As the two major motorcycle manufacturers in the United States, things often get heated between Harley-Davidson and Indian. With a rivalry that spans more than a century, these legendary brands have competed against each other on everything from dirt to the dragstrip. Typically, those races involve purpose-built machines, but the success of MotoAmerica's King of the Bagger series has shown that these bigger bikes can compete in unconventional ways. The latest example comes from the folks at CycleDrag, as they recently ran a stock Harley-Davidson Road Glide Special against a stock Indian Challenger at Rockingham Dragway. The behemoth baggers are evenly matched on paper, but when the rubber hits the road, the results proved even closer than expected.
Motorcycle Rivals Run At Rockingham Dragway
While the Road Glide and Challenger are big on power, they are not designed for drag racing. With sharknose fairings and a set of saddlebags, these bikes are most at home on the highway. That is not to say they lumbered down the dragstrip, cause they were surprisingly quick for their size. Yet, bringing a touring bike to any track is bound to come with some challenges, as the video shows.
As true enthusiasts know, challenges are a part of every race; the question is can the motorcycle and the rider overcome them. For this race, the riders decided on a best of three format with $500 on the line, but (spoiler alert), the Challenger ran into problems. On the first pass, the Road Glide had a much better start and despite getting caught at the end, was able to hold on to a first round win. The second attempt was a disaster for the Indian, as the bike stalled off the light. However, the Challenger had a chance to redeem itself on a third pass, where it was able to beat the Road Glide.
A Little Healthy Competition Between Harley-Davidson And Indian
In general, a comparison of a Road Glide and a Challenger would require more real estate than a quarter mile, but with a dragstrip available why not run whatcha brung? The Road Glide Special used for this race comes with a 114 cu in engine, while the Challenger brings a 108 cu in to the table.
Although the Harley-Davidson has a modest size advantage, it utilizes pushrods instead of the more modern overhead cams found on the Indian. The Road Glide Special is also air cooled, whereas the Challenger incorporates liquid cooling. The only other marked difference between these bikes involves the angle of their V-twin engines, 45° for the H-D and 60° for the Indian.
Noting these discrepancies, the race was pretty darn close on runs one and three (ignoring the rider error on run two). While this is a small sample size, these races showed how closely matched Harley-Davidson and Indian remain to this day.