At the end of last year’s King of the Baggers race at the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, one thing was clear: a pack of 11 Harley-Davidson motorcycles was no match for two Indian Challengers, which made short work of the Milwaukee machines.
The race ended with Indian riders Tyler O’Hara and Frankie Garcia clinching the first and third places on the podium. Sandwiched between them was Hayden Gillim, riding a Harley-Davidson in the Vance & Hines Racing Team colors.
That’s right, the same Vance & Hines team that earlier this year lost factory backing for its efforts in the NHRA Pro Stock Motorcycle series on account of the bike maker’s reorganization plan. A team that is coming back this year for the full season of King of the Baggers, also fielding a Harley-Davidson, described as “the highest performance Harley-Davidson touring bikes ever assembled.”
That would be an Electra Glide packing a 131ci (2.1-liter) engine and running Stage IV upgrades, custom-tuned map, custom intake, and specially designed exhaust. We are not told what numbers those fine words translate into, but they should be spectacular if we are to trust the team.
Riding the motorcycle will again be Hayden Gillim, who will not have to face Indians alone; Harley-Davidson’s own factory team will be fielding a Road Glide Special and rider Kyle Wyman.
“America’s favorite motorcycle, great performance products and a top notch rider, racing doesn’t get better than that!” said company president Mike Kennedy, according to MotoAmerica. “Vance & Hines was born at a race track, so it’s natural that we’d be in the series demonstrating the talent we have at our RDC and the great performance products we create.”
The three-race King of the Baggers series kicks off this weekend at the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta and will continue in June at Road America and return to Laguna Seca in July.
Daniel loves writing (or so he claims), and he uses this skill to offer readers a "behind the scenes" look at the automotive industry. He also enjoys talking about space exploration and robots, because in his view the only way forward for humanity is away from this planet, in metal bodies. Full profile
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