Indian Motorcycle offers the Roadmaster Elite as its flagship tourer with all the best gear and a custom finish. A full-on dresser, the “RE” brings long-range comfort and secure dry storage to the table along with a robust electronics suite that contains both safety and infotainment features. Real, hand-laid gold leaf makes each of the limited-edition models a one-of-a-kind machine with an extra element of exclusivity about it.

Indian Roadmaster Elite Design

As always, Indian brings a mixture of antique design points on the Roadmaster Elite drawn from its own deep historical roots with modern underpinnings and an eye toward comfort. A classic, fully-valenced front fender leads the way with the brand's signature war-bonnet ornament and chrome metal piping for trim. I'm telling y'all, this thing almost looks like it's straight out of the '40s.

Chrome beer-can fork skirts over chrome fork lowers to lend some extra visual weight and old-school charm to the front end, even though most of the upper fork tubes and cans are hidden behind the fairing and the little splashguard tabs. As for the fairing itself, it's full-size with recessed pimp lights abreast the single round headlight with the large chrome shield that marks the family. The turn signals are also recessed into the wings of the fairing in a bid to keep the front end clean.

Up top, a power-adjustable, clear windscreen punches a hole in the weather, and together with the barn-door fairing, forms a generous rider's pocket to include protection for your hands. A set of lower fairings ride on the chrome engine guards to extend the protection to your legs and complete the coverage.

Round analog gauges – speedo and tach – are mounted inside the fairing complete with indicator lights plus LCD screens to display some of the other pertinent metrics, but it's the infotainment system that steals the show here. Indian's Ride Command system comes with a seven-inch, color touchscreen for the human interface, and it'll let you tap, pinch and drag through the music/mobile phone/navigation menus, even in wet weather and with gloves on. It monitors and displays a range of system metrics including tire pressure, fuel status and economy, along with a Bluetooth connection to keep your smartphone in the loop. As if that wasn't enough, the factory threw on an analog fuel gauge and voltmeter side-by-side in an old-school tank console that adds a bit of bling to the 5.5-gallon fuel tank.

The deep-scoop saddle rides at a low 26.5 inches off the deck, and it combines with forward footboards and a low-rise, pullback handlebar to define a relaxed, upright rider's triangle meant to be comfortable for long stretches. It's a short hop up to the p-pad that features a backrest and armrests with adjustable footboards for your passenger's comfort, all in black leather quilted with contrasting white thread. Plus, the seats and grips are both heated for winter riding.

Hard-side saddlebags and a top case provide 36.2 gallons of dry, secure storage, and this is the feature that most makes it suitable for the long-range work, though it also makes the RE one helluva grocery-getter.

Indian Roadmaster Elite Chassis

A cast-aluminum skeleton provides the main support on the Roadmaster Elite and sheds a few pounds versus a steel frame. The steering head comes set at a 25-degree angle with 5.9 inches of trail over a 65.7-inch wheelbase, so you can expect solid tracking with a relatively eager nature in the corners, not entirely unlike the performance the Honda Gold Wing delivers.

A pair of 46 mm forks float the front end on fixed damping/rebound values, but out back the air-adjustable monoshock delivers a wide range of preload as determined by air pressure along with a cushy ride. At 953 pounds wet, this is a bona fide heavyweight, but the factory made sure there was enough brakeage with dual, four-piston anchors up front opposite a twin-pot caliper and all-around, 300 mm discs. ABS comes standard, and symmetrical, 16-inch cast wheels mount the Dunlop Elite 3 hoops with a 130/90 ahead of a 180/60 so you can count on the generous contact patches.

Indian Roadmaster Elite Drivetrain

Safety gadgets on the Roadmaster Elite extend into the engine compartment with the Rider Modes feature that lets you dial in the power delivery via a trio of profiles; Standard, Sport, and Tour.

In a bid to combat the wash of engine heat reaching the pilot, engine controls disable the rear cylinder when you're stopped and at an idle. Personally, I ain't sold on the idea that it reduces heat all that much in stoplight-to-stoplight riding, but perhaps it earns its salt in bumper-to-bumper-type traffic.

