Harley-Davidson leaves King of the Baggers: Indian loses its factory rival

• After six seasons, Harley-Davidson is ending its factory participation and official team support in King of the Baggers.
• The FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup is set to grow in 2027 with more teams, riders and races.
• Indian has already confirmed Hayden Gillim and Troy Herfoss as its factory riders for 2027.

For six years, King of the Baggers thrived on the duel between America’s two big motorcycle brands. Harley-Davidson and Indian sent heavy touring motorcycles with fairings and saddlebags onto the racetrack, so-called baggers, and traded titles year after year. On October 1, 2026, Harley-Davidson announced that this chapter is over for the factory. With it, the company is fundamentally reorganizing Harley-Davidson racing. The US series loses its most important counterweight to Indian, and Harley is focusing on a championship in which only its own motorcycles compete.

Why is Harley-Davidson leaving King of the Baggers?

From 2027, Harley-Davidson is splitting its racing program into two new areas, and King of the Baggers is no longer part of it. According to the manufacturer, the exit is part of this new strategy.

Harley calls the first area “Premier Racing”. This means the FIM Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup, which the company built together with MotoGP, the teams’ association IRTA and the world governing body FIM. Harley intends to invest specifically in this series, which is to become the brand’s most important racing platform. The second area is a grassroots program. It is meant to make it easier for riders of varying experience to get into racing in different disciplines.

CEO Artie Starrs sums up the idea like this: “Our evolved racing strategy inspires all of us to ride by putting the fastest Harley-Davidson motorcycles on the biggest stage, while bringing the same competitive edge to a broader audience through our grassroots program.”

Harley-Davidson explicitly does not cite the King of the Baggers rules as a reason. There is, however, a clear difference between the two series. In King of the Baggers, Harley and Indian have to develop two technically completely different motorcycles at great expense. In the Bagger World Cup, on the other hand, all teams race the Harley-Davidson Road Glide. There, it is mainly the riders, setup and teamwork that make the difference. On top of that comes the international audience at MotoGP weekends, while King of the Baggers is limited to North America.

How did the Harley factory team’s final season end?

The Harley-Davidson factory team bows out with a win. Kyle Wyman won the final race of the 2026 season in pouring rain at New Jersey Motorsports Park.

His teammate Bradley Smith finished the championship second overall, just two points ahead of Troy Herfoss. The title, however, went to Hayden Gillim on the Indian Challenger. He had already wrapped up the championship two races before the end in Austin at the Circuit of the Americas.

For Indian, it was an exceptionally strong season. The factory team, run by Vance & Hines for the first time in 2026, won ten of the 14 races. It also scored 24 podiums, six of seven pole positions and five new lap records. Gillim set a new single-season record with eight wins. He is also the first rider to win the title with both brands. In 2023 he became champion on a Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson, before team and rider switched to Indian for 2026. At the finale in New Jersey, Herfoss won the first race from the very back, with Gillim and Tyler O’Hara completing an Indian one-two-three.

Harley-Davidson’s record is still impressive. Since King of the Baggers became a championship in 2021, the brand has won three of the six titles. With 27 race wins, Kyle Wyman is the most successful rider in the history of the series.

Were there signs of the exit beforehand?

Yes, at the season finale in New Jersey both Harley factory riders already sounded like they were saying goodbye. Nothing had been officially confirmed at that point.

After his win, Wyman talked about what the program has meant to him: “This team has changed my life and changed my career.” He thanked the fans and said it was nice to give them one more win. He said nothing about the 2027 season.

Bradley Smith was more explicit in an interview: “There’s an unfortunate situation that is unfolding, and it probably means I need to look elsewhere for next year.” At the same time, the former MotoGP rider said he would like to stay with Harley-Davidson, pointing to his appearance in the Bagger World Cup at Silverstone.

How are MotoAmerica and Indian reacting to the withdrawal?

MotoAmerica has openly admitted that the late timing of the decision creates problems for the series. Indian, by contrast, is sticking with its factory program.

One day after Harley-Davidson’s announcement, the organizer said: “Receiving this news at such a late stage presents challenges.” It is currently looking at options to continue supporting the class and will provide updates as soon as there is news.

Harley-Davidson itself acknowledges MotoAmerica’s role in building the class, naming Richard Varner, Chuck Aksland, Terry Karges and former 500cc world champion Wayne Rainey. Team manager and technical director Jason Kehl also thanked the rival: “Having a rival that consistently pushed us to raise our level made our team better, helped elevate the entire category, and made the wins much more meaningful.”

