I can ride a real Indian Chief whenever I want one (My Cuz has a 1944 Military Chief) and I'm always impressed at how well it goes for a 70 year old bike. It'll do a genuine 100 MPH, and once you get used to the hand shift and foot clutch, throttle on the left and ignition advance on the right twistgrip, it's actually an easy bike to ride, it handles well and is remarkably smooth.
My cuz rides it a couple of thousand miles every year on the Indian owners rally, and apart from this year when he T boned a woman in an uninsured car who didn't give way to him, he's always made it back home again, so it's pretty reliable too.
I like the look of the new Indians, and I can see many similarities with the original bike in the new bike's design. It looks a lot closer than the previous "Indian" that used an S&S engine back in the early 2000's. I particularly like the "Naked" version, it looks like an art deco stylised version of the original bikes, and it'll be my choice when I win the lottery.
I don't like Jap Cruisers, to me they're just a cynical styling exercise to steal a few sales from HD, but no-one except their owners really take them seriously, and this shows in their terrible resale values. They're capable bikes, no argument there, they're just of little interest to me. Victory's are the same, capable bikes, just poorly designed. Does Arlen Ness work for Victory? Cheers, Terry.