American Motorcycle Dealer AMD 244 November 2019 | Page 32

Indian Confirms PowerPlus 10
'Challenger' - Its Biggest of B
he 'Challenger' sees a return for
the PowerPlus engine name - one
first used as early as 1916. The
name was brought back by
'Gilroy' Indian for what became
colloquially known as its
'bottletop' engine and subsequently refined
by the Stephen Julius/Stellican owned
King's Mountain, NC, Indian iteration that
Polaris bought in 2011.
Polaris/Indian retired the engine and the
name straight away, in favour of the now
familiar 'Thunder Stroke'. The new
PowerPlus engine is a last hurrah for work
that had been done at the Osceola,
Wisconsin facility for future Victory
Motorcycle models. It was a design that had
apparently been intended for a new Victory
Cross Country model.
When the decision to close Victory was
taken, the engine, or at least the name and
then design concept, was inherited by the
Indian Motorcycle team under the 'Legend'
codename.
At 108 ci (1,770 cc) it is the largest and
most powerful stock engine yet offered by
Indian Motorcycle, producing a claimed 122
horsepower and 128 ft-lbs of torque. A
DOHC, 60-degree water-cooled V-twin, the
engine will be produced at Osceola,
Wisconsin, with final assembly of the
'Challenger' at the present Indian
Motorcycle assembly facility at Spirit Lake,
Iowa.
Said to "establish a dramatically new
standard for V-twin performance," the
PowerPlus will "serve as the heart of the
new Indian Challenger, an all-new, fixed-
fairing bagger that utilizes Indian
Motorcycle's state-of-the-art technology to
become the highest performing American V-
twin ever developed. The new engine's
name is a nod to Indian Motorcycle's iconic
history, paying homage to the Indian
PowerPlus motorcycle" (produced from
1916 to 1924).
"We challenge our engineers with the
notion that anything less than best-in-class
design and performance will simply not get
T
it done, and it's clear with this new engine
they have delivered on that high standard,"
said Steve Menneto, Indian Motorcycle
President. "Countless hours were spent in
design, development and testing to ensure
this is the best liquid-cooled V-twin ever
developed, and I could not be prouder of
our team and this incredible motor."
Indian says that the PowerPlus adopts
several design and performance features
from the liquid-cooled 1,133 cc Indian Scout
engine, including an overhead camshaft
design utilizing four valves per cylinder.
"But comparisons end there. The PowerPlus
was developed with a big-piston, big-torque
mindset with an end game of maximum
power delivery across the entire curve."
The all-new powertrain features a six-speed
transmission with "true overdrive", assist
clutch to reduce clutch effort, and three ride
modes that allow riders to tailor throttle
mapping to their riding preferences.
Advanced technology also includes
hydraulic valve lash adjusters and
hydraulic camshaft chain
tensioners for ease of
maintenance and reliability.
"The PowerPlus was tested, refined and
proven by one of the industry's most
rigorous development and testing
programs, accumulating nearly one million
miles of simulated testing, including state-
of-the-art dyno testing, and more than
250,000 on-road miles."
"You simply cannot deliver the ultimate
bagger without an engine that stands head
and shoulders above anything else in its
class, and that was the motivation behind
the PowerPlus," said John Callahan, Indian
Motorcycle Vice President, Engineering. "We
developed the most sophisticated V-twin
powerplant in the industry, and then we
spent month after month, hour upon hour,
putting it through the most intense paces to
ensure it could take whatever we threw at
it. The end result is something truly
special."
www.indianmotorcycle.com
Indian now offers four Dark Horse Big Twins - left to right:
Challenger, Springfield, Chief and Chieftain.
32
Challenger Limited
AMERICAN MOTORCYCLE DEALER - NOVEMBER 2019