Purpose-built competition machines utilizing only the barest of necessities were how the most beautiful bikes were created by RSD. The board trackers, hill climbers and flat track racers of the 20’s, 30s and. 40s are stunning. And there lay the challenge. How to deconstruct a superbly engineered modern day two wheeler down to only its necessary guts? The team spent time on all three of modern Indians, with the full fat Chieftain being the perfect choice for those wanting to ride cross-country packing a lot of stuff. It’s nimble for something that weighs over 350kg, and if you’re looking for a modern full-fendered Chief of yesteryear, this bike is your Huckleberry, sporting Bluetooth, cruise control, USB, navigation et al. Modern bikes aside, we all miss a bit of the rawness that draws us back to vintage machines. The Track Chief is Roland Sand Design’s attempt to do something the factory could not. Being a custom builder has it’s advantages; primarily because they get to do what they want. With no committees and red tape involved, the team set the engine on a frame table and began to create an early era-driven concept utilizing modern components.

RSD started with a drag bike rendering from Holographic Hammer which inspired the boardtracker concept. The Crafty B fuel cap sits atop a titanium tank, accentuated with a handbuilt, bull leather seat and fuel tank strap by Rich at Bitchin Seat Co. The Hot Match kickstand, spring-mounted PIAA bulb in a custom billet housing, and RSD Tracker Tag Bracket all add to the vintage Indian racer flavour. Hiding the computer, battery and all the electrics in a tidy belly pan, was no easy task and couldn’t have been accomplished without some wiring harness help from outside sources and a custom-made, 16-cell Antigravity lithium battery. The electronic throttle potentiometer is hidden behind the front plate and is actuated by a cable-operated, internal throttle mechanism. Mixing new technology with old school styling can be quite a challenge and takes lots of patience, craftsmanship, thought and some help from other, talented, industry partners.

PM Radial brakes, Brembo radial masters, and a FOX DHX mountain bike shock are used for dampening control of the Paughco springer fork. Other goodies include Gregg’s Customs single-sided rear hub, RSD-built titanium pipes, one-off machined RSD Clarity cam and primary covers with Zodiac sportster clutch slave cylinder. The billet RSD Del Mar wheels and rotors are wrapped in Dunlop Elite 3 tyres, accompanied by billet RSD Sportster rearsets with custom adapters and RSD Blunt Air Cleaner with K&N filter. The exhaust has been fashioned from mandrel bent titanium tubing and pieced together to keep the tubing as close to the chassis as possible, providing as much leg clearance as possible.

Since the bike has a springer fork on it, the steel top triple tree bolts completely down to the front fork. Very solid and very safe. Welding the bars straight to the top triple allowed us to make very narrow bars and eliminated the use of risers. They are basically clip-ons… without relying on a pinch bolt.

Riding the Custom Indian “Track Chief” by RSD is an era-bending experience. On paper, the machine should be a handful. It should steer lazy and twist and buck from front to back. Single-sided leaf fork rigid just sounds painful. With those fears in mind, the ride was to be the real proof of concept. Thanks to a little luck and preparation, the Track Chief eats smooth pavement and corners with a mile-hungry attitude. In the twisties, you tend to forget about time until you realize there’s a stop sign and the track-spec braking pulls you out of a 1924 meets 2014 dream world. Throttle response is meaty and a bit lazy but the motor pulls well past your comfort zone. In slow to mid-speed corners, it begs you to be aggressive, and makes you feel as If there’s room to push harder. Full pulls of throttle wind up the torquey engine and easily rocket you through faster corners. In rolling bumps, you begin to feel some flex in the frame and error on the side of caution, but the machine lets you know it’s limits.

In a world where our minds are critical of the future in respect for the past, we feel RSD have met a middle ground with the Track Chief. The remaining question seems to be, full leathers or a leather helmet and a button-up shirt?