Liquid-cooled tourer and bagger join the existing Pursuit and Challenger with enlarged 112ci PowerPlus engine
Indian took a significant step away from its air-cooled heritage with the launch of the PowerPlus 108 engine in the Challenger bagger back in 2019. Packing overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, the PowerPlus was a huge departure from the air-cooled ThunderStroke engine in the company’s other big bikes. It spread to the Pursuit tourer in 2022 and for 2025 two further water-cooled models come in the form of the Chieftain and Roadmaster PowerPlus 112 models.
That ‘112’ figure represents a range-wide change, also applied to the Pursuit and Challenger, that sees the PowerPlus engine grow from 1768cc to 1834cc, with a slight power increase from 90kW to 93kW and 181.4Nm instead of 178Nm of torque. The old ‘108’ engine remains available, with the ‘112’ sold as a package on the Pursuit and Challenger for 2025, but the big news is the addition of the Chieftain and Roadmaster, which are both fitted with the bigger engine in the Australian market.
While the Challenger and Pursuit used new titles and were intended to be sold alongside the existing, air-cooled cruisers in Indian’s range, the Chieftain and Roadmaster names are familiar ones, offered on generations of air-cooled bikes, and indicate that the Indian’s future lies in the PowerPlus engine. The air-cooled, ThunderStroke-powered Roadmaster and Chieftain remain available alongside the liquid-cooled ones for the moment.
Like the Challenger, the Chieftain is a bagger, and like the Pursuit, the Roadmaster is a full-dress tourer, but the new models are set aside from their stablemates by the use of a fork-mounted fairing that turns with the bars instead of a fixed, frame-mounted one.
Other than that distinction, they share most of the same parts as the existing Challenger and Pursuit, including an identical chassis – cast aluminium, not steel – and the same key dimensions in terms of their 25-degree rake, 1668mm wheelbase and even their 672mm seat height.
Equipment on the new bikes includes Indian’s 7-inch touchscreen dash, a trio of riding modes, lean-sensitive rider-assist systems including cornering ABS and traction control, Brembo brakes, rear cylinder deactivation to reduce heat soak and fuel consumption in traffic, keyless ignition and more. The new models can be had in either chrome-laden ‘Limited’ form or as the blacked-out ‘Dark Horse’, with prices starting at AUD $45,495 for the Chieftain PowerPlus Dark Horse, $45,995 for the Chieftain PowerPlus Limited, $48,495 for the Roadmaster PowerPlus Dark Horse and $48,995 for the Roadmaster PowerPlus Limited.