Indian Motorcycle commemorated the 100th anniversary of their venerable Chief nameplate with a total revamp for 2022. The new edition of this classic cruiser delivers nostalgic styling combined with progressive performance. Unfortunately, as is unfortunately to be expected from any newly released platform, some issues have cropped up during its first year on the market - but Indian are working hard to resolve them.
November 2022 marked a massive recall for the highly-coveted American OEM Chief motorcycles, impacting all variants from base models to Dark Horses and Super Chiefs. The affected units were produced between certain dates due to their failed fuel pumps (PN 2521733 & PN 2522501). With this manufacturer's latest announcement, they made sure that every single Chief owner was taken care of in order to maintain safety standards on its beloved motorcycle range.
On December 29, 2022, Indian Motorcycles delivered a booting to the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The agency was informed that all model year 2022 Chiefs were equipped with faulty kickstands which could be left extended while riding and fail to retract upon contact with the ground - in contravention of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard regulations for motorcycle controls and displays.
Fortunately, the recall doesn’t concern any 2023 Chief owners, as the firm implemented a different frame and side stand combination for the new model year. On the other hand, Indian doesn't currently have a remedy for the defective kickstands on all 4,653 recalled 2022 Chief units. While the company develops a plan of action in the coming weeks, it intends to send owner notification letters by February 17, 2023.
In the meantime, 2022 Chief owners can contact Indian Motorcycle customer service at 1-877-204-3697 (recall ID: I-23-01) or reach out to the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153). Of course, owners may want to garage their 2022 Chief models until Indian distributes notification letters and devises a way to replace the faulty part.
