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King of the Baggers Race: Custom Indian Challenger x S&S Cycle Race Bike Revealed

By General Posts

INDIAN MOTORCYCLE AND S&S CYCLE TO RACE AT INAUGURAL
‘KING OF THE BAGGERS’ INVITATIONAL AT LAGUNA SECA

Armed with the Indian Challenge & Piloted by Road Racing Champion Tyler O’Hara, Indian & S&S
Take on An Entire Field of Harley-Davidsons

MINNEAPOLIS (July 13, 2020) – Indian Motorcycle, America’s First Motorcycle Company, and S&S Cycle today announced a collaboration to race an Indian Challenger at the inaugural Drag Specialties King of the Baggers invitational at Laguna Seca Raceway. The modified Indian Challenger will be piloted by the highly-decorated racing champion Tyler O’Hara.

Among the 14 teams invited to the first-ever King of the Baggers race, S&S is the only Indian Challenger entry. Set to face off against a field of 13 Harley-Davidson baggers, the appropriately-named Indian Challenger boasts superior out-of-the-box performance, including a best-in-class 122 horsepower, an inverted front suspension, and a hydraulically-adjustable FOX® rear shock.

“When the Indian Challenger was released last October, it set a new standard for performance-oriented, stock baggers and offers the ideal platform, from which to base our race modifications,” said Paul Langely of S&S. “That said, we’re leaving no stone unturned when evaluating the modifications needed to be successful at Laguna Seca.”

At the helm of the S&S-modified Indian Challenger will be road racing veteran Tyler O’Hara. A highly-decorated, and seasoned rider, O’Hara brings a diverse racing background – having won titles in supersport, supermoto, motocross and flat track racing. O’Hara also brings significant experience at Laguna Seca.

“I’m thrilled to not only be racing in the King of the Baggers event, but to be piloting the only Indian Challenger in the field. It’s an incredible opportunity for me, and I expect it will be a ton of fun,” said O’Hara. “The Challenger is a remarkable machine in its stock form, but I know the S&S team will be working its magic to give us the best chance to be successful come race day.”

“Just like the rest of the racing community and motorcycle industry, we cannot wait to see 14 baggers ripping around Laguna Seca,” said Gary Gray, Vice President – Racing, Technology and Service for Indian Motorcycle. “That said, we’re extremely proud to be the lone Indian Motorcycle in the field, partnering with our friends, the elite innovators at S&S.”

The King of the Baggers event will be part of the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest at Monterey on October 23-25. The inaugural race will join the premier MotoAmerica Superbike, Supersport, Liqui Moly Junior Cup, Stock 1000, Twins Cup and Heritage Cup racing.

Facing a field of nothing but Harley-Davidsons, King of the Baggers serves up a compelling extension of Indian Motorcycle’s Challenger Challenge program, a mobile demo tour and dealer test ride program that encourages motorcyclists to test ride the Indian Challenger, head-to-head against the Harley-Davidson® Road Glide® Special.

“We’ve seen incredible consumer response to the superior features and benefits of the Challenger when compared directly against the Road Glide,” said Gray. “King of the Baggers takes that comparison to an entirely different level, as we face off against the field at Laguna Seca.”

For more information and ticketing for the Drag Specialties King of the Baggers, visit MotoAmerica.com. Learn more about S&S Cycle at SSCycle.com, and Indian Motorcycle at IndianMotorcycle.com, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

YouTube Videos:

  • Bike introduction
  • Testing

 

Harley in for a Fight as Indian Names Rider for Challenger King of the Baggers

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

The biggest news of the week on the Harley-Davidson front is that the company is giving up on the world’s largest motorcycle markets. Milwaukee announced at the end of the week it is leaving India, sending shockwaves in the Harley-loving community there. But there might be an even more interesting piece of news in the oven, ready to be served at the end of October.

It is then when the MotoAmerica Superbike Speedfest takes place in Monterey (October 23-25). As part of the event, a little show called King of the Baggers will take place, pitting a pack of 12 Harleys against a single, S&S and Roland Sands-prepared Indian Challenger (initially the word was that there would be 13 Harleys fielded).

The already incredible Indian two-wheeler got specific tweaks for the task of taking on the Harleys, including Roland Sands wheels shod in Dunlop super sport tires, hydraulically-adjustable FOX X rear shock, and an inverted front suspension.

We’ve already known the bike was in the works, and we’ve seen it testing a couple of weeks back. And now another piece of the puzzle is revealed: the name of the rider.

Frankie Garcia, the man who back in 2006, when he was just 15, became the youngest athlete to compete in an X-Games motorcycle event, and currently member of the Indian Motorcycle-RSD Super Hooligan race team, will be the one trying to keep in check the bike’s 122 horsepower against the small army of Harleys.

“It’s a real honor to have the opportunity to not only participate in the inaugural King of the Baggers race, but to represent RSD on one of only two Indian Challengers in the field,” said Garcia in a statement.

“I’ve had the opportunity to spend some time on a stock Challenger, and believe me, this bike wants to go fast and handles like a bike half its size. It’s the perfect platform for something as radical as knee-dragging baggers at Laguna Seca.”

Harley-Davidson Custom King Is the Iron Beast Milwaukee Should Be Making

By General Posts

by Daniel Patrascu from https://www.autoevolution.com

Harley-Davidson is many things, both good and bad, but for the custom bike industry it certainly is godsent. The Milwaukee company is responsible through its products for the existence of countless garages across the world, and for what it’s worth, it never forgot that.

For a number of years now, Harley has been holding a build-off competition called Battle of the Kings. BOTK in short, it is dedicated mostly to the international dealer network, and calls upon interested partners to come up with stunning designs based on production motorcycles, while following a rather strict set of rules.