Indian has already confirmed Gillim and Herfoss for 2027. Herfoss won the title as a rookie in 2024. The partnership with Vance & Hines runs over several years. The goal is to become the first manufacturer to win two titles in a row. Shortly before Harley’s announcement, Indian boss Mike Kennedy had said he expected the team from Milwaukee to be fighting for the number one plate again at the 2027 season opener in Daytona. That will now not happen.

Six years of Harley-Davidson versus Indian

King of the Baggers began in 2020 as a single invitational race at Laguna Seca. Tyler O’Hara won it on an Indian Challenger. Interest was big enough for it to become a proper championship in 2021.

Since then, the two brands have taken turns every year. Harley-Davidson won in 2021 and 2025 with Kyle Wyman and in 2023 with Hayden Gillim. Indian took the title in 2022 with Tyler O’Hara, in 2024 with Troy Herfoss and in 2026 with Hayden Gillim. No other manufacturers were ever represented in the class, and privateer teams also raced Harleys or Indians.

Why was a level playing field so difficult?

The motorcycles of the two brands are fundamentally different in technical terms, which is why MotoAmerica repeatedly had to balance them through the rules. In technical jargon, this is called Balance of Performance or parity.

The Indian Challenger is powered by a liquid-cooled 60-degree V-twin with overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. This design is well suited to high revs. Harley-Davidson, on the other hand, relies on the Milwaukee-Eight, a V-twin with a single in-block camshaft and pushrods that operate the valves. In King of the Baggers it ran in heavily modified versions with 131 cubic inches, around 2,150 cc. The Indian engine displaces around 1,835 cc.

One example of the balancing is the rev limits. In 2025, the Harley was allowed to rev to 7,000 rpm and the Indian to 7,700. At the start of 2026, MotoAmerica identified a clear top-speed advantage for the Indian and gave the Harley an extra 200 rpm. The limit for Indian remained unchanged. In addition to revs, the organizer constantly monitors lap times, top speed, minimum weights and approved parts.

What are Harley-Davidson’s plans for the 2027 Bagger World Cup?

Harley-Davidson wants to expand the Bagger World Cup in 2027 with additional teams, riders and races. The manufacturer plans to announce the calendar and entry list in the coming months.

The first season in 2026 ran as a support series at six MotoGP weekends with a total of twelve races. This made the new series an integral part of the 2026 MotoGP season. Over the year, 16 riders competed, including King of the Baggers regulars such as Kyle Wyman, Bradley Smith, James Rispoli and Max Flinders. According to Harley-Davidson, there were five different winners, every team stood on the podium at least once, and the title fight stayed open until the finale.

The first champion was 20-year-old Australian Archie McDonald of the Melbourne-based team Joe Rascal Racing. He scored 202 points with two wins, one pole position and nine podiums and sealed the title at the Red Bull Ring. In the end he was nine points ahead of Spaniard Oscar Gutiérrez, with Brazilian Eric Granado one more point behind. Whether McDonald will defend his title in 2027 is still open. Neither Harley-Davidson nor his team have named riders for the coming season yet.

Jeffrey Schuessler, responsible for Harley-Davidson’s global racing programs, sees the first season as just the beginning: “This is only the starting line.”

The World Cup is also meant to serve as a development platform. What Harley learns on the racetrack is to flow into future motorcycles and into Screamin’ Eagle performance parts. Chief Operating Officer Bryan Niketh stresses that this very path from track to customer is what makes the new strategy important. Harley-Davidson also intends to channel the knowledge from six years of King of the Baggers more strongly into the World Cup, model development and accessories.

What will Harley-Davidson’s grassroots program look like?

Harley-Davidson has not yet published detailed plans for the grassroots program. Only the direction is clear: more racing opportunities for ordinary riders across several disciplines and at different levels.

CEO Starrs cited drag racing at the local drag strip, flat track racing on dirt ovals and competitions organized by Harley dealers as examples. This is meant to give everyone the chance to race and win on a Harley-Davidson. The manufacturer will announce later how the program is structured and when it starts.

Will Harleys still race in King of the Baggers in 2027?

There will be no Harley-Davidson factory team in 2027. Privateer teams could, however, still compete with the Road Glide, though how much support they will receive is unclear.

A great deal of know-how has built up around the Harley baggers in recent years, among privateer teams as well as specialist suppliers. In 2026, Harley-Davidson still supported privateer riders with bonuses for good results and with race parts. Because the manufacturer is now explicitly announcing the end of official team support, it is unclear whether this help will still exist in 2027.

This raises the question for King of the Baggers of who will take on the Indian factory team. Well-prepared Road Glides are likely to remain on the grid. Whether privateer teams without the resources and development work of a factory can keep up with Gillim and Herfoss is another question. At the same time, the expanded Bagger World Cup could become an alternative for strong Harley teams.

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