Harley-Davidson’s and Indian Motorcycle’s convertible touring cruisers go head-to-head in this comparison of performance and style.
As a kid, I’d always stay on my bicycle later and pass by my neighbor’s place a few more times if he was in the garage working on his bike. I’d sneak glances at the motorcycle parked under the center light, trying to understand my attraction to it. On weekday mornings, he would fire it up and ride to work with saddlebags and windscreen installed. On Sundays more bikes would gather outside, he’d pull down the driveway on his beautiful stripped-down machine and they’d all head out for a ride. It was business and pleasure, equal parts show and go. Just like the 2021 Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic 114 and 2022 Indian Motorcycle Super Chief Limited, two motorcycles designed to offer the best of both worlds, each manufacturer’s heavyweight cruiser platform in its highest level of trim, the result of competition that has spanned more than a century.
Cruising along Southern California’s highways toward Mount Laguna in eastern San Diego County, there’s 30 feet and 25 years between Editor-at-Large Andrew Cherney and I. We have very different music playing in our helmets, but we easily agree on the Heritage and Super Chief. These bikes offer all the style and most of the convenience of hard-bagged touring machines built around each manufacturer’s big engine, but they’re lighter, more nimble, and more affordable. Remarkably similar in every measurable way, these two motorcycles were designed to perform the same basic task: Tour American highways and cast forth the beacon of freedom that has always been symbolized by Big Twins. Their job-and Americans love to define themselves by their job-is to represent decades of history from their respective companies while also employing modern technology and generally functioning at the level expected of today’s $20,000-plus machines.
Head-to-Head Engine Comparison: Harley-Davidson Heritage Classic 114 vs. Indian Super Chief Limited
The first major similarity in both performance and form are the engines, two large-displacement V-twins with pushrod-actuated valves. The Milwaukee-Eight 114 is air-and-oil cooled, has four valves per cylinder, and operates with a slightly smaller bore and longer stroke, whereas the Indian’s air-cooled Thunderstroke 116 runs with a half-point more compression (11.0:1) but only two valves per cylinder. They’re different roads to the same destination, strong and visceral but refined, shaking with muffled pops at idle and smoothing out as the revs increase. Laying the dyno charts over one another, we can say they’re as similar as we’ve ever seen from two different manufacturers.
Each engine’s torque curve powerfully establishes itself off idle and from around 1,300 rpm, where we start measuring it on our dyno, runs to a peak at 107 pound-feet near 3,000 rpm, then gradually slopes down afterward as the engines rev to redline. As touring riders tend to spend their time at lower revs with less vibration and a mellow beat from the engine, desire for peak performance at higher revs is outweighed by the need for comfort and immediate pull. Therefore these bikes were designed to provide power off the bottom-end, where the vast majority of users want it. And that’s where the first major disparity appears.
Clutch and Throttle Feel
For smooth, precise engine engagement off the line, good clutch feel and consistent throttle response are key. These are two of the Heritage’s greatest strengths; the Harley’s throttle is precise enough to gradually and carefully increase the lope off idle, and responds as expected throughout the rev range. But this area is also the Super Chief’s greatest weakness; there’s a delay in the Chief’s throttle response from idle, which varies depending on where the engine’s revs sit at the time of application. Communicative clutch lever feel also lets you know exactly when the Heritage’s friction zone is engaging the gearbox, but the Chief’s lever is springy and vague making it hard to be smooth and consistent. This leads to smoother launches with the Harley.
With time and experience, Chief riders will undoubtedly learn the clutch’s engagement point and suss out the intricacies of how the throttle responds, but modulation of these controls will be more based upon motorcycle motion and engine sound than it is on feedback and feel. The feeling of connection to the machinery is an important part of cruiser motorcycles, and the Harley has that in spades.
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