Indian Motorcycle Racing

Following Indian Motorcycle’s recent split with Polaris, becoming a completely standalone motorcycle manufacturer again, the 125 year old legacy brand brought on Mike Kennedy as CEO to oversee operations. It’s refreshing to see a true motorcycle guy take the helm at Indian, especially given other manufacturer’s hiring of European shoe guys and pizza guys to run their operations. Kennedy is a true biker, a lifelong motorcycle rider, and a veteran in the powersports industry.

What Is It With King Of The Baggers?

by Rob Brooks | May 6, 2025 | Industry & Racing | 3 |

A guy standing next to me on the bridge, wearing a black patch-filled biker vest and a Harley-Davidson cap, commented, “The best race is about to begin! I came here specifically for this race today. Why would anyone want to leave now?!” Clearly most folks in attendance agreed with him. Everywhere around the track, for both the Saturday and Sunday races of this class, fans were pressed against the fences, to both see and feel this most remarkable category of motorcycle racing. And they were not disappointed.

Rob’s Monthly Musings: Goodbye, FTR

by Rob Brooks | Apr 4, 2025 | Industry & Racing | 4 |

Over the winter between the 2024 AFT racing season and the start of this one in March, American Flat Track dramatically changed the rules and specifications for motorcycles used in their AFT SuperTwins class. For nearly a decade, Indian Motorcycle dominated the premier class with their incredible FTR750. The revived “Indian Wrecking Crew” tore up the class for years, with Jared Mees and teammates breaking records, winning races and clinching championships year after year since 2017. Early on, many thought the renewed legendary rivalry between Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle would make for incredible competition in the class. Turns out, Harley’s 750 machines couldn’t hold a candle to the FTR750 bikes, much less ever beat them on the track. By the 2024 season, the Harleys had all but disappeared from the class, with most teams utilizing the FTR750, Ysmaha’s MT-07, KTM 790 Duke, even a couple running the Royal Enfield 650, to name a few.
Now all that has changed. If you can’t beat them, eliminate them from the competition.

Bikes We’d Like to Ride in 2025

by Road Dirt Crew | Jan 17, 2025 | Bikes & Gear | 0 |

Every new year, we look forward to the press releases of new and/or upgraded motorcycles soon to debut. It’s an annual ritual in our world, and 2025 is no different. We peruse the press docs, dream and scheme about how we might get a ride on the ones we really like, and start making plans. Most of the bikes we dream about we eventually get a chance to sample; others, not so much. But it’s fun to dream, right?

MotoAmerica 2024 Wrap-Up at NJMP

by Rob Brooks | Sep 30, 2024 | Industry & Racing | 9 |

The 2024 MotoAmerica motorcycle road racing season ended very differently than it began. Jake Gagne and the Attack Yamaha Racing team were preparing to take a record 4th-in-a-row Superbike championship, Rahal Ducati Moto was predicted to claim the Supersport championship with PJ Jacobsen, Kayla Yaakov and Corey Alexander all contending in the class, early pundits were predicting Kyle Wyman would return the factory Harley-Davidson team to the top rung in the King of the Baggers series, with the other series (Twins Cup, Stock 1000, Super Hooligans, and Junior Cup) all up for grabs.
By season’s end, the landscape looked much different.