Though some of us are loathe to admit it, riding a motorcycle is a bit of a plea for attention. The 2017 Indian Roadmaster Classic shouts out “Look at me!” with a medley of valenced fenders, shiny chrome, tan leather, conchos and fringe. The good news is that there’s a very good motorcycle beneath all that flash. The not-as-good news is that some of the Roadmaster’s excellence as a luxury touring motorcycle has been compromised in the Classic trim.

 

The Roadmaster Classic shares its mechanical underpinnings and chassis with the Roadmaster, which was launched in 2015 as Indian’s full-dress luxury tourer. Both bikes have a fork-mounted fairing with an electrically adjustable windshield and Ride Command telematics with a seven-inch color touchscreen interface. Roadmaster comes with fairing lowers and front and rear crash bars; the Classic has the bars, but not the lowers. The Roadmaster wears lockable hard bags and a trunk, while the Classic’s trunk and bags are leather-covered, and the tops are secured with quick-release buckles behind straps (three on each saddle bag; two on the trunk). A unique teardrop cloisonné Indian emblem adorns each side of the Classic’s tank in place of the chrome “Indian” script on the Roadmaster.

The bags are the big, showy difference between the models, and they’ll be the point of any discussion about which bike is “better.” They are certainly well-made bags, with thick, high-quality leather wrapped around a firm structure that keeps its shape even when the bags are empty. The Classic’s leather bags provide a total of 33 gallons of storage capacity, slightly more than the Roadmaster’s hard bags. The saddle bags are decorated with conchos and fringe, while the trunk just has conchos. All three bags can be removed from the bike without tools by unscrewing interior mounts.

Riding the Roadmaster Classic, any concern about cosmetics rolls away with the miles. The Thunder Stroke 111 air/oil-cooled fuel-injected V-twin engine uses a six-speed manual transmission with belt final drive to send a beefy load of 119.2 lb-ft of torque to the rear wheel. Despite the 864-lb dry weight (almost 50 lbs lighter than the hard-bag-laden Roadmaster), that’s plenty of thrust for a fun ride. The aluminum frame’s rigidity and excellent suspension (telescopic fork front/single air-adjustable shock rear) deliver stable handling and worry-free cornering. You can cover mile after mile on the Classic, and stay comfortable in the cold with the standard heated seat and heated grips. This is luxury motorcycle touring at its best.