A Race Bike That Baggers Belief

Indian Motorcycles celebrate their King of the Baggers championship by producing a limited-edition copy of their winning bike. This US$ 92,299 (Rs 75.68 lakh) machine is an exact copy of the 2022 winning bike

- Adam Child 'Chad'

TO COMMEMORATE WINNING THE KING of Baggers race series, Indian Motorcycles and S&S Cycle have done something extraordinary. They have produced a limited-edition run of 29 exclusive Challenger RR races bikes, exact copies of the beasts on which Tyler O'Hara won the 2022 Championship (and Jerry McWilliams won the dramatic Daytona race in the same year). Yes, you can buy this monster-but you will have to shell out $92,299 (Rs 75.68 lakh).

This is not a watered-down version of a race bike, all sharp edges sanded down for public consumption, but a ready-to-race replica. That means years of track development, completely new suspension, wheels, braking, and chassis, plus a big-bore 60-degree V-twin enhanced from 1,768 cubic centimetres to 1,834 cc.

And it is a phenomenal motorcycle: one that weighs some 281 kilograms yet is capable of speeds on the Daytona banking of over 290 km/h and is able to lap within a few seconds of the top runners in AMA Superbike. All this, despite being based on Indian's Challenger, one of the most laid-back baggers on the planet complete with 6.5-inch speakers for blasting tunes at fellow tourers along Route 66. In fact, the transformation of 361 kg of prime American beef designed to run on a 19-inch front wheel and a 16-inch rear one into a crazy-fast track tool is beyond genius or comedy or reason. The result beyond compare.

The original MotoAmerica King of Baggers race that ran back in October 2020 was not meant to be too serious; converting laid-back American baggers into race bikes was meant as a fun idea and one-off spectacle. But the best-selling bikes in the United States of America are baggers, car parks are littered with them with sports bikes relatively thin on the ground these days, and that first race was a huge success, creating a social media storm as video emerged of a grid full of faired and bagged V-twin behemoths thundering into Turn One.