Two decades ago, if you were in the market for an American V-twin touring bagger—what your dad or older brother might have called a “full dresser”—you had but one choice: a Harley-Davidson . Now, though, there are three, thanks to a new Indian Roadmaster that has rumbled onto the scene to challenge the Harley Electra Glide Ultra Classic and Victory Cross Country Tour. Where to compare these beefy, large-displacement Americans? The open road, of course, where long-haulers shine. And in California, given the nature of these bikes, it seemed appropriate to head north to the sinewy roads of the Central Coast and adjacent San Joaquin Valley, where vultures and red-tailed hawks soar over a landscape dotted with oak-covered foothills, vineyards, oil fields, solar farms, and large cattle operations such as the 15,000-acre Santa Margarita Ranch, our primary photo location. Naturally, beef was on the menu each night, typically a well-marbled rib eye or juicy tri-tip cooked over local red oak. We based our “Lipi-Tour” at the rustic Union Hotel 1880, a former Wells Fargo stagecoach stop in Los Alamos that has good access to the great roads inland of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo, during that short time of year when the hills are as green as Ireland. For two days, we covered the area, swapping bikes, grinding footboards, shooting photos, and taking notes. Our findings: 
| UPS | DOWNS | |
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| Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic |
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Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic If you insist on hearing Jason Aldean singing “Fly Over States” while you’re rumbling along at 60 mph, choose the Harley. It has the best stereo. The Boom! Box 4.3 audio system has a 25-watt-per-channel amplifier and four speakers, and the rears are integrated into the pillion’s hip bolsters. Besides Bluetooth, there’s a USB port to play your favorite tunes, and the touchscreen—which doubles as a nav system and a vehicle information center—works remarkably well, even with a gloved hand. Compared to the Indian and Victory, you sit closer to the steering head on the Harley; as such, the rider’s arms aren’t as outstretched. It’s comfortable, and it gives the Ultra Classic a compact feel. What’s more, the H-D leans most willingly into corners. While not exactly a sports car among GTs, the Harley feels the sportiest of the bunch, aided by firm but not jarring suspension and the best cornering clearance. On the downside, the steering is a tad heavy, and although the linked brakes have excellent bite, they’re grabby when rear and fronts are applied simultaneously. Lastly, although this Harley, which rides on cast-aluminum wheels shod with bias-ply tires, feels like the lightest bike in our test, it tips the scales at 856 pounds dry, some 21 pounds heavier than the Victory. Other than some radiant heat toasting our legs in rush-hour traffic, we have no complaints with the High Output Twin Cam 103, which puts out 74 hp and 92 pound-feet of torque on the Cycle World; Dynojet dyno. Powdercoated black and boasting lots of chrome, this pushrod air-cooled mill starts at the push of a button and settles immediately into a characteristic lumpy idle. It pulls well from 1,800 rpm, and the sound from the chromed 2-1-2 exhaust is rich and soulful. Seventy miles per hour equates to about 2,700 rpm in sixth gear. And even though the Harley V-twin, at 103ci, is the smallest of our trio, the Ultra Classic is second-quickest to 60 and less than a tenth off the larger and more powerful Indian in the quarter-mile.
Moreover, the engine is so smooth and relaxed that you’ll occasionally catch yourself motoring along in fifth on the highway, thinking you’re in top gear. And that gearbox is excellent. Upshifting is always a cinch, downshifts are never clunky, and the heel shifter gives your left foot a break on long slogs. Neither the Victory nor the Indian, it’s worth noting, has a heel shifter standard. As expected of such an important piece of hardware, Harley’s latest Batwing fairing provides good wind protection. But the nonadjustable screen is on the short side, which means taller folks aren’t able to ride with their helmet visor open. Opening the Splitstream vent reduces buffeting, and the fairing lowers—which incorporate large, one-touch gloveboxes—do help keep your legs warm on cold mornings. Adjustable plastic flaps let you direct side air as desired. Clearly, Harley’s Electra Glide Ultra Classic is the standard here, the touring bagger by which others shall be judged. It’s refined. It’s attractive. It works well dynamically. It has a generous full-tank, load capacity of 481 pounds, and the injection-molded hard saddlebags and top case, along with the gloveboxes in the fairing, offer 35 gallons of total storage. Also, the single-key locking system and clever one-touch opening mechanism for the bags and case are much appreciated when you’ve got your helmet in one hand. 
