2015 Indian Roadmaster

Ignition

HONDA CBR650F -> KAWASAKI KX450F -> POLARIS SLINGSHOT -> VICTORY MAGNUM

THE RIDE STARTS HERE

2015 INDIAN ROADMASTER

CW FIRST RIDE

MASTER THE ROAD: New "Horizon" electric windscreen raised fullytowardolfa Midwestern rainstorm.

BYTHE NUMBERS

200

WATTS: Power produced by the Indian's Pandora-ready, four-speaker stereo system

70%

E CE M Sa es d :ross o aris geierated by products leveloped in the st three iears

To answer the question: Where is the top trunk?

Mark Hoyer

American-style touring usually asks for one thing: a relaxed state of mind. Or perhaps that's what it's meant to induce.

Winding down roads in the hilly country around the Mississippi River south of Minneapolis and Red Wing (home of the world's largest boot), I contemplated that chicken-or-egg question regarding my state of mind. Did I bring this state of relaxation to the bike, or had the bike brought it to me?

Didn’t really matter. I was comfortably ensconced in the leather saddle of the new 2015 Indian Roadmaster, whose seat is a half-inch higher than the Chieftain’s thanks to thicker foam and pleated top. As such, this 6-foot-2 big American tourer fits a bit better on this big American touring bike. We were hardly setting distance records on our first ride, with essentially two long half days in the saddle, but it was a good initial taste of a bike based on a platform we already know well.

The Roadmaster is essentially a fully decked-out Chieftain. In fact, it’s more accurate to say the Chieftain bagger is a stripped Roadmaster. “This bike was developed before the Chieftain,” said Gary Gray, Indian’s director of product, with Polaris 20 years and part of the engineering team that launched Victory 16 years ago. “We learned with the Victory V92C that starting with a cruiser and adding things to make it a touring bike doesn’t work as well as developing the touring bike and taking things off.”

The base mechanical package is unchanged, from the 76.5-hp/io6 pound-foot, nici 49-degree V-twin to the excellent six-speed transmission to the aluminum frame and all the way down to the suspension calibration. That’s a good thing. Ride comfort, power, and handling (with great cornering clearance) remain top of class.

ALL ABOUT BALANCE

The rear cylinder on a V-twin like this is bound to be hotter than the front, thanks to being shrouded from cooling air. Indian noted this on its cruisers and implemented a new airbox design that incorporates ducting to direct cool air to the rear cylinder, reducing its temperature and restoring front-to-rear heat balance, no doubt also helping keep the rider more comfortable at the same time. The airbox change applies to all 2015 Indians.

The focus on the Roadmaster was increased comfort and better function for longer riding days. To that end, wind protection is increased. The electrically adjustable screen functions as on the Chieftain, but the top edge is flatter (reducing height by 3/4 inch) and wider at the corners, allowing better line of sight over the screen when lowered and better protection for rider and passenger. Fairing lowers (with small integrated glove boxes) feature movable upper and lower wind deflectors that work very well. These were wind-tunnel developed down in NASCAR country, and Fm sure it wasn’t raining in the tunnel, but moving the deflectors to the “protect” position when we got our vigorous spat of rain showed they worked great, diverting water and making the cockpit serene and dry. And the io-position heated grips and high/low heated seat were much appreciated as the temperature began to drop.

Other niceties? Wicked-bright Pathfinder LED multi-reflector headlight, remote locks for all three bags, tire-pressure monitors, keyless ignition, and this year there is more audio information on the display presented in a larger font. I hooked up two iPhones and a Scala Rider Q3 headset and could control music via the switch pod and dash pretty easily while rocking out on my helmet speakers or the bike speakers. The Roadmaster’s stereo is plenty loud, but 80-mph winds rob the subtlety of music on any bike’s system.

And there’s the top trunk. It eats two full-face helmets easily. Nice touch? Push the latch button then lift the lid—no need to hold the button. This makes one-handed operation easy. The trunk also can be removed without tools in about a minute, and it’s retrofittable (as are all Roadmaster-specific parts) to the Chieftain. All totaled, the Roadmaster offers 37.6 gallons of storage, which I find easier to visualize when I think of that many milk jugs. Load it up: GVWR is 1,385 pounds, so you can carry 457 pounds with a full load of fuel.

A black Roadmaster costs $26,999. Red models start at $27,599, and those wearing twotone paint (available on other models in 2015) run $28,199.

I’m still not 100 percent sure if it was the Roadmaster that caused this relaxed state of mind or if I brought it with me to this beautiful part of the country. But I’d be willing to keep on riding to try and find out.

2015 INDIANROADMASTER

ENGINE TYPE

air-/oil-cooled 49-degree V-twin

DISPLACEMENT

1811cc

SEAT HEIGHT

26.5 in.

FULL CAPACITY

5.5 gal.

CLAIMED DRY WEIGHT

887 lb.

PRICE

$26,999