Why is King of the Baggers racing so popular?

Just the sight of a pack of the bellowing 620-pound-plus monsters banking into a turn looks so out of place on track where nimble sub-400-pound bikes are the norm. Their low clip-ons, high rearsets grafted on wherever possible, and massively tall seat heights (all needed to allow racing lean angles) are at odds with the relaxed, comfortable riding position (and style) of the motorcycles they're based on. It's all a little absurd, when you think about it.

KOTB is also undeniably a success story, going from one exhibition race in 2020 to a full series of 18 races in 2024 and appearing as a support class at the only MotoGP round in the Americas. So is Baggers racing popular despite all the ridiculousness? Or because of it?

In my 2024 MotoAmerica season preview story, a few readers started a conversation, speculating about why KOTB has been successful in drawing so much attention. You can go read their comments to see the various theories, but I decided to ask the people who are directly involved in the series what they think. So while I was at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta for the opening full round of MotoAmerica, I gathered some opinions in the paddock.

"It's so unusual"

"Everybody says it, but they're 630-pound bikes and they're not meant for this," said RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines rider and 2023 KOTB champion Hayden Gillim. At Daytona, Baggers were hitting speeds around 185 mph on the banking, faster than the Supersports in the Daytona 200. "The fact that we're doing what we're doing with them is really intriguing to people."

"It kind of sounded like a joke" when the first KOTB race was announced, said S&S/Indian Motorcycles factory rider Tyler O'Hara. "People were almost laughing at the idea. This doesn't make sense. You can't do that. And now we're just defying physics with the speeds, the lap times, the lean angles."

"It's so unusual," said MotoAmerica COO Chuck Aksland. "You don't normally see those kind of bikes sliding around or doing the speeds that they're doing. There's only really one place you can watch that, and it's here. You don't see it in Europe, you don't see it in Asia, you see it here in America. It's an American thing."

That has people well beyond race fans and bagger owners interested. O'Hara pointed out that when KOTB ran as a support class at the recent Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, MotoGP team members were also intrigued. "The Ducati teams come over and look at our bikes, and Honda, and the Japanese mechanics," O'Hara said.

"I think it's the sheer audacity of MotoAmerica's King of the Baggers that is driving its rapid growth and popularity," said Harley-Davidson PR Manager Paul James. "It's the sight of pro riders pushing these bikes to the limit. It's the sound they make as they roar past. The spectacle of these big bikes pitching and sliding sideways at speed, and the no-holds-barred, fairing-banging action is stunning. It's just breathtaking when you see them race in person."

"It is incredible racing"

In that first exhibition race in 2020, about half the field didn't even make the finish. But since then, the race bikes have been highly developed, have shaved many seconds off their lap times, and have also gotten more reliable. The result is not a bizarre sideshow, but legitimately good racing.

"It is incredible racing. The teams have developed these motorcycles to perform at a level far beyond what they were intended to do, and it's incredible to see," said Harley-Davidson Director of Racing Jason Kehl.

"The racing is close. There's no electronics, it's all rider," said Indian's O'Hara.

Six races into the season, only one KOTB race — the Sunday race at Road Atlanta, held in mixed conditions — hasn't been close. All the others have been decided by a gap of less than one second at the finish line. So it's real, competitive racing, not just an exhibition.

"The racing is relatable"

Harley-Davidson Factory Racing rider Kyle Wyman recently pointed out that while Harley-Davidson has been racing for more than a century, the baggers are arguably closer — at least in appearance — to what consumers can buy in a showroom than anything the Motor Company has raced in many years. That has contributed to the King of the Baggers class having two big positive effects for MotoAmerica: New fans are being drawn to the races and factory attention and dollars have shifted from the 20th century Harley-versus-Indian battleground of American Flat Track to roadracing.

"I think anyone who's ever ridden one understands they're not that easy to control, because they're a big bike," said Terry Vance of Vance & Hines Racing. "And you know how many baggers there are in the country. A lot of them."

"The racing is thereby relatable for so many that ride these bikes on the road," said Harley-Davidson's Kehl.

It's not the first time in AMA Superbike history that a support class was created to try to attract Harley-Davidson (and more recently, Indian) riders to the races. Remember the XR1200 class and, long before that, 883 Sportster racing? But perhaps because of Wyman's point above and the current popularity of baggers — and shops tuning baggers for better performance — this effort has been more successful in "reaching a motorcycling audience that has been conspicuously absent from the paddock," said Kehl. "As motorcyclists, we are drawn to the emotion of riding. This series introduces Harley-Davidson loyalists to motorsport athletes such that you can't help but pull for your favorite rider and team. Fans feel connected to the bikes they see on track."

Gillim, who has raced everything from Superbikes to flat-track himself, isn't surprised that KOTB has shifted the old Harley-Indian rivalry from dirt to asphalt. "This looks a lot more like what you buy in the showroom than what they race in flat-track," he said.

"We're racing at these American tracks on these American motorcycles. We're winning on Sunday, selling bikes on Monday," said Indian factory rider O'Hara. "We're actually selling motorcycles."

So what's the future for KOTB?

King of the Baggers has exceeded past attempts to draw cruiser riders and other non-traditional fans to the races, and benefits from serious factory involvement. (Just look at the size of the Harley-Davidson presence in the MotoAmerica Fan Zone at Road Atlanta or the "Push the Limit" series on YouTube as evidence.) But that doesn't mean the young series doesn't face some challenges still.

For example, at Road Atlanta there were more than 40 entries for the Supersport class but only 12 for KOTB. That's a direct result of costs. Of course the Harley-Davidson and Indian factory teams have big budgets, shiny new semis in the paddock, and polished professional teams. Independent teams like RevZilla/Motul/Vance & Hines and Saddlemen also have professional operations. But it's hard for most independent teams to scrape together the money to compete in the class.

"We're trying to help the teams with some cost containment," said MotoAmerica's Aksland. "We would like to see some more teams get involved."

As the man who has to write the crew paychecks and keep the team transporter fueled, Terry Vance fully understands the challenges for an independent team racing in KOTB.

"I think the class has a lot of legs, but the problem with it right now is that it's really expensive," Vance said. "The factories can get away with that but we need more teams. So that's MotoAmerica's job. They've got to figure out how to get more people on the grid."

The solution, to Vance, is simple. KOTB is selling tickets so KOTB teams need a better share of the revenue.

"If they're getting people in the gate, they've got to give something back to the people who are making it happen," Vance said. "(MotoAmerica CFO) Richard Varner is a brilliant man and he's done an outstanding job. I'd go so far to say I don't think there'd be roadracing in America without Richard Varner. So he'll figure it out and they'll do the right thing. I'm confident of that."

Indian's O'Hara also thinks the future looks bright because KOTB has tapped into the genuine passion for the brands.

"The fans are way more enthusiastic," he said. "They're following us around. They're riding their motorcycles to Brainerd, to Wisconsin, to Atlanta. It's a great thing to see. I think it's the best thing going in American roadracing right now."