RIDE REVIEW I KING OF THE BAGGERS INDIAN CHALLENGER
P78
the chassis flex, which has been an
issue with our bike."
Ah, the chassis flex. The Chal-
lenger loves to squat and twist for
the first half of the acceleration
phase. The back end, the front end,
it all moves, the chassis squirreling
and squirming when you first pick
up the throttle until you're basically
bolt upright and on full gas, click
-
ing up through the quickshifter-
equipped five-speed gearbox.
And there's no traction control on
O'Hara's race bike, so any force you
put through your right hand via the
ride-by-wire throttle will ultimately
reach the tire and thus the chassis.
It's par for the Indian Challenger
KOTB course, and something that
can't really be changed as the rules
dictate no major modifications can
be made to the chassis. And that
means no game-changing, flex-
saving bracing.
"By rule, we can't really modify
any of the chassis parts," says
S&S's Chief Engineer Jeff Bailey,
the man largely responsible for
creating, maintaining and improv
-
ing O'Hara's and teammate Jeremy
McWilliams' race bikes. "We did
get an allowance from MotoAmer-
ica to machine a bit off the front
frame spars for ground clearance,
but that's really the only modifica-
tion that we do to the frame. This
is still essentially a street bike. It's
not a race bike at its core."
Finding and using the available
grip is one of the keys to riding
this, or any bagger for that matter,
quickly, as is going way deeper
under brakes than you think rea
-
sonable and slamming the chassis
on its side. It's a balancing game
between the front and rear brakes,
the latter of which has a massive
Haynes four-piston caliper and
front disc to help haul the Indian
up, so there's at least twice as
much rear braking power on the
race bikes as there is on a stock
Challenger.
O'Hara in action
during practice for
the championship-
deciding round at
New Jersey.