BOTK culminated this year with a mammoth iteration called King of Kings, pitting 15 of the best previous participant garages against one another. The winner was crowned the Apex Predator, a Sportster XR1200 modified by a Mexican shop called Harley-Davidson Queretaro.

We covered all those bikes extensively back in May (you can see them all at this link), but there are incredible creations made for earlier BOTK events worth talking about as well.

One of them is this Iron 883 called Custom King. Modified by German garage Thunderbike, it won the third place in the 2017 BOTK.

The build was inspired by drag-style motorcycles on the 1970s, says Thunderbike, and it all came down to “the love of detail and hand-crafted parts.” Wrapped in a black and red livery to die for, the bike is one of the most uncharacteristic in the Iron family.

The race-inspired look is enhanced by a wealth of custom parts. Air filters, special covers all around, high-performance brakes, a fork brace instead of a front fender, lamp covers, the chain conversion kit, the turn signals, the ignition coil set, and even the side license plate holder have been created with a single goal in mind: give the Iron a royal appearance.

 

The Harley-Davidson That Tried and Failed to Become World’s Most Expensive Bike

By General Posts

In August 2020, 43 years will have passed since Elvis Presley, the king of rock ‘n’ roll, or simply The King, died of an overdose on prescription drugs. To this day, he remains one of the most iconic figures in pop culture.

Even after all these years, Elvis is still considered a top artist in music. He made dozens of movies as well and, while they’re all popular in their own right, they do not speak of his artistry but rather of his desire to capitalize on his music career. In short, he made too many of them, of too questionable quality.

Even in death, The King is still a top-selling artist, which drives up the price to every item that he owned, ranging from his clothes (the flamboyant outfits from his final years, in particular), to his guns, letters and photographs, and last but not least, his impressive car and motorcycle collection. As you probably know, the richer Elvis got, the more he liked to splurge on fancy riders, be they on two or four wheels, and occasionally on three.

Another thing that Elvis was famous for where his car and bikes collection is concerned is the fact that he hardly kept any item around for too long. He would often buy stuff in the spur of the moment, enjoy it for some time and then pass it along, either by gifting it to friends and associates, or reselling it.

This brief introduction is necessary when talking about the last motorcycle he ever bought, which is also the Harley-Davidson mentioned in the headline: a 1976 FLH 1200 Electra Glide that aimed to set a new record for the world’s most expensive bike sold, back in August 2019. It failed.

In the summer of 2019, Kruse GWS Auctions’ Artifacts of Hollywood announced the upcoming auction of a new lot, containing, among others, Presley’s last bike. It was a Harley-Davidson Electra Glide that was still functional and with all the original parts from the moment of purchase, having been stored in a glass museum-quality display at the Pioneer Auto Museum in Murdo, South Dakota, for 30 years. Visitors were never allowed to touch it, so it remained in pristine condition.

In the listing, the auction house highlighted the bike’s impressive pedigree: Elvis himself had bought on August 11, 1976, after visiting a Harley-Davidson dealership to buy a Sportster 1000 for a friend – as a gift, of course. With the Electra Glide, he was very specific about what he wanted: a two-tone paintwork in black and baby blue, hand-stitched leather seat and chrome accents.

He had the bike delivered to his home, Graceland and, in true Elvis form, would pass it on after a while, when he grew bored with it. He sold it to a local Harley-Davidson dealership only days before his death, with just 126 miles on the clock. From there, it passed to the museum, where it would remain until 2019.

This impressive history, and the fact that the Harley was in top condition and with all-original parts prompted the auction house to estimate it would fetch between $1.75 million and $2 million. Which, if you think about it, is not too far-fetched for a piece of Elvis history.

Had it been able to meet this mark, it would have become the world’s most expensive bike ever sold, beating previous record holder 1951 Vincent Black Lightning used by Jake Ehret to set a speed record on in 1954, which went for $929,000 in 2018.

Surprisingly though, Elvis’ Harley not only failed to meet the lowest estimate but fell short by it by a several hundreds thousands: it went to an unknown bidder for a “mere” $800,000.

This still makes it the world’s third most expensive bike sold, but it also shows that, even when it comes to The King, there are some things you can put a price on. And it’s much lower than you think, especially if the butt of said King hardly ever touched it.

The Trikes of Elvis Presley

By General Posts

elvistrike

centaurtrike1975TCB by Trikes.bikernet.com Editor Ujjwal Dey
Taking Care of Business, our Trikes Editor has painstakingly compiled a comprehensive track on Elvis owned Trikes. Play the record, visit the Trikes site, feel the energy.

Simply “The King” : The Trikes of Elvis Presley
During the 1970s craze for Trikes, legend Elvis Presley rode these with joy

“I wasn’t popular in school … I failed music—only thing I ever failed. And then they entered me in this talent show … when I came onstage I heard people kind of rumbling and whispering and so forth, ’cause nobody knew I even sang. It was amazing how popular I became after that.” – Elvis reminiscing about his 1953 song and dance routine.

In 1954, Elvis finally got himself a job as a truck driver. A job many of us who dream and chase dreams know as the job that pays the bills for the expensive hobby of dreaming.

In the summer of 1975, Elvis bought several Trikes (three wheeled motorcycles), the first of which was a 1975 Rupp Centaur with a 340cc two stroke engine. Within weeks two other types would follow. They were the 65 bhp, 1600cc Volkswagen engine trikes based on Ed Roth designs. The two VW Trikes were seen many times on the road with Elvis Presley riding it in and out of his Graceland home.

CLICK TO READ THE FEATURE

– Ujjwal ‘Wayfarer’ Dey

Managing Editor Trikes.bikernet.com

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