Indian Motorcycle seems to be working on an all-new heavyweight cruiser with the PowerPlus engine borrowed from the Indian Challenger. While the drawings reveal that the new bike will be based on the Challenger, it will have a more traditional and classic cruiser style. While Indian Motorcycle's air-cooled, push rod-actuated Thunder Stroke engine models, like the Chief and Chieftain are more or less the mainstay of traditional all-American cruisers, the new motorcycle will be a blend of the traditionalists as well as new technology.
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The new bike will have a tall windscreen, along with a liquid-cooled v-twin engine and new semi-monocoque alloy frame
The latest patent images show that the firm intends to combine the liquid-cooled, v-twin PowerPlus engine and alloy frame with old-school cruiser styling to mark the introduction of more than one all-new heavyweight cruiser from the brand. The patent drawings are fairly simple, but still manage to give a good enough idea of the design and appearance of the new bike. Instead of the nose heavy fixed fairing of the Challenger, the new bike has a more traditional bar-mounted fairing.
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The new Indian cruiser has a markedly taller windscreen, along with classic all-America cruiser design
What's unique is the tall screen, taller than any windscreen on any of the current Indian Motorcycle models. And then there are separate wind deflectors to channel air away from the rider's legs. But what the patent images seem to underscore is the frame. The new bike employs a semi-monocoque frame that incorporates the airbox and air cleaner. The frame also has the intake air for the engine guided through and filtered within the frame, as shown in the figure with three holes marked 62, and then passed through a panel filter before being passed into the fuel injection system.
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The semi-monocoque chassis has holes for air to be guided within the chassis and to be filtered before being directed to be mixed inside the fuel injection system
The patent images have been published recently, but the original patent was filed in 2017. With a move to more modern, double overhead cam, liquid-cooled engines, which will help meet the latest global emission standards while not sacrificing performance, the days of big displacement air-cooled, v-twin pushrod engines may well be numbered. So far, there's no word on when we can see the new Indian cruiser. With the ongoing global COVID-19 challenges, it may be some time before we see some sort of an advanced prototype. We're hoping to see at least some sort of concept or prototype by the end of the year, if not a full-scale production model.
