They couldn’t find it. For a moment, I’d thought I had flown to Raleigh for a motorcycle that didn’t exist. Fortunately, it didn’t take too terribly long to track down the mysterious 2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus Limited in Sunset Red Metallic.

Then there was the matter of getting acquainted with something unfamiliar, a situation avid riders know all too well. It wasn’t quite like a trepidatious first-time horseback rider introducing themself to a towering horse. No, this was more like a guy who spends most of his time on naked bikes, streetfighters, and faring-free cruisers digging back in the archives to remember how to survive and thrive with an 844-lb bagger.

But acquainted I was, and off I went on the 700-mile ride home. Instantly, I was grateful for the Indian Chieftain’s highway manners. This is, after all, its dominion. For 2025, the Chieftain PowerPlus is available with a 108-cubic-inch or 112-cubic-inch mill. I was on the latter, meaning a massive claimed 126 horsepower and 133 lb-ft of torque. The freeway freight train.

The Indian Chieftain is best at home blasting past slow-moving traffic on highways

For starters, the new PowerPlus 112 engine is at its happiest stretching its legs at highway speeds. Twist the throttle at just about any rev range, and a swelling of torque shoves the Chieftain effortlessly. 

The six-speed transmission provides pleasing, clunky shifts, and the clutch plays well with unexpected traffic. That said, you might want to steer clear of the slow-moving stuff and stick to wide, open highways whenever possible.

And when things get up to highway speeds, the Chieftain can flex its electrically adjustable windshield, a feature unavailable on a comparable Harley. Though riders taller than about 5’8 might find that the fully-extended windshield sends a bit of air right into their crowns.

An appetite for cornering, though not exactly gluttonous 

Then you have the corners. After I got the Indian Chieftain home to Bluegrass and bourbon country, I started to evaluate its chops as a weekend toy. That means leaning the big bagger through the twisties.

Needless to say, the Chieftain reminds me a bit of an early-run Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. The yacht joke-prone Hellcat’s adaptive Bilstein suspension worked overtime, and the brutish, heavy Challenger had no business being as agile as it was. The same can be said of the Chieftain. The PowerPlus 112 model works in the brand’s SmartLean system as well as a six-axis internal measurement unit for rider stability. For an 844-lb bagger with a 31-degree lean angle, this bagger has no business being as nimble as it is.

That said, it’s still a bagger. Finding the bottom of those floorboards doesn’t take much searching. Though if you’re anything like me, the sound of grinding boards might prompt a squished smile in your helmet. 

The twin front Brembo brakes bite sufficiently hard to slow its significant weight, something you’ll be glad for when carrying a bit too much speed with the Chieftain PowerPlus’ twist-and-go style. 

In this corner: Ride Command– And in this corner: helmet-mounted Bluetooth

In the center of the Chieftain’s ornate handlebar-mounted batwing-style fairing is the standard seven-inch Ride Command touchscreen with Apple CarPlay. The unit is sharp and clear, if also a bit small compared to the 12.3-inch unit available on a comparable Harley-Davidson Street Glide.

The TFT touchscreen displays everything from music and notifications to navigation. However, Apple CarPlay requires a wired connection. Not exactly groundbreaking. Then there’s Indian’s proprietary media player. In my experience, the system will play Bluetooth tug-o-war with a helmet-mounted unit.

That said, when the infotainment system is working as intended, the PowerBand audio produces crisp, clear sound. Just make sure you don’t disturb your neighbors quite as much as I did. 

1 month with the Chieftain PowerPlus reveals a Swiss-Army bike

After spending a month with the 2025 Indian Chieftain PowerPlus Limited, I’m convinced the bike would make a solid single-motorcycle solution for most riders. Of course, you might want to park something more aggressive or adventurous alongside it. You know, for the sake of diversity.

The hard saddlebags lock and unlock with the touch of a button, either the one on your fob or on the right side of the fairing. Once open, they’ll swallow up over 18 gallons of, well, whatever you damn well please. I’ve used it as a grocery getter, a get-around, and a pack mule for riding buddies who don’t have saddlebags of their own.

Even with a long footprint, heavy weight, and grind-prone floorboards, the Chieftain handles urban commuting with aplomb. And the Bosch-sourced collision warning systems are helpful while avoiding intrusiveness. 

But the Chieftain’s main draw resides in its engine. Sure, you may miss the old-school experiences of a lumpy, air-cooled twin. That said, the instant and constantly available thrust from the PowerPlus 112 is something you quite simply won’t find in a comparable bagger from the Bar and Shield.