The Thunder Stroke 111 engine provides the power to the tune of 119 pound-feet of torque at a low, three-thousand rpm. This grunty demeanor allows you to cruise at highway speeds without having to wind the mill up to a frenetic pace, and that, in turn, makes for a more-relaxed ride.

The air-cooled jugs are laid out in a 49-degree Vee with a 101 mm bore and 113 mm stroke to give it the 111 cubic-inch (1,811 cc) displacement with a 9.5-to-1 compression ratio that will demand mid-grade (89 octane) pusholine. Said dino-juice is regulated by the 54 mm throttle body, and the power makes its way to the six-speed transmission via a gear-type primary – a contrast to Harley-Davidson's chain-style primary drive, for instance – with a top speed around 125 mph (individual results may vary). Fast enough, I mean, how fast do you via to go on the interstate, really? Better question; how fast do you think you go without “the folks” getting excited?

Indian Roadmaster Elite Pricing

The 2018 Roadmaster Elite rolled in a two-tone, Cobalt Candy/Black Crystal finish with hand-laid, 23-karat gold leaf. The 2019 model has 24-karat gold leaf with Wildfire Red Candy over Thunder Black Crystal, and comes with an upgraded sound system versus the previous model-year. MSRP for both years on the Roadmaster Elite is $36,999.

Indian Roadmaster Elite Competitors

No doubt about it, the Roadmaster Elite is meant to capitalize on its inherent Americana vibe, and its going to have to go toe-to-toe for much the same buyer base as the Harley-Davidson Motor Company does, so I reckon it's fair to pull from that stock. With that in mind, I grabbed the tippity top-line dresser from the CVO lineup for my head to head. Each brand is faithful to its respective roots, and on the “Limited,” that makes itself apparent in the shape of the cut-back front fender, the flyline of the teardrop fuel tank, and the slanted hard bags out back.

For many years, the MoCo used a rather full front fairing, but it recently cut back to the “Batwing” that all the FLTs push for an overall slimmer look than what the Elite leads off with. Like the Indian, the Harley rides on non-adjustable front forks. However, Showa's Dual Bending Valve Forks deliver a superior ride to straight-up vanilla to give The MoCo an edge in the stems.

As far as the infotainment gear is concerned, it's pretty much a wash since H-D has long had a robust infotainment feature of its own. H-D packs in the inches with its 117 cubic-inch (1,923 cc), Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 117, and that brings with it a slight edge in power that has the H-D at 125 pound-feet at 3,500 rpm. While the above seems to indicate that, overall, the H-D is arguably slightly better in a few ways, any perceived advantage evaporates at the checkout in light of its $43,889 starting price against the Indian's $36,999 sticker.

He Said

“Gotta say; that kind of price difference is just the kind of thing that will buy Indian some business against its longtime domestic foe. I do love me a big tourbike, and as usual, Indian hit all the right notes with protection, storage, and power all together. Also, I'm digging the paint this year, and acknowledge that someone over there has a great eye for color.”

She Said

My wife and fellow motorcycle writer, Allyn Hinton, says, “Make no mistake, these are hand-painted premium colorways with gold-leaf trim. It's elegance personified. I wonder, however, if it really lives up to the “Elite” label. Sure, it's a gorgeous bike that comes with premium accessories, but it's the same Thunder Stroke 111 engine as the non-“Elite” line. Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the Thunder Stroke 111; it's an awesome engine. If you're going to take your top-of-the-line tourer and make an “Elite” version, I'm looking for something special for the engine, as well. How about a Thunder Stroke 115 or 118? The CVO Limited carries a steeper price, but you also get an engine that none of the other lines have, so that makes it special; that makes it “Elite.” All that aside, the Roadmaster Elite is an elegant motorcycle with the comfort features that'll let you put state lines behind you in style.”

Indian Roadmaster Elite Specifications

Further Reading

Harley-Davidson CVO Limited

See our review of the Harley-Davidson CVO Limited.

Indian Roadmaster

See our review of the Indian Roadmaster.

Honda Gold Wing / Gold Wing Tour

See our review of the Honda Gold Wing / Gold Wing Tour.

Indian Motorcycle

Read more Indian Motorcycle news.