3 minute read
Battle of the Baggers
Harley Davidson vs. Indian on the High Banks of Daytona
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PHOTOS AND TEXT BY SCOTT AND CARLA ODELL
Unless you have been living on a deserted island without any communication to the world…yes, there is high performance bagger racing! The season kicked off at the Daytona International Speedway for the MotoAmerica Mission Foods King of the Bagger series and it was everything expected and more.
The biggest question months prior to the decision was would the tires hold up to these heavyweights on the Daytona course ? How would they handle? All those questions were answered during some testing in August 2021. Three of the fastest riders took to the high banks and thrashed them hard. The tires developed by Dunlop just for Daytona worked like a charm under the heat and weight and stayed gripped to the asphalt. Under speed, these monsters handled like their sport bike counterparts and with the results and feedback from everyone involved it was decided…Let’s bring the battle of Harley Davidson vs. Indian to the masses during Bike Week in Daytona !
It is time to crown the King of the Baggers for the 1st race of the season !
Let’s start by getting everyone up to speed on some fundamentals. This series is for American made big-ass V Twins…period. The battle goes back to the beginning of motorcycles in the USA , Harley Davidson vs. Indian. The reigning champion, Kyle Wyman, on the Screaming Eagle Harley Davidson Road Glide would be racing against other Harleys and 2 different versions of the Indian. The bikes would have a minimum weight of 635 lbs from beginning to end of every race. A stock Road Glide weighs in at 820 lbs so a lot of thought goes into chopping out the excess fat. 131 cubic inches is the maximum size for naturally aspirated engines while the smaller cube engines such as a 107 could use turbos. Everything in the valve train can be changed, valves, cams, fuel injectors and exhausts. Carbon fiber replaced all the heavy steel body parts and custom CNC swing arms, transmission casings and other parts are all allowed. It is reported that some of the machines are putting out 150 plus horsepower and that is just rumor? Another concern was ground clearance because these baggers are going to be leaned over hard to get around a track fast. Exhaust had to be raised, casings modified, and rear set controls had to be fitted high as not to drag when cranked over.
Harley Davidson would come to Daytona as the reigning 2021 champion and would battle with the Indian bikes head to head. A total of 18 riders were signed up to hit the high banks of Daytona…10 Road Glides, 1 Street Glide, 1 Indian Chieftain and 6 Indian Challengers.
H-D Screaming Eagle, Saddlemen, Roland Sands Designs, and Vance and Hines are just a handful of the backing companies along with series sponsor, Mission Foods.
There would be two 8 lap races and a 3 lap dash for cash race over the 3 day MotoAmerica event at the Daytona International Speedway. It’s time to get this party started !
Kyle Wyman would qualify in the top spot on the first session of the 3.560 mile track at
