This coming weekend, Tyler O'Hara hopes to have himself a big one. The veteran motorcycle racer heads to Atlanta, Georgia, to defend his King of the Baggers title astride an Indian Challenger following an unbelievable win at the series' inaugural race back in 2020. And he'll be doing so only one day after competing in a Super TT round of American Flat Track on an Indian Scout FTR750—somehow, only the second time he's ever ridden an FTR75o.

As motorsports return with a vengeance following pandemic slowdowns and coronavirus restrictions, Atlanta looks to lead the way after inviting Supercross and Monster Jam to town last month. And this weekend, Georgia's capital plays host the second round of American Flat Track followed by the first race of the 2021 King of the Baggers series.

Anyone worrying that professional athletes may have taken a step back during the pandemic can guess again—at least judging from the enthusiasm O'Hara showed when I spoke with him and asked what it takes to prepare for this kind of competition riding two radically different Indian Motorcycles products.

Asphalt And Big Bike Specialist Tyler O'Hara

Tyler O Hara Indian Motorcycles
via MotorBiscuit

O'Hara hails from Petaluma, California, and boasts an impressive career under his belt that lends him plenty of confidence. But as fun a gig as racing motorcycles might sound, he takes the job seriously, preparing himself mentally and physically to live up to the challenges he'll face. When we spoke, he'd just finished a session at the chiropractor—it's hard to imagine the physical tole of racing motorcycles year in and year out as he does.

“I’ve been racing motorcycles basically my entire life," O'Hara said. "Started racing when I was five and my whole family raced, brothers and sisters. My dad got me into it, grew up racing flat-track and started racing professional Supermoto in 2005 and started road racing in 2008. And worked my way up the ranks. I’ve raced Superbike for a couple years and I’ve raced the V-twin spec series they had with AMA Pro series, as well."

A career this long requires a commitment to maintenance—and not just for the bikes. After O'Hara mentioned eating right with his family, I asked whether he'd passed the motorbike genes that clearly run in his family down to his own kids?

"Not really pushing the motorcycles too hard," he replied, "Kind of waiting for them to start bugging me to get into it. I did get 'em a go-kart so we might be going four-wheels. So just trying to be a role model my kids in terms of training, doing the right things, living healthy… Having them chase their dreams, whatever that might be."

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Riding An Indian At King Of The Baggers

Tyler O Hara Indian Motorcycles 5
via Mission® Foods S&S® Cycle

As much as O'Hara might hone his body and mindset to compete at the highest level, he clearly holds a lot of respect for the Indian bikes he'll be riding this year for the Mission Foods S&S Cycle team. Given his experience driving Harleys, I asked how the two famous American companies stack up.

“The opportunity to ride a factory 750 from Indian Motorcycles is just an opportunity that you can’t pass up. So I’m very fortunate to ride the best bike out there."

As for how the Challenger compares, he said, "Well, it’s basically night and day. The new modern-day V-twin is the American-made Indian Challenger. It’s got all the modern technology with the mapping, and the motor’s water-cooled, it hums like a sewing machine. It’s smooth and very easy to ride, very smooth and linear, the chassis is really nice. It doesn’t wobble, it’s very stable under braking, mid-corner and apex. They’ve really done their homework and I’d say it’s a very comfortable and easy bike to ride fast."

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An Unbelievable Win In 2020

Tyler O Hara Indian Motorcycles 2
via YouTube

Even if O'Hara believes the Indian Challenger outpaces the field when it comes to easy and fast riding, the story of how he won the 2020 King of the Baggers race at Laguna Seca still manages to impress.

"During the race, on the warmup lap, Frankie Garcia was telling me the bike was smoking," O'Hara recounted, "And I just didn’t pay much attention, just blew it off. Then the racing official came up and tried to stop me at the line, said there’s brake fluid leaking on my pipe. But I told him, 'It’s good, it’s good, it’s good. I’m good, let me race.'”

He'd been crushing the competition throughout practice and qualifying and didn't want to lose his momentum—but the chickens quickly came home to roost when his rear brakes quickly went kaput.

"Basically, I had rear brakes until about turn five on the first lap," O'Hara said. "And then it was one of those races where you’re on and all the training at home where you do front-brake-only drills and you react and adapt to the situation... And, you know, I’m just glad it all worked out and I got to take care of the job."

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Prepping The Indian Challenger For 2021

Tyler O Hara Indian Motorcycles 4
via Mission® Foods S&S® Cycle

Nobody wants to run with such a dangerous disadvantage and yet, O'Hara pulled out the win with aplomb, saying that being forced to use only the front brakes may have helped him get "hyper-focused" throughout the rest of the race. Obviously, this year his team hopes to avoid any potential catastrophes of the sort, but I also asked O'Hara if they've made any other changes to the bike in advance of the Atlanta race.

"We made some minor changes, changed the valving of the front forks to get us more in the middle of the range," he admitted. "We were kind of maxed out last year at the race and with upping the pace at the track, typically you want a little more spring rate. So we went a little stiffer with the rear spring rate—just fine-tuning it really. We did a tester and I rode about 100 laps. The main thing is just being able to feel comfortable on the bike and ride it to the limit."

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Returning To American Flat Track In Atlanta

Indian Scout FTR750
via RideApart

But how can anyone hope to get comfortable enough to ride a big, heavy Challenger cruiser for King of the Baggers and a 750cc Scout for American Flat Track all at the same time? The answer, it turns out, sounds like a lot of work.

"This weekend at Road Atlanta, I’ll be doing practice at 4:40 on Friday afternoon until 5 and then we’ll jump in the car and drive an hour and a half to Atlanta Motor Speedway where they’re having a Friday American Flat Track test before the race on Saturday. So I’ll catch the tail end of that, hopefully get one or two sessions in just to feel the bike and see what the grip’s like on asphalt."

At a previous practice session, O'Hara told me he got back into the swing of flat-track quickly after nearly a decade had passed since his last outing at Salinas back in 2012.

"To be honest, I told myself and I told my dad and I told the team, 'It’s gonna be my first time out, I’m gonna take it easy,'" he laughed. "But sure enough, I go out last and Jared Mees, the champion, was right in front of me. And I just went with him and the bike was just so easy to ride and so smooth and so proper for flat track."

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Looking Forward To The Challenge

Tyler O Hara Indian Motorcycles 3
via Mission® Foods S&S® Cycle

Looking forward to the entire slate of races that make up the expanded calendar for the King of the Baggers series this year, O'Hara expressed even more confidence in the bike, his team, and his own experience.

“Well, Laguna Seca, that’s the most technical track we have on the schedule in terms of elevation, banking, and reverse camber," he recalled. "Just a proper road course. We have a little bit of data from last year and track knowledge and setup. All the other tracks, we’re just going to take it one session at a time and learn. Fortunately, I’ve been to all the tracks we’re going to race on so I do have track knowledge and experience."

But even with a win at last year's King of the Baggers and what sounds like a good chance at this year's title—plus the chance to ride on some dirt in the Atlanta Super TT—O'Hara recognizes the lucky position he finds himself in with the Mission Foods S&S Cycle team.

"I’m trying to blow open that door," he said. "Right now it’s cracked open and I’m going to try to blow it open, have a good weekend and have fun and try to end up on that podium."

“‘Go fast, take chances’ is what we say. Stay tuned, I’m gonna be going for it.”

Sources: totalmotorcycle.com, floydsofleadville.com, indianmotorcycle.com, americanflattrack.com, roadracingworld.com, and motorbiscuit.com.

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