RIDE REVIEW I KING OF THE BAGGERS INDIAN CHALLENGER
P76
Running Brembo's billet race caliper, a
Galespeed 19 x 19 master-cylinder, and
modified Ducati Multistrada 1260 Pikes Peak
48mm Ohlins forks, the braking capabilities
and turn speed of O'Hara's bagger are im
-
mense. Its sheer length means you can abso-
lutely hammer the anchors to wash off
speed, but it's a double-edged sword in
that the chassis really doesn't like front
trail braking, which tends to bind up
the front suspension and thus make it
rather recalcitrant in getting the motor
-
cycle to the apex.
The secret is the use of the rear brake, which
O'Hara has mounted on the left handlebar
under the clutch lever, and means you need to
think fast to modulate the clutch lever on down
-
shifts and still get on the thumb rear brake to
stop the rear suspension from rebounding too
fast as you approach the corner.
"You absolutely have to use the rear
brake," O'Hara says. "If you don't, it
makes it very difficult to get the bike
to turn tight, and you spend too much
time between braking and accelerating.
Plus, you can use the rear to damp out
(Left) Billet top triple
trees are a work of
art. (Right) As are the
billet custom rearsets.
(Below) Make it a
double! There're so
many bespoke parts
on the Challenger, it's
hard to list them all.
