to select from, and, one would
expect, at a lower price point,
too. As it stands today, any
independent team that hopes
to compete up front in Mission
SuperTwins has no real option
outside of making the very sub-
stantial investment of purchas-
ing and maintaining FTR750s.
Beyond that, any new factory
efforts will need teams, riders,
and tuners to represent them,
providing more opportunities to
snare a factory gig and possibly
even benefit from a bidding war
for their services.
And that development would
not just be good for the bank
accounts of the chosen, it's an
absolute requirement in order
to properly test the rulebook.
Powerful rider-tuner combos are
the ultimate decider come race
day in flat track racing. And no
amount of data can tell you if,
for example, Kenny Tolbert and
Jared Mees could successfully
defeat Indian aboard a Harley-
Davidson or a Yamaha until
someone manages to hire them
to try.
You can even make a strong
argument that the status quo
doesn't do all that much to
benefit Indian Motorcycle at this
point either. What good does it
do to effectively beat themselves
in the class, while paying out
contingencies nearly guaranteed
to max out when riders don't
need any additional incentive to
select the FTR?
In fact, there's a fear ex-
pressed by some that, unless
something is done to attract real
competition in '23 and beyond
(ideally Harley-Davidson), Indian
might be tempted to pull out at
a factory level while reducing its
contingency pot substantially.
Even so, unless the rulebook
changes now being imple-
mented prove successful in
their aims, the FTR750 could
still expect to dominate even
under that doomsday scenario—
a scenario that has led some to
call for the outright banning of
Indian's perfect predator.
However, Progressive Ameri-
can Flat Track's target is to not
just avoid the doomsday sce-
nario but bring about genuine
balance so that Indian, Harley-
Davidson and Yamaha—and
Royal Enfield, KTM, Kawasaki,
Triumph, et al.—all have an equal
chance to succeed at the pin-
nacle of the sport.
FEATURE I STATE OF AMERICAN FLAT TRACK
P92
Right now,
there's only one
bike of choice
for SuperTwins
privateers such
as Brandon
Robinson.
