2020 Indians get new Thunder Stroke 116 engine plus new tech

Indian have unveiled a host of updates for their ‘heavyweight’ models including the massive new Thunder Stroke 116 engine.

The real star of the show is the new Roadmaster Dark Horse, which effective takes the throne of Indian’s biggest and baddest piece of metal. Indian have had huge success with their Dark Horse treatment, skipping the chrome and tassels look for something a bit more toned down for us Europeans.

Continuing this theme is the new Roadmaster that effectively takes the Chieftain and turns it up to 11. This means that is has the new angular look with streamlined style, tapered panniers, 19” front wheel, a gunfighter seat (we have no idea either) and a blacked out finish with a subtle hint of chrome.

What differentiates the Roadmaster with the Chieftain is the addition of the touring trunk (top box to you and me), lower fairings to protect the rider’s legs, a taller electronically adjustable windscreen plus heated grips as standard.

Naturally, to keep something like this moving it needs a big motor, which is lucky because Indian have got a new one of those, too.

The Roadmaster Dark Horse is powered by Indian’s new air-cooled 1901cc v-twin, helping it to push torque up to a whopping 126ftlbs. There’s no power figure (American big twin manufacturers often hold this back) but assuming a similar rev limit to the old model we’d expect power to hover just shy of 90bhp.

This new engine also features in a few other models including the Springfield and Chieftain. Of course, now the bike is quicker Indian have had to make the on-board computer quicker too.

The Roadmaster, as well as the other big tourers, get a brand new Ride Command (sat nav), which is not only quicker but some with Connected Services. This means the bike includes both traffic and weather overlays on the map, and can also plan the ride to avoid both. Neat eh?

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