Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/1541594
P76 FEATURE I AFT HARLEY-DAVIDSON XG750R vised. It exited the stage at the end of the '24 season a perfect eight-for-eight in Grand National Championships, complete with 104 victories and 291 podiums in just 138 races. Not surprisingly, the XG750R suffered by comparison. While the race-only XR750 racked up a nigh unthinkable 502 wins and 37 Grand National Champions across five decades, its direct replacement scored zero wins and managed just eight podi - ums during the Indian's reign. Despite massive investment and significant development efforts, H-D shuttered its fac - tory program following the 2020 season, after which the XG750R maintained a simmering pres - success, it did so at the expense of Harley's new machine, which was intended to take the baton from its iconic predecessor. With the XG750R, Harley-Da- vidson went all-in on Progressive American Flat Track's proposed production-based future. In col- laboration with Vance & Hines, H-D fielded a star-studded three- rider factory team in 2017 based around the platform to counter Indian's newly introduced three- man superstar outfit. But Harley, like everyone else, was caught flat-footed by the Indian's immediate and over - whelming success. Over the next eight seasons, the FTR750 showed itself to be arguably the finest flat track machine ever de - numbers. It became entrenched, with a full three-quarters of the grid armed with Indians. Forcing it out at that point was effec- tively untenable. Ultimately, AMA Pro Racing worked to level the playing field through a series of rule changes, which gave production-based race bikes a fighting chance. In turn, this led to an influx of a va - riety of such machinery, which, by 2025, made the long-intend- ed, all-production-based vision a realistic possibility. Trapped inside this tale is the story of the Harley-Davidson XG750R. While the Indian FTR750 proved itself the XR750's spiritu - al successor in terms of outright The Senoia win was a long time coming for the XG750R, which debuted in 2016.