| UPS | DOWNS | |
|---|---|---|
| Indian Roadmaster |
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Indian Roadmaster First things first: We really like the new Indians. The Chief Classic was voted our best cruiser of 2014 (September 2014), and we enjoyed a problem-free long-term date with a Chieftain last year (January 2015). Would this new-for-2015 Roadmaster let us down? Not likely. In essence, the new Roadmaster is a decked-out Chieftain, but Indian tells us that the former was actually developed before the latter. So this means the Roadmaster isn’t just a Chieftain burdened with extra hardware it wasn’t designed to carry in the first place. That’s good. But at 909 pounds dry, the Roadmaster is still the heaviest of our trio, by more than 50 pounds. That weight, though, disappears when the bike is rolling, and the large 111ci Thunder Stroke engine more than makes up for the added heft. Getting this bike to move is a simple matter of putting it in first and letting out the clutch. No finesse needed. One senses a large flywheel at work. The broad power of this 49-degree V-twin is key to the Indian’s appeal. The fueling is excellent, the throttle response is immediate, and anytime you lug the engine there’s none of the chatter we occasionally get from the H-D and the Victory. Torque is what these big baggers need, and the Roadmaster delivers 107 pound-feet of it at 2,640 rpm, complemented by 76.4 hp at 4,510 rpm. One editor even remarked that the Indian sounds more like a traditional V-twin than the Harley. Sacrilege? Perhaps. But the Indian motor really is that good, and there’s almost no driveline lash when you’re on/off the throttle in gear. The six-speed box is a model of smoothness, almost Gold Wing-like in its precision—just what you need when riding two-up and don’t want to clank helmets with your passenger.
On the Roadmaster, it’s a bit more of a reach to the bar than on the Harley, and the pleated seat (a half-inch higher than the Chieftain’s) better accommodates taller riders. Also of note: The Roadmaster seat is covered in a brown leather that somehow never gets covered in dew, even on mornings when the other seats are sopping wet. It’s a mystery. But what we do know is this: The Roadmaster, with a full-tank load capacity of 465 pounds, is a beautifully detailed bike, with suspension that manages to be plush without being wallowy in bumpy corners. If you’re smooth with your inputs, the floorboards won’t scrape in corners, and the steering feels direct—as if there’s no flex in the rubber bar mount before you get actual turning action. Also, the brakes are by far the best in the test. The stopping numbers speak for themselves, but the feel is natural, with stopping force commensurate with lever and pedal effort. As the only bike in this test with an electrically adjustable windscreen, the Roadmaster is best at accommodating riders of varying sizes. Surprisingly, the screen works remarkably well in the fully raised or lowered positions, aided by bulky-looking lower fairings that also block air pretty well. With its optional two-tone paint, tasteful chrome, and beautifully valanced fenders, plus tasteful details like the illuminated war bonnet on the fender and gauges that look pulled from a luxury car, the Roadmaster impresses. Cruise control is standard, as is heat for the seats and grips, those warming elements something our Harley sorely lacked (though they are available as accessories). Other positives include keyless ignition, intuitive stereo controls, a power source in the top case, and an easy-to-read gear indicator in the brightly lit information center. The interface, however, is no match for the H-D’s Boom! system. 
