A Day With the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory King of the Baggers Race Team

You hear them before you see them.

I am down by the wall on the front straight at Road Atlanta, as the King of the Baggers riders approach the hill and bridge after turn 10B. The bikes haven’t come into view yet, but their growl is already wafting through the paddock and down pit lane. Suddenly they are visible, one by one diving under the bridge then plunging down the hill and throttling hard right onto the front straight. I set the pit board over the fence, displaying Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Team rider Bradley Smith’s position, gap to the rider behind him, and laps left. He’s holding off Indian’s Troy Herfoss for 3rd, as the whole field of bikes roar past at over 160 mph, then lean right up the hill at turn 1.

I feel them in my chest, as they blast past me at speeds these bikes shouldn’t be capable of.

#38 Bradley Smith of Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Team, pinning it on the front straight at Road Atlanta during the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers Race 2. Photo by Tim Lester Images.

We had been afforded a unique opportunity to be “honorary pit crew members“ for the Sunday race of the MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series with the Harley-Davidson x Dynojet Factory Racing Team. Thrilled and honored, photographer Tim Lester and I met Jeff Schuessler and Elaina Golemgeske of H-D on Saturday, then joined them Sunday morning to prepare for our day with the team.

As we’ve noted before, the King of the Baggers racing series has exploded across America and around the world, showcasing the raw power and amazing handling of these massive two-wheeled torque monsters. What began as an odd exhibition race several years ago in MotoAmerica, has blossomed into full AMA and FIM sanctioned racing series, even birthing the Bagger World Cup series in MotoGP this year. There is nothing quite like this race class in any genre of motorsport, and crowds are attending in droves.

2025 KotB champion Kyle Wyman diving through a corner, defying physics. These bikes should not be able to do what they do. Photo by Tim Lester Images.

After an introduction to the racers, team leaders and pit crew mechanics, we are given a briefing on these remarkable motorcycles, and the tech they employ for competition. We join the team out on hot pit, as the riders take their bikes on track for a morning practice and fine-tuning session. The 2026 factory Harley organization platoons three crewed bikes, with riders Kyle Wyman, Bradley Smith, and factory-supported satellite rider James Rispoli.

Rob and H-D’s Jeff Schuessler discussing the R&D that goes into these remarkable machines. Photo by Tim Lester Images.

“The MotoAmerica King of the Baggers series is a production based race class,” states Jeff Schuessler of Harley-Davidson, “with a variety of mods we can make to the engine, brakes, suspension and final drive. We begin with our Road Glide platform, and build our race machines from there.” The old adage, “race on Sunday, sell on Monday“ comes to mind, as so much of the R&D that goes into these thundering track beasts eventually finds its way to Harley’s street-legal model lineup.

Bradley Smith’s pit crew doing some fine tuning during his morning warm-up session; The RMCR Café Racer concept. Photos by Tim Lester Images.

After watching the pit crew fine tune the motorcycles to the rider’s needs, we enjoy a quick lunch then hike up the hill with Elaina to the Fan Zone, where Jeff and team principal Jason Kehl conduct a tech talk at the Harley-Davidson demo tent. We get a look at their café racer concept, the RMCR (Revolution Max Café Racer) with H-D’s Tom Butterfield, a Brit living his Harley-fueled dream here in the States. I sincerely hope they will bring this bike to market in the next couple of years, and at a reasonable price point. I take a “ride” on the King of the Baggers MotoGP race simulator, and absolutely suck at it. It’s hilariously fun though, truth be told.

Chatting with H-D team principal Jason Kehl, then with satellite rider James Rispoli. Photos by Tim Lester Images.

Back at the Harley race tent, the riders rest and begin to make their own preparations for the KofB race 2, while the team makes final prep of the three bikes. We sit down for a convo with team principal Jason Kehl then with H-D satellite rider James Rispoli. You can see those in our forthcoming review video. As race grid-up approaches, I learn I’ll be working with team member Carl Vandervort and the staging crew down on the starting grid. Then I’ll join Carl and help hold out the pit board for #38 Bradley Smith during each lap of the race. Let’s go!

At the starting grid with Bradley Smith’s team; hauling everything back to hot pit with Carl and crew. Photos by Tim Lester Images.

MotoAmerica provides race teams with two websites for lap-by-lap data collection, showing each rider’s speed, lap time, position, and gaps to other riders, all in real time. The bikes are equipped with transponders, whose signals are captured by the websites, then logged into and tracked by the race teams. “My view of the race is always from crouched behind the wall,” Carl quips, “reading the site data, then transferring it to the pit board for the rider as he goes by.” So I join him, crouching and transferring the digits Carl hands me to Bradley’s pit board, then hanging it over the wall as bike and rider thunder by.

Carl and I holding out Bradley’s digits, then checking his lap data for updates. Photos by Tim Lester Images.

By race end, fortunes fail for the three Harley factory riders, with none of them snagging a podium spot. Bradley gets the best finish, coming in 4th behind Herfoss. The team paddock is disappointed and saddened, having struggled both days in pit and on track. “But that’s racing,” Elaina notes. “We’ll take our lessons from this round, sort out what we need to over the next few weeks, then bring our best to Road America,” the next KotB race weekend. Tim and I say our goodbyes and share our gratitude to the whole team for their generosity and hospitality with us, then remove ourselves so as to not get in the way while they break down their paddock spot and pack it all up.

Discussing the day and thanking Carl and Elaina for the fantastic experience. Photo by Tim Lester Images.

Tim and I agree, the whole day was the most incredible experience we’ve ever had at a race weekend. It’s one thing to attend as a fan, quite another to have the kind of access we get as moto media, but to have the opportunity to join an actual factory race team for a day, is altogether “next level.” A true dream day, if you’re a motorsports fan like we both are.

Huge thanks to Jeff, Elaina, Tom, Carl, Jason, James, Bradley, Kyle and the whole H-D race team for their warm welcome of Tim and I. A special thanks to Paul James at Harley HQ for inviting us and setting it all up.

Rob & Tim

*Photos by Tim Lester Images

On the Bagger simulator, which I was terrible at. It was quite fun, however. Photo by Tim Lester Images.

*Please visit our sponsors, like National Cycle here below, MotoAmerica and Law Bike above our story. They help us keep the lights on.