The Most Affordable American Touring Bike Of 2025

When it comes to

American-style touring bikes
, the bagger subset serves as the tourbike-lite of the breed. For 2025, the least expensive model from an American manufacturer in that category is the

Chieftain
from Indian Motorcycle. It hits all the pertinent high points with rider protection, comfort items, and secure dry storage to lend it the requisite utility as a weekender,

commuter
, and errand-runner bike. Infotainment goodies come stock, along with some ride-control electronics and Indian’s Rear Cylinder Deactivation feature to give it a base level of tech sophistication.

Indian tucked in its Thunderstroke engine that brings old-school charm all its own with its dated design, but delivers the goods with plenty of torque on tap for your riding pleasure. All of this comes built on the heavy touring chassis while retaining excellent handling characteristics sure to provide a low-effort riding experience. That is just what you want for longer stints in the saddle. This bike beats its siblings on price, but it’s also significantly less expensive to start than its immediate competition from Harley-Davidson, making this the most affordable American touring bike this season.

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10 Things You Need To Know About The Indian Chieftain

The Chieftain is Indian’s top-of-the-range bagger and is an impressive piece of engineering

The Indian Chieftain Offers A Modern Classic With Vintage Appeal At A Strong Price

Price: $23,999

The engine in the

Chieftain
is a real gem. Indian introduced its Thunderstroke engine long enough ago that the factory has ironed out most of the wrinkles by now. It’s a classic American-style V-twin engine that’s mostly covered in blackout paint, save for the polished cooling fin edges that highlight the jugs along with their geometry. Indian goes to the Nth degree to make this engine look like an antique with faux cooling fins cast into the rocker box covers.

Parallel exposed pushrod tubes further emulate the old flathead engines from back in the day. A slipper-style clutch couples the torquey performance to the six-speed transmission for a measure of backtorque mitigation. A trio of Ride Modes – Sport, Standard, and Tour – lends the mill some flexibility in its power delivery profile that lets you dial in for conditions and preferences. All that for sub-$25,000 is impeccable value.

2025 Indian Chieftain Engine And Performance Specifications

Indian’s Precision Frame & Suspension: Strength, Stability, And Classic Style

Lightweight cast aluminum, modern geometry, and premium suspension

Cast aluminum is the material of choice for the Chieftain frame for the lightweight strength it brings to the table. A double-downtube/dual-cradle arrangement fully supports the engine without using it as a stressed member. The steering head sets a rake angle of 25 degrees with 5.9 inches of trail for a stable ride that tracks well in a crosswind. It rolls on 10-spoke, cast-alloy wheels for light weight and low inertia lined with Metzeler Cruisetec rubber.

Fat, 46 mm front forks are made to look fatter yet with classic beercan skirts, while out back, a single air-adjustable shock takes care of business. The suspension stroke measures 4.7 inches and 4.5 inches, respectively, which is plenty for a plush ride on civilized roads. Dual, 300 mm front discs work with four-bore calipers for plenty of braking power up front, which provides about 70 percent of your total stoppage.

ABS
protection comes stock.

2025 Indian Chieftain Chassis And Suspension Specifications

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Classic American Style Meets Modern Tech

Premium features packed into a retro-looking package

The 2025 Indian Chieftain is the very epitome of the quintessential American design that was long ago established as the standard for this genre. The factory even maintains the iconic war bonnet fender ornament as its own little Easter Egg that ties into this rich history. There’s a bit of a swoop to the trailing ends of the tins, no doubt inspired by the shape of the old, full-valence fenders the brand used to use, but it’s enough to suggest a bit of custom bodywork.

The fairing is of the batwing style with a short smoke screen to complete the forward coverage. On the inner fairing, a pair of analog gauges join a large color TFT screen for the instrumentation and electronics interface, and they are braced by a pair of speakers for the 100-Watt sound system that comes stock. Out back, a pair of color-matched hard saddlebags complete the package.

2025 Indian Chieftain Design Specifications And Dimensions

Alternatives In The Indian Chieftain Lineup: Chrome Or Blacked-Out Power And Prestige

From the classic shine of the Limited to the stealthy Dark Horse

The

Chieftain
serves as the platform for a few more upscale models, the Chieftain Limited and Chieftain Dark Horse. Think of the two as different sides of the same coin. One carries plenty of classic chrome to set the mood, while the other embraces the dark side with liberal blackout coverage. Available on both are the standard audio or the 400-Watt Powerband audio package that adds another pair of speakers in the saddlebag lids, so you can definitely make enough noise for the whole class.

These two bruisers pack the Thunderstroke 116, which produces 126 pounds of grunt for a definite edge over the base Chieftain. But of course, this comes with a steep increase in price. All three of the Chieftain models carry the same electronics packages with the RIDE COMMAND infotainment goodies across the board. As for pricing, the Chieftain Limited starts at $29,749 while the Chieftain Dark Horse fetches $29,999 MSRP, which puts both well out of the running as the most affordable.

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Indian Chieftain Versus Its Rival, Harley-Davidson Street Glide: Battle Of The American Baggers

With distinct styling, powerful V-Twins, and cutting-edge tech, these two giants define the American touring experience

The American motorcycle scene is rather restricted with only two major players, Indian and Harley-Davidson. That said, the least expensive of the H-D touring lineup is the

Street Glide
in 2025. H-D follows a similar design path with the new slimmer and trimmer batwing fairing that carries its turn signals as light strips inset in the fairing, which is really clean. All-around LED lighting ensures effective two-way visibility with the world. Two-up seating and lockable saddlebags complete the gear in the rear.

Built for performance, the

Milwaukee-Eight
117 delivers the goods with 105 horsepower and a whopping 130 pound-feet of torque on tap to be more on par with the Thunderstroke 116. The infotainment package has the Skyline OS with two speakers, and the ride-control electronics are top-notch with the full range of

cornering-enhanced
yummygoodness as stock. Of course, all this delightfulness adds up, and when it’s time to step up to the checkout counter, the stock Street Glide in Billiard Gray will set you back $27,749, putting it significantly higher than the Chieftain.