"Meanwhile, the
rest of us are
taking street
motorcycles
and trying to
make them do
something they
were never
designed to do,
and that's a
pretty big task.
– George Latus
VOLUME 59 ISSUE 8 FEBRUARY 23, 2022 P103
been through cyclical repeats of
this exact phenomenon. Ninety
years ago, the sport went through
the exact same thing."
As Crouch noted, Progressive
American Flat Track's current
dilemma isn't exactly a new
predicament. Nearly a century
ago, America's preeminent mo-
torcycle racing series, "Class A"
(prototype-based factory racing),
was in existential crisis.
Following the high times of
the Roaring Twenties, which
boasted multiple massive factory
teams employing as many as
ten riders each, Class A's once
impressive fields dwindled as
budgets were slashed as a result
of the Great Depression. Those
problems were magnified when
parts for the category's exotic
race bikes became increasingly
scarce and expensive.
In response, the AMA intro-
duced the more affordable, stock-
based "Class C" in 1933. Class
C's immediate popularity saw it
take over as the most important
championship and establish itself
as the primary battleground of the
intense Harley-Davidson-Indian
Motorcycle rivalry.
Incidentally, Class C would
eventually evolve into what be-
came the Grand National Cham-
pionship in 1954, which contin-
ues to exist today as Progressive
American Flat Track.
The rules as they've pertained
to dedicated race bikes has
evolved over that time too, and,
admittedly, the most successful
machines in series' history have
been race-only machines that
ruled over the championship for
extended reigns.
Even allowing for that reality, it's
still impossible to not see the simi-
larities that link today's situation
with the sport's origins, particu-
larly with the decline of motorcycle
sales mirrored by thin fields and a
lack of factory participation.
Consider that last season,
there were just 12 full-time riders
in Mission SuperTwins, nine of
them aboard the purpose-built
Indian FTR750.
2016 Grand National Cham-
pion Bryan Smith said, "The cost
of the bike is the biggest thing to
me. If it was amazing—like it is,
and more reasonably priced—
you'd see an abundance of riders
in the class, which you don't see.
How many new guys have signed
up in the last couple of years?
Not many. That's a big part of it."
And even if Progressive AFT
secretly hoped other manufactur-
ers would bring new race-only en-
gines to the show, they'd likely be
left waiting. Just three such ma-
chines (the Indian FTR750, H-D
XR750, and Honda RS750) have
been designed and produced
over the past fifty-plus years.
Moreover, history suggests
that the already expensive
FTR750 could become hugely
