I've ridden both, Harley's and Indian's. I own a Springfield. Here's my take...when I'm riding, I'm riding. I'm not effing with the display, etc. After riding my 2019 Springfield for about a year, (12,000 miles), I got on a SG Special. Although the SG was fun, the only way I can describe it is, "unrefined". The "quick release" HW is garbage. The tiny wires that hold the windshield onto a Soft Tail Slim is a joke. The spools that the trunks lock onto are also pathetic. Tiny and an after-thought. It took me a week to find neutral on the SG Special and the ST Slim. Having the blinkers on separate sides is stupid as well. Can you imagine if you designed a car that way? There's no logic behind it. Until HD decides to go with a smoother engine design that doesn't rattle the bike apart, well, you can't put lipstick on a pig. All the tech in the world isn't going to make up for an engine that is stuck in the equivalent of the, "Intel 286 processor". The Indian has a shorter stroke with a fatter piston. Rather than the ridiculous, 8" push rods, the Thunderstroke has much shorter push rods, 49 degrees vs. 45 so they don't rattle the bike to little bits before you take off and, my Springfield 111 with V&H Turn-Downs sounds like a 70's muscle car. The M8 sounds like somebody build an engine from spare parts and can't quite get the timing right. From a practical standpoint, I can't think of one reason to buy a HD over an Indian, other than you look better on a HD after you crash because you were wearing nothing but a baseball cap backwards, shorts and sneakers, when the ambulance pulls up to scrape your brains off the road.
Go with the Harley, the most customizable bike there is. And a much bigger community of bike shops all across the world.
I've ridden both, Harley's and Indian's. I own a Springfield. Here's my take...when I'm riding, I'm riding. I'm not effing with the display, etc. After riding my 2019 Springfield for about a year, (12,000 miles), I got on a SG Special. Although the SG was fun, the only way I can describe it is, "unrefined". The "quick release" HW is garbage. The tiny wires that hold the windshield onto a Soft Tail Slim is a joke. The spools that the trunks lock onto are also pathetic. Tiny and an after-thought. It took me a week to find neutral on the SG Special and the ST Slim. Having the blinkers on separate sides is stupid as well. Can you imagine if you designed a car that way? There's no logic behind it.
Until HD decides to go with a smoother engine design that doesn't rattle the bike apart, well, you can't put lipstick on a pig. All the tech in the world isn't going to make up for an engine that is stuck in the equivalent of the, "Intel 286 processor". The Indian has a shorter stroke with a fatter piston. Rather than the ridiculous, 8" push rods, the Thunderstroke has much shorter push rods, 49 degrees vs. 45 so they don't rattle the bike to little bits before you take off and, my Springfield 111 with V&H Turn-Downs sounds like a 70's muscle car. The M8 sounds like somebody build an engine from spare parts and can't quite get the timing right.
From a practical standpoint, I can't think of one reason to buy a HD over an Indian, other than you look better on a HD after you crash because you were wearing nothing but a baseball cap backwards, shorts and sneakers, when the ambulance pulls up to scrape your brains off the road.