A Custom Indian Chieftain
- Paul
- Aug 8
- 3 min read
Bike builder Kyle Bertsch, leads the charge at American custom bike builders, Forever Rad. They specialise in turning Indian motorcycles into works of art. Tyler Hubbard is a country music star from Georgia in the US of A and has an unmistakable whiff of MAGA about him. Nevertheless, we’ll stop talking politics before we start and get back to motorcycles.
Tyler has been riding motorcycles since he was singing in the local church with a long love affair with dirt bikes. Now Kyle has built a custom Indian Chieftain bike for Tyler and it’s a pretty awesome piece of work.
Using the Chieftain PowerPlus bagger from Indian sets a fairly high bar before anyone has put as much as a spanner near the thing. The fact that Kyle and his team spend three months doing the build says a lot about the craftsmanship and the attention to detail that gone into the project. The engine has been tuned, the exhaust system is made by bagger specialists, HPI and there are even carbon fibre mudguards fitted. While it’s a bike with performance that nods to the bagger race series it’s also built to be comfortable.
Everything else has been upgraded. The suspension is made by a company called Big Bear and is tuned specifically for Tylor and his significant pillion. A set of Kraus handlebars, a nod to his penchant for MX machinery, with risers also ensure a tailored fit for the country singers’ frame. Comfort is supplied via a custom seat from specialists Saddlemen.
Illumination is a LP6 lighting setup compliments of Baja Designs. There’s even a custom-cut tank made by Barnstorm Cycles Controls are dialled in with Beringer hand controls, ODI Vans grips, and Arlen Ness mirrors. Down low, Kraus boards and pegs, along with C3 VTwin toe pegs and mirrors are all by the same company. Everything here has a clear anodized finish. A Beringer rear master cylinder is secured with a custom Forever Rad mounting bracket, completing the clean and performance-focused control setup.
Jason Sprengel of SIK Paint put the finishing touches to the bike with Axalta.
“We went all out on this build,” said Kyle. “We started a raw motor on a lift to what we have now, every bolt, every coating, every colour choice was intentional. We set this bike up to be tall, aggressive, fast. Basically, take a street bike, turn it into a race bike, but keep it comfortable, so that you can kind of have the best of both worlds.” He went on to say, “It’s been a team effort, which is super important to us at the shop. It really takes a lot of dedication and talented people to be able to pull something like that off. It’s probably been the most fulfilling project we’ve ever done because we did it in a short period of time and we just knocked it out of the park.”
Meanwhile Tyler is over the moon with his new bike and can’t say enough good things about Kyle and the lads. “He was super open to collaboration and any of my ideas, but at the same time, I kind of told him, I trust you. You’re the professional. I want to lean into your instinct and what you would really be proud of.” Tyler continues, “I was pretty blown away. Just watching it roll out of the garage and I’m just like, man, this is gorgeous. Trying to take it all in at one time was overwhelming, this is a beautiful gift that I will enjoy for years. The fact that nobody has a bike like this, nobody has seen a bike like this just makes it even more special.”
The PowerPlus 112, 1834 cc V-Twin engine fully stripped and retro fitted with a set of Santoro engine bolts from their Chacho Kit. The standard air intake has been replaced with an S&S Stealth intake which sits in a billet aluminium cover. Theres an extra plate clutch kit, and a Barnstorm Cycles chain conversion with a Santoro shift linkage. The original frame was used but married to a new Toce subframe to save weight. Stopping the beast is courtesy of a set of Brembo brakes with SMT discs.
Indian Motorcycles are available exclusively from Franklin Motors here in Dublin.
