First 2-up Ride

By David Cohen. Photos by Janet Cohen.

Insert your Dam puns here.

It was one of those days where we batted a thousand, averaged a hundred and scored every time we touched the ball. Every turn was good, the locations interesting and every road we lucked on to was a peach - even though we weren't following anything more than a hunch. Yep, one of those days.

Springbrook Rd

What a bike the Chieftain is for a day like today. Get it humming along on a country road and just listening to it is worth the price of admission. Let alone the way it pulls out of corners or just chugs along with 1.8litres of 4-valve pushing it effortlessly over hill and dale.

Admiring both pieces of engineering

Today was the first ‘real’ ride we have had 2-up on the project and it really couldn’t have gone much better. Srsly.

Co-pilot finds the bike’s rear accommodation most satisfactory, so I added a few pounds of preload to the air adjustable rear suspension and enquired of her pleasure - or a preferred direction at least.

A visit with the brother on the Gold Coast was her choice. So we set off in his direction in the late morning, under a warm and pleasant South East Queensland mid-winter sun -  to call on the in-laws unannounced. (It was never a really firm plan and who needs commitment?) The onboard thermometer showed around 20c at departure and rose to 26c on the way home. It was slightly cooler in the mountains.

Yep, mountains.

They aren't epic mountains - but it's still a long way down that side and the road is very twisty.

Rob wasn’t home. But in the grand scheme of things it didn’t really matter. Today was all about the ride.

First, the on-ramp.

I’ve used this gimmick before regarding great sounding bikes, but there’s a line in Springsteen’s Cadillac Ranch that goes: “Open up your engines let 'em roar, tearing up the highway like a big old dinosaur.” That verse pops into my head every time I’m about to pin the throttle on a great sounding bike. It did today. The stage one pipes sound absolutely perfect to me. The bike growls and purrs equally pleasingly and yet it's not likely to give my neighbours the shits.

Since I got the big windscreen back on I can comfortably ride at all speeds in my Bell open face - without ear plugs – and it's not exactly a helmet renowned for it’s whisper quietness, but with the way the bike sounds it’s a real bonus to be lug-hole-impediment free.

Plus when I do decide to pimp out on the stereo it’s clearer. I'm still amused by how easy it is to incorporate my play lists and how the system can run my phone from the handlebars.

I like the amount of data that is available from the dash too. Tyre pressures, ambient temperature, distance to service, fuel consumption, range - a remarkable array is displayed in a compact space or is scrollable via the switch that used to be the headlight flasher. The display is white in direct sunlight  and goes red in shadow or bad light. Even if part of it is in sun and part in shade. It's very clever.

The dash display is very clever and a lot of info is available in a small space.

Anyway, the Super Slab to Nerang was actually quite pleasant on this bike. Yeah yeah - I know it's super slab, but it was a perfect day weather-wise, so I hit the cruise control and comfortably rolled it away, in the bubble, right where this bike just purrs. Smooth as a smooth thing.  I splayed my feet out of the highway pegs, sat back and spent time marvelling at the size of the crowds at the big theme parks that line parts of the journey. Dream World, Movie World, Water World and some others, all offer various ways of centrifuging a human and have them pay for it.

Dave World had the best ride.

Then comes the off ramp.

Running it down from speed, engine breaking, rowing it down through the gearbox, it sounds almost as good as when on the on-ramp pinnage of the throttle.

Actually the first off-ramp came much sooner than expected because the fuel gauge said so. At around 270km on this tankful the warning light came on. We ended up taking a big detour in search of fuel and found the end of the road at Jacobs Well, by the great sand island waterways coast - where the only working pump in town was the premium unleaded. Goal!

We rode through pleasant sugar cane country 10kms back to the M1 and another on ramp.

50km later - another off ramp and a few blocks through the burbs led to the discovery that the sibling’s nest was empty.  Nobody home but the cat.

This saw us point the bike west and express a joint  “Oh well, let’s see what’s up there” and gesture towards the Hinterland Hills.

What we found was Springbrook Road. Route 99. Judging by the amount of bikes that passed us as we were taking a few photos this route is no secret. Rather it was a confirmation that we were on a right track.

The road twists up into the foothills and then the fringes of the spur of the Great Dividing Range that joins the Border Ranges. We rode along heavily wooded ridges, occasionally crossing deep gorges on one-lane timber bridges. It's not a long ride, but it's a gem.

Google map.

"I'll go back and do that bit again."

