Lifted this off another forum and is a good comparison from someone who made the change, seems to echo Docs views too particularly around suspension. Basically they just work out of the box.
Last saturday I bought a gently used 2023 Challenger Limited. I have owned two Yamaha cruisers, two Victory bikes (one cruiser, one bagger) a Triumph Scrambler, and my last bike was a Harley Davidson Street Glide Special. I put about 500 miles on The Challenger so far and I thought I'd give my first impressions for anyone else on the fence about buying an Indian bagger.
The biggest difference I've noticed is the suspension, and this is worth the entire purchase price alone. This bike just soaks up the bumps. Where the HD would constantly transmit hard jolts straight into my spine (even after spending $2500 on shocks and a seat), the Challenger is honestly nearly as comfortable as sitting in my car. That's how smooth it is. With the exception of my Victory bagger I've never ridden a bike this smooth.
Second big difference, the cockpit is way more spacious. I'm 6' 1". The HD required me to put a "tall boy" seat on it (which of course cut into my wife's space on the back which she was not pleased about) and raised bars just to make it acceptable. I don't feel any need to make changes to this bike, it's really comfortable bone stock in my opinion.
Sound system. People complain about stock sound systems, but because of how the fairing is built, I can hear this thing all the way up to 80mph and only have the volume on 7. Honestly, after 70mph on the HD, I couldn't hear the stereo at all, even on full blast.
And speaking of fairings... I picked the bike up 100 miles from home and there's a super windy mountain pass we have to ride over to get there. On the way over, the wind was just beating my ass on the HD. On the way back, the Challenger cut through the wind like nothing. The only slight downside, is the protection is so good, that it actually gets a little hot in the cockpit, even with the fairing vents open.
Lastly, CarPlay is freaking awesome. I had to swap the head unit on the HD (another $1000 down the drain) to get CarPlay. IT's built into the Challenger. I just used my existing ZZ-Air wireless CarPlay adapter, and coupled it with a Maedhawk headset bypass adapter that plugs right into the ZZ-Air so both devices share the same USB port. Works like a charm.
So I'm sure I'll have more thoughts soon, I'm doing a 1500 mile trip in about two weeks. But so far, no regrets at all about dumping the HD. This bike is really, really nice.
Last saturday I bought a gently used 2023 Challenger Limited. I have owned two Yamaha cruisers, two Victory bikes (one cruiser, one bagger) a Triumph Scrambler, and my last bike was a Harley Davidson Street Glide Special. I put about 500 miles on The Challenger so far and I thought I'd give my first impressions for anyone else on the fence about buying an Indian bagger.
The biggest difference I've noticed is the suspension, and this is worth the entire purchase price alone. This bike just soaks up the bumps. Where the HD would constantly transmit hard jolts straight into my spine (even after spending $2500 on shocks and a seat), the Challenger is honestly nearly as comfortable as sitting in my car. That's how smooth it is. With the exception of my Victory bagger I've never ridden a bike this smooth.
Second big difference, the cockpit is way more spacious. I'm 6' 1". The HD required me to put a "tall boy" seat on it (which of course cut into my wife's space on the back which she was not pleased about) and raised bars just to make it acceptable. I don't feel any need to make changes to this bike, it's really comfortable bone stock in my opinion.
Sound system. People complain about stock sound systems, but because of how the fairing is built, I can hear this thing all the way up to 80mph and only have the volume on 7. Honestly, after 70mph on the HD, I couldn't hear the stereo at all, even on full blast.
And speaking of fairings... I picked the bike up 100 miles from home and there's a super windy mountain pass we have to ride over to get there. On the way over, the wind was just beating my ass on the HD. On the way back, the Challenger cut through the wind like nothing. The only slight downside, is the protection is so good, that it actually gets a little hot in the cockpit, even with the fairing vents open.
Lastly, CarPlay is freaking awesome. I had to swap the head unit on the HD (another $1000 down the drain) to get CarPlay. IT's built into the Challenger. I just used my existing ZZ-Air wireless CarPlay adapter, and coupled it with a Maedhawk headset bypass adapter that plugs right into the ZZ-Air so both devices share the same USB port. Works like a charm.
So I'm sure I'll have more thoughts soon, I'm doing a 1500 mile trip in about two weeks. But so far, no regrets at all about dumping the HD. This bike is really, really nice.
