What Is The Most Difficult Indian Motorcycle To Ride? Here's What Riders Say

Indian Motorcycles make cruiser motorcycles with classic American styling. From entry-level bikes like the Scout and Chief up to ultra-premium long-distance touring bikes like the Roadmaster and Pursuit, there's a lot of appeal in the manufacturer's lineup. They even made a standard sport bike for a while called the FTR before discontinuing it earlier this year. There are now electric bikes included in its offerings, too. You can even get an EV bike for your kid directly from Indian! But of all these bikes, which ones are the hardest to ride?

I've had some recent experience on the back of Indian Motorcycles, riding several versions of the Scout, and the newest versions of their Chieftain and Challenger models. If you're familiar with Indian bikes, you'll know that the Chieftain and Challenger are much larger than the entry-level Scout, and in my experience, they were the tougher bikes to ride. Maneuvering heavyweight motorcycles, especially at slow speeds, takes caution and focus, modulating the rear brake, clutch, and throttle all at the same time. According to riders posting online, their experience with big Indian motorcycles is similar; the biggest bikes are the toughest to handle. One of the biggest and toughest to wrangle? The Roadmaster.

Most riders who have experience with big bikes know that they're a handful at slow speeds, and that seems to be the case with the Indian Roadmaster. Once you're moving, though, things get much easier. Several Roadmaster owners defend the bike by lauding its handling characteristics and on-road manners once it's underway. They also talk about just how comfortable the bike is over long distances. It's heavy, though. Very heavy.

There are several different versions of the Roadmaster that you can currently buy new from Indian. The standard Roadmaster weighs a hefty 919 lbs. Its powerful 116 cubic-inch V-twin engine has enough torque to make for easy passes on the highway (126 lb-ft), but it's not going to be the kind of bike you can launch quickly off the line. The Roadmaster PowerPlus uses a 108-cubic-inch engine with 128 lb-ft of torque, but it's even heavier at 933 lbs.

Indian isn't alone in the "big bikes are tough to ride" space, though. I haven't ridden the Roadmaster, but I've been in the saddle of several big Indian motorcycles and piloted lots of big bikes over long distances. Many motorcycles that weigh over 800 pounds are tough to ride at slow speeds or at high speeds through twisty mountain roads, but with the proper rider training, riding on a bike of any size can be enjoyable.