Past the little Nerang Dam we turned on to Pine Creek Road and the steep descent before we joined the main Nerang-Murwillumbah Road near the upper reaches of the Hinze Dam.

We wheeled north and skirted the edges of that substantial body of water till the Dam turn-off. (Immediately followed by a dozen damn DAM puns).

We parked the Bull with the sports bikes outside the information centre and had a quick look around at what is quite an impressive piece of engineering.

The Bull draws a crowd everywhere I have parked it.

Nice collection of Sports bikes at the Cafe. Good roads for them too. The Bull didn't do badly either.

From there we made our way back to the motorway, another on-ramp, then cruise-control and rock and roll pretty much all the way back to base where we compared notes.

We both had a great day. Tick. We both like the bike - a lot. Tick.

I thought it handled very well. Admittedly I really only cruised on it – what sort of idiot would intentionally scratch up his publisher’s project bike? But neither did we completely nanna it. It was just a nice pace. Appropriate for the type of vehicle.

It cornered reliably and deceptively quickly. Several times I looked down at the speedo and went “oooh” and buttoned off.

The lean angle is pretty good and it’s sure footed. The 16” front wheel is more likely to follow a crease or ridge in the tarmac than cruisers with a larger diameter hoop, but only slightly. That’s the only thing I’ve noticed out of the ordinary about the sport-bike-like diameter front wheel. It does have a pretty fat profile tyre, which might contribute to its quite normal, tidy manners.

I’ve been circumspect about 16” front wheels since I test rode an original VFR1000 and the head shaking that sixteen used to do. It's playing to a tough room here I’m tellin’ ya. For the way this thing tips in I’ll buy it.

No wallowing, squirming or anything that got in the way of enjoying the ride was apparent in any of the 2-up handling.

The bike is very easy. It’s got such a strong motor that you ride it mostly on the torque. Revving it out is less rewarding than short-shifting and using the big hammer. It's still a pretty green motor for one so large so I was pretty moderate on the pinnage, but even when fully loosened there no point hitting the rev limiter. 2-3,000 RPM has the sweetness.

The other manners are great. Brakes are good, and I find the abs is quite confidence inspiring on a bike that weighs in at 385kg juiced up.

And the way is sounds is honey.

Co-pilot was very comfortable and suitably entertained.

Great ride, great roads, great day, great bike. Grinning like an idiot now.

Ride with a Rock Legend

by David Cohen.

The team at Indian Brisbane asked me to come in and take a photo of Ian Moss as he was collecting a Chief Classic, "if I happened to be in town on Friday morning".

Imagine giving me an excuse for hanging around a bike shop! Who wouldn't be all over it?

Ian is a Chieftain owner and was borrowing a bike for an afternoon-off ride during his current national tour. A shot of an Australian Rock legend on an Indian is good PR, good for Heavy Duty Magazine news - and I was there because I'm a fan.

Ian Moss and the Chief Classic

We made it a double-edged trip as while I was there Robertino fitted the Back Rest and Highway Pegs to the project as the next stage of accessorising the bike.

I was still fiddling around taking pics of the new components when Ian and Rick (his promoter) arrived to collect their loaners. The third member of their party, 'Other Dave' arrived on Rick's own tasty Victory 8-Ball.

The bikes at Mt Glorious

My original plan was to head up to Mt Glorious after taking the snaps and grab a few shots of 'the Bull' with its new bits in a country setting. And because I hadn't ridden it out of town as yet.

So, we all got to talking at the bike shop - as you do - and amended plans saw me tagging along with three fellow enthusiasts into the hills west of Bris-vegas.

We headed out through The Gap and up to Mt Nebo and Mt Glorious for coffee and a snack where the Brisbane bikers go.

Queensland turned on a pleasant afternoon, around 22-23c with light cloud and it was a very enjoyable ride.

The road up to the mountains is quite twisty and climbs through ever thickening eucalyptus forest till it runs through tunnels of sub-tropical rainforest near the weathered summits.

On the road the bike is a delight. So torquey and the Stage 1 pipes have opened it up so it runs even sweeter.

Indian Chieftain owner and enthusiast.

The chat over coffee was as interesting as you would expect. We just talked about motorcycles and ... motorcycles, with a few musical side tracks. Being motorcycle enthusiasts gives a lot of common ground.

The funniest bit was when a Hungarian (as identified by Rick, who shares that heritage) rider was at an adjacent table, coffee in one hand, mobile phone in the other and speaking in Hungarian. Until the words 'Ian Moss' appeared in every other sentence.

