suspension is conventional 46mm telescopic forks but covered with metal shrouds for the vintage look, while the rear end employs twin shocks but cleverly ‘laid-down’ in-line with the rear subframe to give something of the 1940s ‘hardtail’ look. 

The wheels, meanwhile, are black-finished, 16-inch wires front and rear, each fitted with fat, high-profile Metzeler Cruisetec tyres to also help give that classic, 1940s ‘bobber’ look. 

It all works competently enough for a cruiser with an adequate ride and sufficiently nimble yet secure steering to have fun gently rolling through some B-road bends – but not a lot more. There’s no suspension adjustment available, and it’s also no way a sports bike, but for its chosen role, the Chief Vintage is fine.

As for its braking, due to styling requirements, it’s taken care of by a single 298mm disc with a four-piston caliper, supported by a matching two-piston version at the rear, all assisted by ABS. Again, it’s not exactly amazing, but for the style of bike the Vintage is, and the sedate riding owners are likely to do, it’s up to the job.

Retro bikes don’t routinely have that much in terms of equipment, and the Vintage, which commemorates a bike from the 1940s when even rear suspension was rare, is even less likely. 

That said, the Chief Vintage has a smart, multi-function, round, 4in TFT dash which, at least at a distance, is in keeping with the bike’s overall style. This is clear and easy to read, has a touchscreen capability which is handy, two custom screens, displays all the info you actually need, and is also Bluetooth compatible so that, via the app, it can deliver tunes, nav functions and more.

There are also three switchable riding modes. That, however, is pretty much your lot. There are no touring goodies; its cycle parts are pretty basic (but don’t need to be otherwise) and there’s not even a pillion seat. That said, I didn’t think the Vintage was particularly lacking anything, but the TFT dash, although OK, did jar a little.

As standard, the new Indian Chief Vintage comes in two plain colour options: classic Indian burgundy or black gloss.

A special, limited-edition version, the Chief Vintage Sturgis SD Edition, limited to just 125 bikes, with two-tone paint and special parts and costing £25,500, was also launched recently.

The new Indian Chief Vintage also comes with a manufacturer-backed warranty covering all parts and labour over a period of two years with unlimited mileage from first registration, which is a fairly standard offer.

However, extended options covering three, four, or even five years are available, along with a roadside assistance package at an extra cost if certain conditions are fulfilled. 

The best retros get the blend of historic style and modern engineering just ‘right’. Triumph’s T120 Bonneville recreates the look of the 1959 Bonnie but with modern engineering, features and quality. Kawasaki’s Z900RS does the same, but is inspired by the 1973 Z1, the Japanese firm’s most historic bike. And now you can add Indian’s new-for-2026 Chief Vintage to that shortlist – it really is that good.

If you like the look (which is everything) you’ll love the Vintage – but be aware that it’s only really a fun, short-distance, limited-practicality machine.

When it comes to retros, the choice and standard of bikes available continues to improve. If you want a British, 1960s-style roadster, Triumph’s T100 and T120 Bonnevilles are by far the best. If you instead fancy a Japanese, 1970s version, it has to be Kawasaki’s Z900RS.

And if you want a German, 1980s adventure-style retro, BMW’s recent R12G/S is a no-brainer. The Vintage is every bit as authentic, good, and enjoyable as those bikes to become the new best ‘retro 1940s style cruiser’. I’m just amazed they didn’t do it sooner.

Thanks to Indian Motorcycles UK for the loan of the press bike.