Harley Davidson Announces New XR1200 Racing Series

Fresh off the announcement that the XR1200 would be available in the United States, Harley Davidson has announced a partnership with Henderson Insurance Brokers to hold the Henderson Harley Davidson XR1200 Trophy series.  This marks Harley Davidson’s official entry into the British Superbike Championship (BSB), and the new program was announced on November 27, 2008, at the National Motorcycle and Scooter Show.

The new XR1200 Trophy Series will rely on the 35 Harley Davidson dealerships around the country to support the series, and the riders are expected to range from experienced professionals to up-and-coming young riders.  The rules and class restrictions are setup in such a manner to make the Henderson Harley Davidson XR1200 Trophy a budget series, and along those same lines, the series will have just 10 events spread over 9 of the BSB events.

The organizers of the BSB hope that the iconic Harley Davidson name
will draw more attention to the series, and HD hopes that this will
help improve sales, both in the sales of the bikes for the series, as
well as interest stemming from the series to consumers.  Harley
Davidson has been dealing with a tumultuous period, with sales low and
stock prices even lower, so this series will likely help the company in
a variety of ways, especially in an overseas market while the American
economy settles down.

Harley Davidson motorcycles have been leaders in the racing world for
decades, regardless of the style of racing, but would the company
benefit more from a mixed field, rather than a series of Harleys
competing only against other Harleys? Discuss it here!