Ian obliged with a riding photo call and then he and crew headed north to a sound check for the gig at The Woombye Pub, while I continued fussing around getting some shots of The Bull and bush.

The bike is all celebrity.

Riding it with a real celeb and his crew made it one for a big page in the scrap book.

Ian, Rick and Dave were full of praise for the Chief Classic after the ride.

 

The original objective. Light wasn't great by the time I got to it, but hey, what a day.

Looking forward to the next outing and working out what the next addition is. What do you think about a Whitewall on the front?

Gallery - Night shoot 1

By David Cohen
I left a few more images than normal in the night shoot set. Mainly because it was interesting to see how different amounts of light brought out the purple in the metalflake.

I quite like this one. Not the best exposure of the bunch, but for all the improbable colour matches and the way the gold zings. 

Click on image to enlarge

These are the best exposures for showing the metalflake:

Click on image to enlarge

Click on image to enlarge

I used a few tried and trusted locations tonight. I always like to get a few solid shots in the bank first. Then we can gets artsy. 

Click on image to enlarge

 

Click on image to enlarge

Will try some new spots next expedition.

The full set is linked here:
Mouse over and click on the side arrows to navigate.

Or see the full set on > Flickr here.

Gallery - Shed Closeups

I parked the wide angle lens next to the bike in the garage:

That's only the reflection of the moving LED light in the tank.

Video - Walk Around and Exhausts

Here's a quick walk around the bike and a listen to those exhausts.
The Chieftain has been fitted with the Stage 1 Slip On Exhaust with Six Shooter tips.
RRP for these is around $1,500+ Fitment.
They sound great and the finish is first rate.

Like a Bull at a Concours

By David Cohen

Running Bull in pride of place at the Laverda Concours.

The Brisbane Laverda Club's annual concours event is the biggest bike show in Queensland. Unofficial estimates online have the crowd at around 5000. I'm no judge, but I'd buy that. There was a large number of people there.

Some of the large crowd on hand.

I rode in at about 8:30 and parked the Bull at the front of the Indian/Victory trade display as directed.
In between laps of the venue shooting stills and video of the fantastic array of bikes on display I talked to people about the bike.
A lot of people. The response was overwhelmingly favourable.
In fact the only person who has been overtly negative about the bike so far is my sister in-law. This fact is not surprising.
The amount of people who were highly complimentary about the project - and Mark Walker's paintwork - was particularly pleasing. The project has plenty of fans already.

The show was a great experience, both from the meet and greet, all brands social occasion of it all, but also for the diverse range of beautiful machinery on display.

Here's some of my shots uploaded at high-res on flickr:

Photo Shoot: Down by the bay

By David Cohen.
Here's the first batch of shots with the new paintwork near Raby Bay and Manly.

Place pointer over image - Click on arrows to navigate.

Here's the Flickr Page for higher resolution shots.

The Indian Chieftain Running Bull Project

by David Cohen.

Follow our story as we take on the long term project of riding, testing and customising the magazine's own new Indian Chieftain.

In the beginning there was black. Much black.

Running Bull in its standard trim

RB started as a stock 2014 Indian Chief Chieftain that Heavy Duty Publisher, Neale Brumby rode from Melbourne to Brisbane on what was virtually its maiden voyage.

Brum collecting our new pride and joy

In Brisbane stage 1 of the customisation process began. The bike was handed over to Indian Brisbane who removed all the bodywork from the bike.

It's naked under all those clothes!

The panels were then sent to Mark Walker at Queensland Motorcycle Panel and Paint who has transformed the bike into a mobile work of art.

Sitting by the bay in full dress

Painted with Instant awesome

Now stage two of the Running Bull project begins as we use the bike for day to day duty around Brisbane, continue the customising process and eventually return the bike to HD HQ in Melbourne.

In the meantime we'll photograph and post commentary on our life with the bike. Don't forget to bookmark this page and follow our updates on Facebook.

Video - Ramblings on an Indian Chieftain

Here's some random thoughts recorded on-board and some nice video images of the Demo Bike:

Dave's Chieftain Article

Here's the first article to appear in the mag. It contained photos of the local demo bike that have featured in print and also on Indian Motorcycle's Facebook Page.

