Indian were always the 'sportier' bike compared to the Harleys ...
At least from 1936 onwards, Harley-Davidson was sportier than the Indian Chief with its overhead valve Knucklehead engine. The Chief continued to have its side valve engine.
On the other hand, the Indian was more stylish, more comfortable (rear suspension from 1940) and was always considered the “nobler” motorcycle by its fans.
Indian and HD fans were rivals, which explains sayings like:
“You can't wear out an Indian Scout, or his brother the Indian Chief. They're built like rocks to stand hard knocks, it's the Harleys that cause the grief.”
Even today, there are Indian fans who tongue-in-cheek refer to the other brand as Band-X or Hardly-Dangerous.

Of course, the Polaris-Indians have nothing to do with the old brand, which went bankrupt in 1953. It's just one of those marketing-driven name revivals. But the quality of the motorcycles is supposed to be very good.
So, while we're talking about the old Indians here, outside it's a blue sky, a golden, warm autumn day, and luckily I can take the day off early today and go for a ride on my '46 Chief... :-)