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2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus and Sport Chief RT Preview
With the Indian Chieftain PowerPlus (right) and the Challenger (left), Indian offers PowerPlus options for both a handlebar-mounted fairing and a frame-mounted fairing on its PowerPlus touring platforms.
Indian Motorcycle is coming out swinging in 2025, with a combination punch of a new hi-po Chieftain PowerPlus performance bagger and a saddlebag-equipped Sport Chief RT. Respectively, they’ll do battle with Harley-Davidson’s popular Street Glide and Low Rider ST.
“We’re evolving the brand forward,” said Ben Lindaman, product director at Indian, who noted three pillars for this platform: style, performance, and technology. On the tech side of things, Indian is offering a new Rider-Assist package that uses radar to warn riders of vehicles in blind spots and potential danger from tailgaters.
2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus
Indian’s Chieftain platform uses a fork-mounted fairing like the successful Street Glide. For 2025, it gets cross-bred with Indian’s Challenger platform and its potent liquid-cooled V-Twin.
In simplest terms, the Chieftain PowerPlus is a Challenger with a fork-mounted fairing styled similar to the former Chieftain, which dramatically reduces the bike’s visual weight relative to the bulkier Challenger. The chassis is underpinned by its sibling’s cast-aluminum frame and suspension, and they both share the same $26,499 starting price.
The Indian Chieftain PowerPlus in its base form retails for $26,499. Indian says the design took inspiration from American muscle cars.
Also the same is the Challenger’s premium running gear, including a fully adjustable inverted fork and 4-piston radial-mount Brembo brakes with 320mm discs. The adjustable Fox monoshock provides a generous 4.5 inches of travel. Indian lists “as shipped” weights starting at 797 lb.
The PowerPlus, Indian’s most powerful motor, will be available in a new 112ci displacement alongside the existing 108ci mill. The 112ci PowerPlus is, not coincidentally, the same displacement as used in Indian’s King Of The Baggers racebikes to win the 2022 and 2024 championships. It’s the tried-and-true “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” strategy.
While big-inch air-cooled engines have powerbands that taper off early, the liquid-cooled PowerPlus has a flatter torque curve across its rev range and a higher rev limit.
With its overhead cams and 4 valves per cylinder, the PowerPlus 108 is claimed to produce 122 hp and 128 lb-ft of torque at 3,800 revs. Hogging out the bore from 108mm to 110mm yielded 112ci (1,834cc), bumping output to 126 ponies and 133 lb-ft of torque at a slightly lower 3,600 rpm. There were no other internal changes to the motor, just different tuning calibrations. The 112 is an option for Dark Horse and Limited Chieftains and Challengers that vaults prices to $30,499.
For greater touring abilities and more weather protection, consider upgrading to the Roadmaster PowerPlus, which is a Chieftain equipped with a trunk and side fairing panels to provide 35 gallons of storage. It’s a similar play to how the Challenger is related to the Pursuit.
The new Roadmaster PowerPlus is an analog to Indian’s Pursuit but with the Chieftain’s fork-mounted fairing.
Both the Roadmaster and the Pursuit are fitted with electronically adjustable rear preload, which allows riders to adjust settings to accommodate various loads via the 7-inch instruments display. The Roadmaster PowerPlus has the same $31,999 starting price as the Pursuit.
The Roadmaster provides extra comfort and amenities for two-up travel, with prices starting at $31,999.
For 2025, the PowerPlus lineup features the debut of a new Rider-Assist package of innovative technology to enhance rider awareness and safety. It includes a radar-based system to warn about vehicles in blind spots, a tailgater alert, and a rear-end collision warning that automatically flashes taillights to warn following drivers who might be in danger of colliding with the motorcycle.
The Rider-Assist package comes standard on bikes with the PowerPlus 112 engine, and it also includes new hill-hold control and a combined braking system. These systems supplement the platform’s existing SmartLean Technology and its lean-sensitive traction control and cornering ABS.
Indian’s Rider-Assist package incorporates radar to notify riders when other vehicles are in their blind spots.
If you prefer the cleaner lines of Indian’s air-cooled Thunderstroke engines, you can still find them in regular Chieftains and Roadmasters and the venerable Springfield, and also in the Chief platform.
2025 Indian Sport Chief RT
The Sport Chief RT adds another flavor to the performance-cruiser category, with prices starting at $22,499.
Indian is going head-to-head with Harley-Davidson in the battle of club-style performance cruisers. Harley’s Low Rider S kicked off this genre, most recently with a small wind deflector above its headlight. Indian countered in 2023 with its Sport Chief, which employed a quarter-fairing and a diminutive windscreen.
Shortly after, Harley brought the Low Rider ST, with a more substantial fairing and the addition of hardshell saddlebags. The LRST’s hip style and its versatility for taking road trips made it the most popular Harley that didn’t have “Glide” in its name.
Indian was unapologetic when it unveiled the Sport Chief RT, admitting that this latest creation was driven by the success of Harley’s LRST. The addition of hardshell bags makes comparisons inevitable.
Visually, the Sport Chief looks better balanced by the addition of saddlebags.
The RT’s bags appear to be wider than the Harley’s narrow bags but also much shorter front to back. Indian claims “10-plus” gallons of capacity, while Harley says its bags combine for 14.2. Indian touts the top-opening lids of its bags as an advantage over LRST’s design that opens from the side. Neither design offers a quick-detach function.
Also setting the RT apart from regular Sport Chiefs is the addition of an audio system tucked behind the fairing. The 90-watt Bluetooth PowerBand unit feeds pairs of tweeters and 2.5-inch midrange speakers, backed up by a 4.5-inch subwoofer.
Here’s a glimpse of the RT’s audio system tucked neatly away in front of the machined risers and triple clamps.
It’s controlled by the 4-inch touchscreen instrument panel and features a five-band equalizer to balance out tones while rolling down the road. The RT also gets a bolstered two-up seat, forward foot controls, and color-matching side panels to complete the package.
Most everything else is standard Sport Chief: a 43mm KYB inverted fork, fully adjustable Fox piggyback shocks, and dual Brembo 4-piston calipers with 320mm rotors up front. Also carried over are the fairing, machined 6-inch risers and triple clamps, cruise control, and keyless ignition.
The Sport Chief RT is available in three colorways: Sunset Red Smoke, Black Smoke, and Heavy Metal.
Like in all Chiefs, Indian’s Thunderstroke motor provides the Sport Chief’s heartbeat, here in its burlier 116ci form. It’s claimed to produce 120 lb-ft of torque at 2,900 rpm, a nice boost over the Thunderstroke 111’s 108 lb-ft at 3,200 rpm. Indian’s 116 proved to be nearly the equal to the Low Rider’s 117ci Milwaukee-Eight when we tested them back-to-back.
There’s still life in the beautiful air-cooled Thunderstroke engine powering the Sport Chief RT.
Price-conscious shoppers who like the Sport Chief can take solace in Indian’s MSRP advantage. The Sport Chief RT in its Black Smoke colorway can be had for $22,499, rising to $22,999 in Heavy Metal or Sunset Red Smoke. The 2024 Harley Low Rider ST had a $23,399 starting price, but the audio kit designed for the bike was a $1,149.95 accessory.
Fully adjustable Fox shocks are part of the Sport Chief package.
The Harley vs. Indian war rages on in this battle of style, performance, and versatility. There are no poor choices for performance cruisers in this era.
Check out the new Indians when they hit dealers near the end of February. Find out more at the Indian Motorcycle website.
Check out more new bikes in Rider’s 2025 Motorcycle Buyers Guide
The post 2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus and Sport Chief RT Preview appeared first on Rider Magazine.
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