| UPS | DOWNS | |
|---|---|---|
| Victory Cross Country Tour |
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Victory Cross Country Tour As a single-overhead-cam engine with four valves per cylinder, the 106-inch Freedom V-twin in the Cross Country Tour makes good power: 85 hp at 4,670 rpm and 99.2 pound-feet of torque at 4,300 rpm. More important, the 50-degree V-twin doesn’t taper off above 5,000 rpm like the Indian does; it pulls strongly to its 5,200-rpm redline in gear after gear yet still has broad torque. Impressive. Thus explaining why the Cross Country Tour—the lightest bike here, with the most horsepower—is the quickest of our trio to 60 mph and the quarter-mile. And although we appreciate how the counterbalanced motor has been improved over the years, it’s still not as polished as the H-D or Indian powerplants. Vibration is felt the through the handlebar (and seen in the quivering rearview mirrors), and when the engine is lugged, it’s audibly thrashier than the others. The sound is mechanical, not especially pleasant, and the six-speed gearbox exacerbates matters with its clunky shifts and excessive driveline lash. That stated, the Cross Country Tour, with its roomy cockpit and rear-biased seating position, is the most comfortable bike for a large rider. Total storage capacity of 41.1 gallons is fantastic, the most in any new motorcycle. Two full-size helmets fit with ease inside the top case, and we found the rear brake, which looks like a shift lever, much easier to operate than the automotive-style pedals of the H-D and Indian.
Another positive: The Victory windscreen is tall and provides excellent protection from the wind. The same, however, can’t be said of the fairing lowers, which put angular style in front of function. While we respect that Victory hasn’t tried to copy Harley or attempted to make a retro version of a bike it never had, the modern looks of the Cross Country Tour somehow fail to set any sort of emotional hook. On twisty roads, the long-wheelbase Victory is competent but not quite as composed as the others, perhaps because it’s the longest bike and it has the greatest polar moment of inertia. All three bikes, of note, have rear suspension with adjustable air pressure, and setting that level properly for the given load is important. Load capacity of the Victory with a full tank is 480 pounds, only 1 pound shy of the Harley. While it’s easy to nitpick the Victory, let’s remember that it costs significantly less than the Harley and the Roadmaster, and a relative lack of refinement is almost expected. It’s the only machine here with a standard ignition key, and while we like that it has heated seats and standard cruise control, the switches for the latter look like an afterthought hung rather crudely beneath the right grip. Also, various cables aren’t tucked away or hidden; they’re simply routed down the handlebar and secured with zip-ties. 
The Envelope, Please To rate these big touring baggers, we’ve borrowed a page from the US Department of Agriculture, which grades beef in three ways: Select, Choice, and Prime. Our Select choice is easy: the Victory Cross Country Tour. It’s capable and well built, if somewhat less refined than the others, and it’s ideally suited for the rider who doesn’t care about the name on the tank but needs a spacious and attractively priced tourer. Our Choice selection is much more difficult because, frankly, the Harley and Indian are so close. But after much thought and discussion—over a final burger at the Cold Springs Tavern—we concluded that the Ultra Classic isn’t quite a match for the new Roadmaster. Sure, the Harley is super refined, and it’s handsome in a traditionally understated sort of way. But its 103-inch engine offers less power and torque, and it isn’t quite as smooth or flexible as the Indian’s larger powerplant. If our $24,644 Ultra Classic had the $2,000 (plus labor) 110-inch Screamin’ Eagle engine kit standard (instead of being a dealer-installed upgrade), the outcome of this test might have been different. Which leaves us with our winner, the Indian Roadmaster. It does so much so well. It shines as a stable and smooth long-distance traveler, yet it’s actually fun in the twisties. And in our top-gear roll-on tests from 60 to 80 mph, the Indian absolutely smokes the Harley, doing it in 6.7 seconds as opposed to 10.4. Yes, it’s the most expensive, and yes, you absolutely have to want valanced fenders, but the Roadmaster rules this test with its great overall performance and abundant standard features. A Prime American cut, indeed.» Go to next page for TRIP NOTES
