Though some aren’t afraid of dirty off-road adventures, most touring motorcycles in the US are designed for high-speed highway cruising. And with European brands like BMW, Triumph, and Moto Guzzi expanding their pavement tourer offerings, Harley isn’t Indian’s only worry anymore. So, for 2022, Indian is adding a new Challenger-based iron horse to its stable: the Pursuit.

The 2022 Indian Pursuit wraps the Challenger in a ‘full-dress’ touring suit

Although it is a King of the Baggers competitor, the Indian Challenger isn’t technically a full-on touring bike. Or rather, it’s not a ‘full-dress’ touring bike, as they say. The 2022 Indian Pursuit, though, takes the regular Challenger fully into touring territory with some tech and body upgrades.

Mechanically, the 2022 Indian Pursuit is virtually identical to the Challenger. For example, it has the same liquid-cooled V-twin, six-speed transmission, and front fork. However, the Pursuit’s version of the V-twin is supposedly recalibrated for better low-speed behavior, Cycle World says. Also, while it has identical suspension travel, the base Challenger doesn’t have the Pursuit’s Fox shock or Brembo brakes. You have to step up to the Challenger Dark Horse to get those goodies.

Besides the chassis and powertrain, the 2022 Indian Pursuit also shares most of the Challenger’s body panels, including its frame-mounted fairing. But because the Pursuit, well, pursues long-distance rides, it has some additional comfort-related features. For instance, its frame-mounted fairing has an adjustable windscreen and is joined by vented lower fairings. Also, the Pursuit has a ‘Touring Comfort’ rider seat, full passenger seat, rider and passenger floorboards, and standard heated grips. And besides the power-locking (!) hard saddlebags, it also has a locking top case with a passenger backrest.

If you want even more touring tech on your 2022 Indian Pursuit, go for the Premium Package trims

As noted earlier, the Indian Challenger Dark Horse gets a few upgraded features that the 2022 Pursuit has. But that makes some sense because there’s no ‘base’ Pursuit per se. Instead, the touring motorcycle’s trims break down like this:

• Limited
• Dark Horse
• Limited with Premium Package
• Dark Horse with Premium Package

There aren’t any major differences between the Pursuit Limited and Dark Horse. The latter just has different color options and blacked-out trim instead of chrome in most places. But they both come well-equipped for touring riders.

In addition to the features mentioned earlier, they have ABS, cruise control, traction control, and a 7” touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay, navigation, and a motorcycle location tracker. Also, the Pursuit Limited and Dark Horse have multiple riding modes, keyless ignition, USB and 12V charging ports, rear-cylinder deactivation, and LED lighting. And Indian gives all Pursuits one free year of its Ride Command+ features, including weather and traffic navigation overlays.

If that’s not quite enough comfort, though, Indian offers the Premium Package on both Pursuit trims. This gives you a heated seat, fairing-integrated riding lights, lean sensitivity to the ABS and traction control, and cornering control. Plus, it adds electronic preload adjustability to the Fox monoshock that you can set via the touchscreen.

How much will Indian’s new touring bike cost when it arrives in dealers?

As of this writing, Indian hasn’t released a concrete availability date for the Pursuit beyond ‘early 2022.’ But presumably, it should arrive in dealerships before the riding season starts properly.

Given it has more standard features, the 2022 Indian Pursuit costs more than the Challenger. Along with the Roadmaster, another touring model, it’s one of Indian’s most expensive non-limited-edition bikes:

• Limited: $29,999
• Dark Horse: $30,999
• Limited with Premium Package: $32,999
• Dark Horse with Premium Package: $33,999

However, if some of the Premium Package’s features caught your attention, know that they’re all available as individual options on the base Limited and Dark Horse. And to be fair, no one said being well-dressed was cheap.

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