King of the Baggers Race Results / Moto News / BikePost

An extremely unusual competition that was announced earlier this year – the King of the Baggers circuit race – took place yesterday at the famous Laguna Seca circuit in California. Thirteen teams took one prepared motorcycle to the start to prove that their weight loss program for heavy tourist monsters is the most effective. The first and third places were taken by the Indian Challenger motorcycles, the second by the Harley-Davidson Street Glide. Photos of cars and details of the regulations – under the cut.

King of the Baggers is organized by MotoAmerica, which is engaged in conventional circuit racing on the sportbikes we are used to. The idea is quite simple – take a serial bagger, modify it a bit (you don’t have to limit yourself to a file), and drive eight laps along the track. The event is more entertaining than serious sports, but the participating teams did not think so. Each bike on the grid was absolutely unique, as the race regulations were not very rigidly spelled out, freeing the hands of the engineers.

Regulations

It was possible to replace valves, rocker arms, camshafts, pistons, connecting rods, engine covers, gears in the gearbox, clutch components, fuel pump and line, radiators, braking systems and some other parts. The frame should remain stock, except that it can be drilled a little if you need to somehow change the fasteners of the spare parts. The motor in the frame cannot be moved either. VIN must be available for inspection. The front suspension can be completely replaced, but only with those components that are already freely sold for at least a month at the time of the race. The pendulum can be replaced along with the shock absorbers, but the overall design of the structure must be preserved – you cannot switch from a two-way pendulum to a one-way one or from two dampers to one. The attachment points of the amorts cannot be changed either. Wheels can only be installed from aluminum alloys, with a diameter of 17 to 19 inches. The exhaust can be completely replaced by removing the catalyst, the main thing is that it does not emit more than 115 dB at 3000 rpm. The saddle, rudder and foot controls are replaceable, allowing you to customize the pilot’s position as you like. The gas tank should resemble the factory shape and layout. The fairings should be similar to the factory fairings, but their location is not discussed. Wardrobe trunks should also repeat the shape of the factory ones, but they can only be raised by no more than 4 inches. It is imperative to remove mirrors, horn, arcs, license plate fasteners and a set of tools from motorcycles. But it is not necessary to remove the devices.

Participants

Finishing order. Pilot / motorcycle / team

Tyler O’Hara / Indian Challenger / S&S

Indian’s current lineup has two fundamentally different baggers – the Chieftain with a 116-inch Thunderstroke air-lube engine with handlebar fairing and the Challenger with a 108-inch PowerPlus water motor with a fixed fairing. It was the latter who was chosen as a blank for the car, since in stock its motor produces 120 hp. The well-known company S&S was engaged in fine-tuning – they replaced the suspension, traverses, all body panels became carbon fiber, and instead of the original gas tank, a false tank was made, while a very modest capacity inside it was made for fuel. The bike was piloted by Tyler O’Hara, an experienced pilot who has been riding motorcycles since childhood and has tried many different classes in his life. During the race on the third lap, he made a mistake and pulled off the track, letting two bikes go ahead, but managed to catch up. Also, during the race, he had problems with the rear brake, as there was a brake fluid leak, which, having got into the exhaust, also began to smoke.
Hayden Gillim / HD Street Glide / Vance & Hines

From the Harley-Davidson lineup, FL-series tourers were allowed to race. The Vance & Hines team decided to choose the Street Glide as the donor, and in terms of the engine they chose the maximum solution – the fresh M8 131 Crate. This motor is allowed by the regulations, since, although optional, it can be installed on serial Harleys from the factory. Hayden Gillim ran the race without mistakes and, being ahead of O’Hara, made every effort not to miss him ahead.
Frankie Garcia / Indian Challenger / Roland Sands

The second Challenger was created under the wing of renowned customizer Roland Sands, who periodically builds projects from Indiana. Unlike the S&S project, the RSD team lowered the fairing strongly, leaving the rudder high. Frankie Garcia had a good start and sat on Gillim’s tail for a long time, but in the end he did not make a single attack – probably there was not enough power from the motorcycle.
Travis Wyman / HD Road Glide / Trask Performance

Tuner manufacturer Trask has turbocharged its 2017 Road Glide
Corey West / HD Road Glide / SlyFox Performance

SlyFox Performance manufactures carbon fiber bodywork for the HD, which comes in handy when creating a racing lightweight bagger.
Eric Stahl / HD Road King Special / Alloy Art MFG Co

Alloy Art specializes in milled components, so they made the subframe for their Road King themselves. The bike has a 129-inch BBK.
Tony Sollima / HD Street Glide / Speed Merchant

The team used the M8 131 Crate motor. Fairing replaced with a more compact one
Josh Chisum / HD Street Glide / Barnett Clutches
Logan Lackey / HD Road Glide / Arlen Ness
Ben Bostrom / HD Road Glide / Feuling Parts

Although Feuling products have been used by many other teams, their personal bike has gone out of the way due to technical problems.
Michael Woolaway / HD Road Glide / Saddlemen
Josh Herrin / HD Street Glide / Performance Machine
Michael Barnes / HD Road King / Bassani Xhaust