| SPECIFICATIONS | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Harley-Davidson Electra Glide Ultra Classic | Indian Roadmaster | Victory Cross Country Tour | |
| PRICE | $24,644 | $28,199 | $22,999 |
| DRY WEIGHT | 856 lb. | 909 lb. | 835 lb. |
| MAX LOAD | 481 lb. | 465 lb. | 480 lb. |
| WHEELBASE | 64.0 in. | 65.9 in. | 66.6 in. |
| SEAT HEIGHT | 29.3 in. | 28.5 in. | 28.5 in. |
| FUEL MILEAGE | 34.0 mpg | 36.0 mpg | 32.0 mpg |
| 1/4 MILE | 13.64 sec. @ 94.22 mph | 13.57 sec. @ 95.80 mph | 13.34 sec. @ 96.03 mph |
| 0-60 MPH | 4.6 sec. | 4.7 sec. | 4.4 sec. |
| 60-80 MPH | 10.4 sec. | 6.7 sec. | 9.2 sec. |
| 60-0 MPH | 139 ft. | 127 ft. | 139 ft. |
| HORSEPOWER | 73.7 hp @ 4980 rpm | 76.4 hp @ 4510 rpm | 85.0 hp @ 4670 rpm |
| TORQUE | 92.3 lb.-ft. @ 2660 rpm | 106.6 lb.-ft. @ 2640 rpm | 99.2 lb.-ft. @ 4300 rpm |
| TOP SPEED | 103 mph | 110 mph | 107 mph |
EXTRA: BACK-SEAT RIDER As you can see from our photos, Road Test Editor Don Canet brought his significant other along on this test to provide some important back-seat perspective. Donna Florentin, brave soul that she is, logged more than 800 miles on the back of these machines, so we asked the 5-foot-6 flight attendant to rank the pillions. Here goes: Harley-Davidson: “The seat is just very comfortable. The back sort of wraps around you. You just cozy in. As a passenger, it’s awesome.” Victory: “It’s comfortable, and the padding is very soft. But other than that, there’s not much more to say. It’s kind of sterile back there.” Indian Roadmaster: “I’m long-legged and the floorboards of the Roadmaster felt too high. I also found the back pad to be a little bit uncomfortable.” (Editor’s Note: Indian floorboards were set in the middle of three positions.) OFF-DUTY: WHERE'S THE BEEF? For years, the Far Western Tavern (farwesterntavern.com ) in Guadalupe has been our go-to place for steaks on the Central Coast. But they closed shop recently because of earthquake retrofit issues with their building. Not to worry. The Minetti family built a new restaurant in Orcutt, even dis-assembling the massive wood bar and bringing it with them. While we miss the original decor with its steer-hide curtains, the rib eyes are as flavorful as ever, still cooked over local oak. Looking for tri-tip in Santa Maria? We were, so we headed to Jocko’s but found a two-hour wait. So we rode over to Shaw’s Steakhouse, which has been serving Santa Maria barbecue since 1953. They took us right in and served us tri-tip cooked over oak, complemented by linguica sausage and a traditional Central Coast relish tray. Hard to beat. It felt like 1953 in there, at least until everybody started checking email on their iPhones... 
OFF-DUTY: 1880 UNION HOTEL Each day, when riding and photography were finished, we relaxed and overnighted at the 1880 Union Hotel (unionhotelvictmansion.com ) in Los Alamos, a former Wells Fargo stagecoach stop. It’s a great place, a 14-room hotel rebuilt in 1915 that looks like an old Western set, replete with creaky wood floors. With no TVs or phones in the rooms, time slows down there. When we weren’t in the Buffalo Room playing pool, we were luxuriating upstairs in the parlor, discussing whatever it was that needed to be discussed. Best of all, the 1880 Union Hotel is in a choice location. It’s only 140 miles north of Los Angeles, right off Highway 101, and there’s a craft beer place (Babi’s Beer Emporium) just a short walk away. And, oh, yeah, let’s not forget that some of the best riding roads in North America are right at your doorstep. Our only regret? Not being there on a Friday or Saturday night to enjoy some of the good live music.Gadget Reviews: mamaktalk.com
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