Indian Challenger RR
To commemorate winning the King of Baggers race series, Indian Motorcycles and S&S Cycle have done something crazy. They have produced a limited-edition run of 29 exclusive Challenger RR race 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’ll need £90,000.
This isn’t 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 taken up from 1768cc to 1834cc.
And it is an unbelievable motorcycle, one that weighs some 281kg yet reaches speeds on the Daytona banking of over 180mph 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 361kg of prime American beef designed to run on a 19-inch front wheel and 16 rear into a crazy-fast track tool is beyond genius or comedy or reason. It’s possibly the craziest race bike I’ve ever ridden in over 25 years of experience.
Converting a road-going bagger into a race bike is a mammoth task, not only testing the teams’ skills and ingenuity but also