Indian Brisbane's Demo Chieftain Photographed by Raby Bay

Comfort is the order of the day with the Indian Chieftain and it’s not just about the plush saddle. The windscreen is the first handlebar mounted power screen and is simply one of the best on any bike, with around 100mm of adjustment available via a pair of buttons on the left-hand switch block. It’s very easy to dial in the optimum height; either for some wind in your face or sit-in-the-bubble applications.

Being able to deflect most of the wind noise means you can get the best from the modern entertainment system. Bluetooth your phone or hard wire a music device (via a USB connection in the glove box in the fairing) and you can crank the volume and select tracks and sources as you cruise, also from a control pad on the LH switch block.

Additional buttons over on the right hand block operate the Cruise control. It’s also very easy to engage and it works flawlessly. As does the rocker switch mounted into the chrome tank protector to control the central locking on the hard panniers. The chrome tank guard also houses a rather unique starter button as part of the keyless security fob ignition system.  Luxury.

The wide footboards are part of that luxury and are mounted high enough to give pretty good cornering clearance, while the air adjustable rear suspension affords 114mm of travel, which is pretty good for the class.

It all means is that you can ride this bike a long way, over 300km between fuel stops from the 20.8 litre tank, in very good comfort and with no shortage of style. The enclosed rear wheel, heavily valanced guards, prominent war bonnet badges, motifs and the 40’s freight train fairing styling evoke a tremendous amount of nostalgia. It’s not the bike to own if you don’t like meeting people. Nearly everyone wants to talk about it.

Displacing 1811cc, the Thunderstroke 111 engine develops 161Nm of torque at 3,000rpm and has enough ponies to give the bike a real surge off the line.

The engine is very tractable and will chug along at 60kph in top gear with no sign of stress or lugging. It’s also a very quiet engine, featuring much ‘double-walling’ to insulate noise and heat, while maintaining the traditional Indian twin down-tube appearance and classic style. It’s finished with masses of faultless chrome.

The primary is gear driven and the final drive is via a slop-free belt. Combined with the crisp gearbox it all gives a very direct feel at the throttle hand. For a bike weighing in at 385kg wet, it gives exceptionally good rider feedback.

For slowing it down, the ABS features 300mm twin discs up front and a single at the rear. Like the rest of the bike, they perform very comfortably.

The bank of fairing-mounted headlights and driving lights proved highly efficient and the bike’s horn is automotive grade.

Pillions are pretty well catered for with the standard saddle, reasonably low-set foot pegs and there is a range of back rests for both rider and passenger available as optional extras.

Comfortable. It’s a word used a lot when talking about the Indian Chieftain. It comfortably represents a choice from the top-shelf of motorcycling.

About That Paint

By David Cohen

The first time I saw the bike

When Brum rang and told me he wanted me to do the first shift on the Heavy Duty Chieftain I tried my best to maintain composure.

‘Yes Boss – I’d be honoured’ I replied. Waiting to till after the call to do the fist-pumping YES!!!! - As I bounced off the office walls.

After stints aboard at the launch and with the test bike, the Chieftain has quickly become one of my favourite rides and plans for the magazine’s new flagship were already well advanced when I took the call.

The bike had been delivered to the Brisbane Indian HQ and its bodywork removed and dispatched to Mark Walker at Queensland Motorcycle Panel and Paint for one of his outstanding custom paint jobs.

First assignment was to head out Logan Village way for a chat with Mark and a run down on the painting process.

When I arrived at the workshop he was blue applying blue masking tape to the rather large surface area of the Chieftain’s rear guard. There was an image of a 40’s Chief on the workbench beside him too.

We started talking about the job.

Mark Walker

‘Everybody is on a budget these days, so what I wanted to show is that you can get a stunning result by just jazzing it up with a two-tone effect, so we’re keeping the black base and applying colours as an overlay.’

‘It’s a challenge. It’s not the type of bike you can do a full pimped out graphic design on, like a radical slammed bike. It’s quite unique. So I looked at some historic images and worked on fitting that style with Brums brief for some purple metalflake to be included.’

There are about 20 hours involved in the process and naturally depending on the type of job, prices start at ‘around $1000 up to the sky’s the limit’ also depending on how intricate the client wants the job. All up there are ‘about 10 coats of paint on the average job, counting clear coats’.

Most of Mark’s work comes from word-of-mouth and referrals from satisfied customers an there are plenty of them.

He’s recording the process as it develops so look for it and the finished result in the next issue of Heavy Duty.

Mark has a range of designs on his web site and facebook page: www.qmpp.com.au

And then we go riding!